James McGranahan was a nineteenth-century American musician and composer, most known for his various hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s. He was born 4 July 1840, in West Fallowfield or Adamsville, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, and died 9 July 1907 in Kinsman, Ohio

Kinsman, Ohio

Kinsman is an unincorporated community in southern Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 44428; as well as a library, the Kinsman Free Public Library...

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He composed over 25 hymns. For example, in one work he is listed as the composer of three notable songs: "He Will Hide Me" by Mary Elizabeth Servoss, "Revive Thy Work, O Lord" by Albert Midlane

Albert Midlane

Albert Midlane was a British poet who wrote several hundred hymns, most notably "There's a Friend for Little Children"....

, and "Come" by a "Mrs. James Gibson Johnson".

The music of his hymn "My Redeemer," written for lyrics by P. P. Bliss, is used as the accompaniment for the Latter-day Saints hymn "O My Father."

In Hawaii, McGranahan is noted for writing the music to the hymn "I Left It All With Jesus," which, when joined to the words "Hawaii Aloha" by the Rev. Lorenzo Lyons (an early missionary to Hawaii) became one of Hawaii's best known and best loved songs. In Hawaii the tune is called Hawaii Aloha and the words were penned by Lorenzo Lyons

Lorenzo Lyons

Lorenzo Lyons or "Makua Laiana" was born in Colrain, Franklin County, Massachusetts, April 18, 1807. He graduated from Union College in 1827. Ordained as a Congregationalist minister at Auburn Theological Seminary, September 20, 1831, he embarked from Boston, Massachusetts on November 26, 1831, on...

, a minister. Lyons was known as "Makua Laiana" or simply "Laiana." The song is often sung at the close of public political, spiritual, educational and sporting events.

External links

• The Cyber Hymnal has a small article and a large collection of midi files of his music.