Clara H. Scott (December 3, 1841 – June 21, 1897), née Fiske, was an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

hymnwriter A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who is traditional ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

. Along with

Anna Bartlett Warner Anna Bartlett Warner (August 31, 1827 – January 22, 1915) was an American writer, the author of several books, and of poems set to music as hymns and religious songs for children. She is best known for writing the hymn " Jesus Loves Me". Biogr ...

Phoebe Palmer Phoebe Palmer (December 18, 1807 – November 2, 1874) was a Methodist evangelist and writer who promoted the doctrine of Christian perfection. She is considered one of the founders of the Holiness movement within Methodist Christianity. E ...

, and

Fanny Crosby Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and go ...

, Scott was among a wave of late 19th century women gospel poets. She was the first woman to publish a volume of anthems, the ''Royal Anthem Book'', in 1882. Scott was also well known for her hymn, ''Open My Eyes, That I May See'', written in 1895. The hymn was inspired by

Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in the English of the King James Version: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, the ...

, verse 18. She died in 1897 after being thrown from her carriage by a spooked horse.

References

External links

Free scores
at the

Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000. The music is reproduced from old scores that are in th ...

Scott, Clara
at

Hymnary.org Hymnary.org is an online database of hymns, hymnodists and hymnals hosted by Calvin University's Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The searchable database contains over one million hymn tunes and texts ...

1841 births 1897 deaths American composers American Christian hymnwriters Composers of Christian music 19th-century American musicians Accidental deaths in Iowa American women hymnwriters 19th-century American women writers American music publishers (people) 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American women musicians {{US-composer-19thC-stub