Catherine Winkworth

Winkworth, Catherine (Manchester, 1827-78, nr. Geneva), the daughter of a silk manufacturer, was the most accomplished translator of hymns (see Kirchenlied) for Anglican use. Having as part of her education enjoyed a good grounding in the German language, she spent a culturally stimulating year in Dresden (1845-6) which marked the beginning of her lifelong interest in Anglo-German relations. Fascinated by the challenge of rendering poetry, she increasingly devoted herself to hymns, which appeared in the collection Lyra Germanica. Hymns for the Sundays and Chief Festivals of the Christian Year (1855) and its sequel, Lyra Germanica. The Christian Life (1858). Her next ambition was to synchronize poetry with music, and with this in mind she translated 85 more poems, selected from verse since the Middle Ages; most of its authors are well known, but J. Neander, M. Rinckart, and G. Tersteegen deserve mention. The collection resulted in the Chorale Book for England. A Complete Hymn Book for Public and Private Worship, in accordance with the Services and Festivals of the Church of England (1862), with W. Sterndale Bennett as the volume's musical editor (in collaboration with O. Goldschmidt). Having in the late 1850s moved to Bristol and, like her older sister Susanna, become involved with the city's social problems, she endorsed her concern by translating the biography of the philanthropist Amalie Sieveking (Life of Miss Sieveking, 1863). In 1874 she attended as a British delegate a congress of women workers (under the auspices of the Grand Duchess of Hesse) in Darmstadt; she was accompanied by her sister.

Though less distinguished in her literary achievements, Susanna Winkworth (1820-84) was the first of the sisters to devote herself to the art of translation, encouraged by the Gaskells' abiding interest in Germany and taught by William Gaskell (she helped E. Gaskell with her Life of Charlotte Brontë, 1857). In rendering the Theologia Germanica (1854, see Theologia Deutsch) and 25 sermons by J. Tauler (with a biographical note on his life, 1857), she conveyed basic aspects of German mysticism to a Victorian public. The combined work of the sisters thus represented ‘the two pillars of German devotional literature’ (P. N. Skrine).

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Undated photograph of Catherine Winkworth

Catherine Winkworth (September 13, 1827 - July 1, 1878) was an English translator. She is best known for bringing the German chorale tradition to many English speakers with her translations of many hymns.

Contents 1 Biography 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External links

Biography

Catherine Winkworth was born in London at 20 Ely Place, Holborn. She was the fourth daughter of Henry Winkworth, a silk merchant. Winkworth lived most of her life in Manchester. She studied also under the Unitarian minister, Rev. William Gaskell and with the English philosopher Dr. James Martineau.

She spent a year in Dresden, during which time she took an interest in German hymnody. Around 1854, she pub­lished her book Lyra Ger­man­i­ca, a collection of German hymns which she had chosen and translated into English. A further collection followed in 1858. During 1863, she published The Chor­ale Book for England and in 1869 she followed this with Christian Singers of Germany. Four examples of translations by her hand are published in The Church Hymn book 1872 (N. 344, 431, 664 and 807). ^[1]

In addition to translating hymns, Miss Winkworth was deeply involved in promoting women's rights, and was the secretary of the Clifton Association for Higher Education for Women, a supporter of the Clifton High School for Girls, and a member of the Cheltenham Ladies' College. She was likewise governor of the Red Maids' Schoolin Westbury-on-Trym in the city of Bristol, England .^[2]

She died suddenly of heart disease near Geneva on 1 July 1878 and was buried in Mon­ne­tier, near Sa­voy. A monument to her memory was erected in Bristol Cathedral. She is commemorated as a hymnwriter with John Mason Neale on the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on July 1. ^[3]

References

1. ^ Catherine Winkworth (Center for Church Music) http://songsandhymns.org/people/detail/catherine-winkworth
2. ^ Catherine and Susanna Winkworth (Eclectic Ethereal Encyclopedia) http://www.ccel.org/cceh/archives/eee/winkwrth.htm
3. ^ Catherine Winkworth, Hymnwriter and Educator (Biographical Sketches of Memorable Christians of the Past) http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/197.html

Further reading

• The Church Hymn Book ( ed. Edwin F. Hatfield. New York and Chicago: 1872)

External links

• Collection of hymns translated by Winkworth (The Cyber Hymnal)
• Biographies and published works (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)

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