John Bacchus Dykes
The Rev. Dr. John Bacchus Dykes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 10 March 1823 Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire |
| Died | 22 January 1876 (aged 52) Ticehurst, Sussex |
| Education | St. Catharine's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham |
| Spouse | Susannah Thomlinson Kingston (m. 1850) |
| Parent | William Hey Dykes (1792–1864) & Elizabeth Huntington (1792–1867) |
| Church | Church of England |
John Bacchus Dykes (10 March 1823 – 22 January 1876) was an English clergyman and hymnist.
Biography
He was born in Hull, England, the fifth child and third son of William Hey Dykes, a banker, by Elizabeth, daughter of Bacchus Huntington, a surgeon in Hull, and granddaughter of the Rev. William Huntington, Vicar of Kirk Ella.[1] He was a younger brother of the poet and hymnist Eliza Alderson, and a cousin of the Rev. George Huntington.[2] His father was the son of the Rev. Thomas Dykes, by Mary, daughter of William Hey.
By the age of 10, he was the assistant organist at St John's Church in Myton, Hull (transferred to Drypool in 1917), where his paternal grandfather was vicar. He learned the violin and the piano.[3] He studied at Wakefield and St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, earning a BA in Classics in 1847.[4] He cofounded the Cambridge University Musical Society. He was ordained as curate of Malton in 1847. For a short time, he was canon of Durham Cathedral, then precentor (1849 – 1862). In 1862 he became vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham, until his death in 1876.
Dykes resolutely upheld the high church tradition, to the consternation of his bishop, and was something of a renegade figure in the Victorian Church.[5] He was a member of the Society of the Holy Cross. He died in Sussex at age 52, and is buried at St. Oswald’s, Durham.
Works and influence
Dykes published numerous sermons and articles on religion; but is best known for over 300 hymn tunes he composed. Among those still in wide use are: Nicaea, commonly sung to the words "Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!"; Wir Pflügen, harmonised by Dykes and commonly sung to the words "We plough the fields, and scatter" (a translation of the German hymn "Wir pflügen und wir streuen" by the late eighteenth-century German poet Matthias Claudius); Melita, sung to the words "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" (sometimes known as "For those in peril on the sea" from its recurring last line); Gerontius, sung to the words "Praise to the Holiest in the height" (taken from Cardinal Newman's poem The Dream of Gerontius); Lux Benigna, sung to Newman's poem Lead, Kindly Light; O Perfect Love; and Dominus Regit Me, sung to the words "The King of love my shepherd is", one of the many metrical versions of Psalm 23.
Influential in hymnody in his time, Dykes's impact has declined in recent times. Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised (1950) carried 31 of his tunes, the New Standard edition of the same hymn book (1983) used only 15.
Family
On 25 July 1850, Dykes married Susannah (1827–1902), daughter of George Kingston, by whom he had three sons and five daughters.[6]
References
- ^ Rev. J. T. Fowler (ed.), Life and Letters of John Bacchus Dykes, M.A., Mus. Doc., Vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1897), pp. 2-3.
- ^ Fowler, p. 103.
- ^ Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1980), Vol. 5, pp. 794-5.
- ^ "Dykes or Dikes, John Bacchus (DKS843JB2)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ JB Dykes Biography
- ^ Fowler, pp. 43 & 54.
External links
- Biography at the Cyber Hymnal
- Works by John Bacchus Dykes at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John Bacchus Dykes at the Internet Archive
- Free scores by John Bacchus Dykes in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free scores at the Mutopia Project
