Francis Florentine Hagen

Francis Florentine Hagen (1815–1907) was a Moravian minister and composer. He is best known for his hymn "Morning Star" (1836) that is typically sung on Christmas Eve.

Hagen was born in Salem (now part of Winston-Salem), North Carolina, on October 30, 1815, the son of Johann Joachim Hagen and Susanna Lick.[1] He grew up in Salem before attending the Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1835.[1] He was ordained a deacon in the Moravian Church in 1844. Hagen served various congregations in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Iowa and New York before retiring from the ministry in 1877.

As a composer, his musical style reflected his Moravian roots combined with elements of 19th century Romantic music.[2] He composed large-scale orchestral and vocal works in addition to solo voice and piano pieces.

Hagen was one of the three original editors of the Moravian Magazine from 1856 to 1858.[1] He died in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on July 7, 1907.

References

  1. ^ a b c Francis Florentine Hagen Papers, Moravian Church Archives, Bethlehem, PA.
  2. ^ Nola Reed Knouse, The Music of the Moravian Church in America (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008), 274.
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