PARKER.

James C. D. Parker, an American composer, was born at Boston, Mass., June
2, 1828. He received his primary education in the schools of that city,
was graduated from Harvard University in 1848, and immediately thereafter
began the study of law. His love for music, however, was irresistible,
and he soon dropped law-books and entered upon a thorough course of
musical instruction, at first in Boston, and afterwards at the
Conservatory in Leipsic, where he finished the regular course. He
returned to Boston in 1854, and at once devoted himself to musical work
in which he took a prominent part, and made an excellent reputation as
pianist, organist, and teacher, as well as composer, though he has not as
yet attempted any very large or ambitious works. In 1862 he organized an
amateur vocal association under the name of the Parker Club, which has
performed several works by Gade, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Schumann, and
others, with success. His most important composition is the "Redemption
Hymn," which he wrote for the Boston Handel and Haydn Society during the
period he was its organist. He has also held the position of organist and
choir-director of Trinity Church in that city, and of Professor of the
College of Music connected with the Boston University. During his
unostentatious career he has earned an enviable reputation as an earnest,
honest musician deeply devoted to his art.

The Redemption Hymn.

"The Redemption Hymn," for alto solo and chorus, was written for the
Fourth Triennial Festival of the Handel and Haydn Society, and was first
given on that occasion, May 17, 1877, Anna Louise Cary-Raymond taking the
solo. The words are taken from Isaiah li. 9-11.

Chorus:--"Awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord!
"Awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.
"Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon? Awake, put
on strength, O arm of the Lord!
Solo and Chorus:--"Art thou not it that hath dried the sea, the waters
of the great deep, that hath made the depths of the sea a way for
the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall
return and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall
be upon their head; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow
and mourning shall flee away."

The work opens with a brief but spirited orchestral introduction, which
le