Lowry, Robert

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Lowry, Robert

Lowry, Robert, American hymn writer; b. Philadelphia, March 12, 1826; d. Plainfield, N.J., Nov. 25, 1899. He was a Baptist preacher and studied music in his middle age. He wrote the tunes for such popular hymns as I Need Thee Every Hour (1872) and All the Way My Savior Leads Me (1875), and both texts and tunes for the successful hymns Shall We Gather at the River? (1865), Low in the Grave He Lay (1875), and Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight? (1877).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire