In The Spectator of August 23, 1712, Joseph Addison contributed “An Essay on the Proper Means of Strengthening and Confirming Faith in the Mind of Man,” in which he suggested that faith could best be strengthened by retiring from the hustle and bustle of life and quietly meditating on the wonderful works of God. He then referred to the first verse of the nineteenth psalm, saying that David had some “very beautiful strokes of poetry to this purpose in that exalted strain.” Then follow these three stanzas, which paraphrase the first four verses of the psalm.

Joseph Addison was born on May 1, 1672, at Milston, Wiltshire, England, the son of an Anglican clergyman. He graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, with a B.A. in 1691, and an M.A. in 1693. He trained to follow his father’s profession but turned instead to literature and politics. He held important positions in government, being a commissioner of appeals in 1704, under-secretary of state 1706, and a member of Parliament from 1708 until his death. From 1709 to 1711, he was secretary to the lord lieutenant of Ireland. In 1714, he was appointed chief secretary to Ireland and in 1716, lord commissioner of trade.

Addison is best known, however, for his literary contributions. His essays appeared in The Tatler from 1709, and in 1711, he collaborated with his friend Sir Richard Steele to bring out The Spectator, which contained many of Addison’s essays and also many original hymns. Both Isaac Watts and John Wesley regarded highly his literary style and content. He resigned his political office in 1718 because of failing health. He died at Holland House, Kensington, London, on June 17, 1719, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

CREATION is an arrangement from the oratorio of this name, composed in 1798 by Franz Joseph Haydn. It is an adaptation of the first part of “The Heavens Are Telling.”

Haydn was born at Rohrau, 25 miles southeast of Vienna, Austria, on March 31, 1732, and was educated at the Roman Catholic choir school of St. Stefan’s Cathedral in Vienna for nearly 10 years. In 1749, he was expelled and was forced to support himself by playing in street bands, teaching, and occasionally writing music. He composed his first mass in 1750 and composed a series of string quartets published in 1755. In 1761, he was appointed director of music at the house of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, remaining there until 1791, when the grandson of his patron dismissed most of the musicians of the household. Haydn went to England for two years, and the University of Oxford awarded him the D. Mus. degree. He returned to Vienna in 1792, went back to England in 1794, and finally to Vienna in 1795, where he stayed until his death on May 31, 1809.

He composed more than 100 symphonies, 80 string quartets, 100 works for chamber music, 60 sonatas for piano, 16 masses, 22 operas, and 4 oratorios. He always prefaced his scores with the words “In nomine Domini” (in the name of the Lord) and concluded them with “Laus Deo” (praise go to God). Haydn also composed the tune for SDAH 423, AUSTRIA.

The first arrangement of this melody for the words is found in Sacred Melodies, 1812, by William Gardiner (1770–1853; see SDAH 177).