Mealy, Norman

Norman Carleton Mealy was born on June 22, 1923 in Troy, New York. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in music from the State University of New York at Potsdam, did post-graduate work at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and studied music analysis and musicology at the University of California at Berkeley. Mealy also attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1975 from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City. He was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Church in 1959 and as a priest in 1960.

Dr. Mealy served as the Director of Music at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley from 1947 to 1961. He was on the faculty of the Music Extension Department of the University of California at Berkeley from 1949 to 1952 and a Professor of Church Music at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific from 1952 to 1987, in addition to serving on the faculty of the Graduate Theological Union. Mealy was active in developing new music within the Episcopal Church, serving on the Standing Commission on Church Music for fifteen years and as a liaison to the Liturgical Commission, as well as the Chairman of the Committee on Service Music for ten years. He collaborated on several Episcopal Church publications, including "Hymns and carols" (1966); "Songs for liturgy and more hymns and spiritual songs" (1971); "Book of Canticles" (1979); and "The Hymnal" (1982). Mealy also co-authored "Sing for joy; a songbook for young children" (1961) with his wife, Margaret; "Skier's song book," (1950) with David Wyckoff Kemp; and "Music, dance, and religion: the performing arts in worship" (1985) and "Performer as priest and prophet: restoring the intuitive in worship through music and dance" (1988) with the dancer, Judith Rock.

Norman Mealy died on March 12, 1987. He was survived by his wife, Margaret Williams Mealy, and three sons, David, Mark, and Robert.

From the description of Norman Mealy research material on British Library hymn collection, ca. 1980-1987. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122517719

Biography / Administrative History

Norman Carleton Mealy (1923-1987) was Professor of Church Music at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific from 1952 to 1987 and the GTU from 1965 to 1987. He was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1960. He served as the Director of Music at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in Berkeley from 1947 to 1961.

According to his wife Margaret Mealy, "This Norman Mealy collection of 18th century hymnals (photocopies) is part of the John Wesley family of tune books. All are edited by John Wesley, who chose the hymns and their musical arrangement, except for Harmonia Sacra, from which Wesley selected some hymns. These hymnals reflect Wesley's insistence that all sing at Methodist meetings. His work culminated in A Collection of Hymns for the use by the People Called Methodists ."

The Rev. Mealy spent several sabbaticals studying these Wesley materials at the library of the British Museum and the Methodist Archives at Manchester. In 1975, he wrote, "In 1970 I had begun a study of the Wesley family of tune books and first became fascinated with the congregational music of a church in the midst of renewal...(Now)I hope to bring back photographic reproductions of the more important collections to add to our hymnological resources...In addition to indexing melodies, I hope to study the curious stylistic changes in congregational music from the syllabic tune of the 17th century to the graceful sound of the 18th."

In 1983, as part of a sabbatical request, he proposed "to complete a study of the 1780 A Collection of Hymns for the use by the People Called Methodists . This hymnal (525 texts) was the last to be edited by John Wesley and became the foundation for all subsequent revisions." Illness and death prevented the completion of this project.

Active in developing new music within the Episcopal Church, he served on several commissions on service music and liturgy and assisted in collecting music for several Church publications: Hymns and Carols (1966); Songs for liturgy and more hymns and spiritual songs (1971); Book of Canticles (1979); and The Hymnal (1982). Other publications include Sing for Joy; A Songbook for Young Children (1961) with his wife, Margaret; Skier's Song Book (1950) with David Wyckoff Kemp; and Music, Dance, and Religion: The Performing Arts in Worship (1985) and Performer as Priest and Prophet: Restoring the Intuitive in Worship through Music and Dance (1988) with the dancer, Judith Rock.

From the guide to the Norman C. Mealy collection of 18th Century Methodist Hymnals, ca. 1983, (The Graduate Theological Union. Library.)