Septimus Winner / Alice Hawthorne
Composer of Whispering Hope and Listen to the Mocking Bird
May 14, 2009
The man who wrote music under a woman's name (it was usually the other way around), was born in Philadelphia on May 11,1827, and made quite a career for himself as a composer, teacher, performer and music publisher. He wrote under his own name, as well as the pseudonyms Alice Hawthorne (his mother was related to Nathaniel Hawthorne), Percy Guyer, Apsley Street and Mark Mason.
Listen to the Mocking Bird
One of his most famous songs was Listen to the Mocking Bird, although he also wrote Ten Little Indians and Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? It might seem strange that the composer of such lightweight tunes also wrote some sacred music. Whispering Hope, long sung in churches, was his most celebrated, and he wrote both the words and the music.
Music Publishing Company
Winner was the seventh child in his family, and thus was named Septimus. After completing high school in Philadelphia, he and a brother started a music publishing company, and Septimus was soon proprietor of his own music store. A self-taught musician, he was able to play the violin and guitar, and offered lessons on these instruments at his store.
Whispering Hope
This song was written in 1868, and proved to be his last successful work. It is based on Hebrews 6:19, This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,and which enters the presence behind the veil. The song became extremely popular, and people thought that it had been written by a woman , because Winner used the Alice Hawthorne name.
Winner Arrested For Treason
In 1862, during the Civil War, Winner took up the cause of General George McClellan, the man President Lincoln fired for his reluctance to go into battle. McClellan was popular with the people, however, and Winner wrote the song Give Us back Our Old Commander: Little Mac, the People's Pride. He was arrested for treason after 80,000 copies of the song had been sold. He was released under the provision that he destroy all remaining copies.
Winner made thousands of arrangements of music, wrote over 200 instruction manuals on many instruments, and penned Cogitations of a Crank at Three Score Years and Ten.
Septimus Winner was married and the father of seven children. He died of a heart attack on November 22,1902, and was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1970.
Source
Then Sings My Soul, Book 2, by Robert J. Morgan Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004
For further reading about hymn writers see /christianmusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/fanny_crosby_prolific_hymn_writern writers see
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