Jonathan Robert Ogden (13 June 1806 – 26 March 1882) was an English composer, known for ''Holy Songs and Musical Prayers'', published in 1842.

Life

Ogden was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

; his father, Robert Ogden (died 1816), was in partnership there with Thomas Bolton, a Liverpool merchant. Ogden was educated in Leeds, partly under Joseph Hutton, minister of Mill Hill Unitarian Chapel; he became a unitarian, though his parents were members of the Church of England. For a short time he was placed in the office of Thomas Bolton in Liverpool, but had no taste for mercantile life, and showed an early bent for music. To forward his musical education, his mother (whose maiden name was Glover) moved to London. Here Ogden became a pupil of

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the ...

, and later of August Kollman. He studied for a year in Paris under

Johann Peter Pixis Johann Peter Pixis (10 February 178822 December 1874) was a German pianist and composer, born in Mannheim. He lived in Vienna from 1808 to 1824, then in Paris to 1840, during which time he was among the city's most prominent pianists and composers ...

, and for three years in Munich under ; in 1827 he visited Vienna. He married in 1834 Frances, daughter of Thomas Bolton. Afterwards he settled in the Lake District, at Lakefield,

Sawrey Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. They are located in the Lake District between the village of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere. The two lie on the B5285 road, B5285, which runs ...

, Lancashire, where he lived the life of a country gentleman. The religious philosopher

James Martineau James Martineau (; 21 April 1805 – 11 January 1900) was a British religious philosopher influential in the history of Unitarianism. For 45 years he was Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy and Political Economy in Manchester New College ( ...

, when compiling ''Hymns for the Christian Church and Home'' (1840), invited Ogden to supply tunes of unusual metre. Ogden, after much persuasion, assented. The result was ''Holy Songs and Musical Prayers'', published by Novello in 1842. A feature of the volume which evoked criticism was the adaptation as hymn tunes of pieces by Beethoven and others. From the seventh and much enlarged edition (1872) the adaptations were omitted.

Alexander Gordon Alexander Gordon may refer to: * Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly (died 1470), Scottish magnate * Alexander Gordon (bishop of Aberdeen) (died 1518), Precentor of Moray and Bishop-elect of Aberdeen * Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly (died 15 ...

later wrote: "The style of Ogden's original music is not ecclesiastical, nor are his compositions well adapted for ordinary congregational use; but they possess great beauty, and their spirit is rightly indicated in the title of the volume." Ogden was a J.P. for Lancashire. He died at Lakefield on 26 March 1882, and was buried on 31 March in

Hawkshead Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, which attracts tourists to the South Lakeland area. The parish includes the hamlets of Hawkshead Hill, to the north west, and Outgate, a similar distance north. Hawkshead contains one ...

churchyard.

References

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogden, Jonathan Robert 1806 births 1882 deaths Musicians from Leeds Classical composers of church music 19th-century British composers