Charles Crozat Converse (October 7, 1832 – October 18, 1918) was an American

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

who also worked as a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

of church songs. He is notable for setting to music the words of Joseph Scriven to become the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

What a Friend We Have in Jesus "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" is a Christian hymn originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother, who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. Scriven originally published the poem anonymously, a ...

". Converse published an arrangement of " The Death of Minnehaha", with words by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

Life

Charles Crozat Converse was born in

Warren, Massachusetts Warren is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,975 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town contains the villages of Warren (CDP), Massachusetts, Warren and ...

on October 7, 1832. He studied law and music in

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, returned home in 1857, and was graduated at the Albany Law School in 1861. Many of his musical compositions appeared under the anagrammatic pen-names "C. O. Nevers", "Karl Reden", and "E. C. Revons". He published a cantata (1855), ''New Method for the Guitar'' (1855), ''Musical Bouquet'' (1859), ''The One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Psalm'' (1860), ''Sweet Singer'' (1863), ''Church Singer'' (1863) and ''Sayings of Sages'' (1863). Converse proposed the use of the gender-neutral pronoun "thon". He died at his home in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

on October 18, 1918.

References

Sources

External links

Sheet music for "The Rock Beside the Sea"
by Charles C. Converse, Lee & Walker, 1857. *http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/c/o/n/converse_cc.htm *http://imslp.org/wiki/Converse,_Charles_Crozat 1832 births 1918 deaths American male composers 19th-century American composers People from Warren, Massachusetts Albany Law School alumni Musicians from Massachusetts 19th-century American male musicians {{US-composer-19thC-stub