Lowell Mason

Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792- August 11, 1872) was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymns, many of which are often sung today. He was also responsible for the first teaching of music in American public schools.

Books

• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (published in hard copy and available as a fee site on line) provides good coverage of Mason's life and work.
• White Spirituals in the Southern Uplands, by George Pullen Jackson (1932), out of print but available in many libraries, offers a vivid account of how Lowell and Timothy Mason won the battle for their own kind of sacred music in the city of Cincinnati.