Aldine Silliman Kieffer (August 1, 1840 – November 30, 1904) was a leading 19th century proponent of shape note musical notation, music teacher and publisher. Kieffer was born near

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Saline County, Missouri Saline County is located along the Missouri River in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,370. Its county seat is Marshall. The county was established November 25, 1820, and named for the region's salt spr ...

. He died in Dayton, Virginia, and is buried there. Kieffer was the grandson of

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...

musician

Joseph Funk Joseph Funk (1778–1862) was a pioneer American music teacher, publisher, and an early American composer. He invented a shape note system in 1851 for the Harmonia Sacra. Funk was born April 6, 1778 (though his gravestone states March 9, 1777) ...

. After Funk's death, he and

Ephraim Ruebush Ephraim Ruebush (September 26, 1833 – November 18, 1924) was a music teacher, publisher, and co-founder of the Ruebush-Kieffer Company, one of the largest and most influential publishers of gospel song books in the United States. Ephraim R ...

took over Funk's publishing company. With Ruebush and John W. Howe, Kieffer founded the Kieffer, Ruebush, & Company music company circa 1873, which was moved from Singers Glen to Dayton, Virginia, in 1878. Kieffer was editor of the ''Musical Million and Fireside Friend'' periodical. The ''Musical Million'', published from 1870 until 1914, was one of the leading tools promoting shape note music for almost a half century. It helped link teachers and students across the country, and published many songs in its pages. Kieffer taught

singing schools A singing school is a school in which students are taught to sightread vocal music. Singing schools are a long-standing cultural institution in the U.S. Southern states, Southern United States. While some singing schools are offered for credit, mos ...

and used his songbooks in the schools. One of Kieffer's most popular song books was ''The Temple Star'', published at Singer's Glen in 1877. One of his most popular songs was his poem ''Twilight is Stealing'', set to music by B. C. Unseld in 1877 and published in the Temple Star.

Selected bibliography

* ''The Starry Crown; for the Sabbath school'', edited by Aldine S. Kieffer; Singer's Glen, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer, & Co., 1874. * ''The Temple Star: For Singing-Schools, Conventions, Choirs, Day-Schools and Musical Societies'', edited by Aldine S. Kieffer; Singer's Glen, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer & Co., 1877. * ''The Shining Light; a varied collection of sacred songs for Sabbath-schools, social meetings, and the home circle'', by J. H. Tenney and A. S. Kieffer; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush Kieffer & Co., 1879. * ''Sharon's Dewy Rose; a collection of new music and hymns for the use of Sabbath-schools, prayer meetings, and special occasions'', by A. S. Kieffer and J. H. Tenney; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer & Co., 1880. * ''Sweet Fields of Eden; for the Sabbath school'', by J. H. Tenney, A. S. Kieffer, and Wm. B. Blake; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer,& Co., 1882. * ''The Zion Songster No. 1; for Sabbath Schools'', edited by Aldine S. Kieffer; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer & Co., 1885. * ''The Royal Proclamation'', edited by Aldine S. Kieffer and William Blake; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer & Co., 1886. * ''The Zion Songster No. 2; for Sabbath Schools'', edited by Aldine S. Kieffer; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer & Co., 1887. * ''The Star of Bethlehem'', by J. H. Hall, J. H. Ruebush, and A. S. Kieffer; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer, & Co., 1889. * ''Crowning Day, No. 2; a Collection of Gospel Songs for Sunday schools, revivals, young people's meetings, etc.'', by J. H. Hall, J. H. Ruebush, A. S. Kieffer, et al.; Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush, Kieffer, & Co., 1896.

References

*''Aldine S. Kieffer and Ephraim Ruebush: Ideals Reflected in Post-Civil War Ruebush-Kieffer Company Music Publications'', by Charles Edwin Morrison, 1992; Ph.D. dissertation, Arizona State University. *''The "Musical Million": A Study and Analysis of the Periodical Promoting Music Reading Through Shape-Notes in North America from 1870 To 1914'', by Paul M. Hall, 1970; Doctoral dissertation, Catholic University of America.

External links

Twilight is Stealing
(The life of Aldine S. Kieffer) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kieffer, Aldine Silliman 1840 births 1904 deaths People from Saline County, Missouri Shape note American music publishers (people) People from Dayton, Virginia 19th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Missouri Businesspeople from Virginia