John W. Bischoff (27 November 1850 in Chicago – May 30, 1909 in Washington, DC) was a blind musician and composer. Blind from age two, Bischoff went on to become a noted

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, compiler of musical collections, and composer. He was the principal organist and choir director at the first

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

in Washington from 1874 until his death in 1909. Bischoff lost his sight at about two years of age, and attended the Wisconsin School for the Blind. Later he studied singing with Ludden and Bassini in Chicago and studied organ under Creswald. In 1875 he moved to Washington and became the principal organist and choir director at First Congregational Church, posts he held until his death. He was a great composer and compiler of music, and was considered one of the greatest composers and greatest organists of the country. He was a founding member of the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educa ...

. His compilations included a significant number of his own works, including ''Crystal Songs'' (1877, with the help of Dr. Otis Presbrey), ''Gospel Bells'' (1883, with

Jeremiah Rankin Jeremiah Eames Rankin (January 2, 1828 – November 28, 1904) was an abolitionist, champion of the temperance movement, minister of Washington D.C.'s First Congregational Church, and correspondent with Frederick Douglass. In 1890 he was appoin ...

), ''God Be With You'' (1880), and ''Not Half Has Been Told'' (1877). Some of his works were published by Arthur P. Schmidt. Much of his composing was done during the summer when he would visit his cottage on Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago. Bischoff married Mary Jane Vandergrift, daughter of Howard Vandergrift, in Mount Carroll, Illinois in about 1870. They had met in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where Bischoff lived at the time. They had two children, a son John E. and a daughter Lucile. He divorced in 1895, and remarried to Elsie Bond Bischoff. John W Bischoff at door

Bischoff died the morning of May 30, 1909 of heart disease after three weeks of illness.Dr. John W. Bischoff Passes Quietly Away, The Washington Times (Washington, District of Columbia) May 30, 1909, page 3, accessed February 8, 2017 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8822636// He was interred in

Rock Creek Cemetery Rock Creek Cemetery is an cemetery with a natural and rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE, in the Petworth (Washington, D.C.), Petworth neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across ...

Selected Compositions

* ''Goodnight, Sweet Dreams'' * ''Unanswered'' * ''Bob o'Link'' * ''If God so clothe the grass'' * ''Five Little White Heads'' * ''I heard the voice of Jesus say'' * ''The Summer Wind'' * ''Forever and a day'' * ''Rose of Virginia''

References

External links

* * *http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2003-9/thismonth/feature.php 1850 births 1909 deaths American classical composers American male classical composers Blind classical musicians American blind organists 19th-century American male musicians American musicians with disabilities {{US-composer-19thC-stub