SPARA KPAR@ ` STEXT ` ERuncie, Constance Faunt Le Roy1836╨1911composerBorn in Indianapolis on January 15, 1836, Constance Faunt Le Roy was a granddaughter of Robert Owen, the Welsh industrial reformer. She grew up in New Harmony, Indiana. She early displayed musical talent, and from 1852 to 1857 she studied piano and composition in Germany. Back in New Harmony, she organized in 1859 the Minerva Society, one of the first women╒s clubs in America. In April 1861 she married the Reverend James Runcie, with whom she lived in Madison, Indiana, for a decade and then in St. Joseph, Missouri. While continuing her interest in the women╒s club movement, she devoted much time to composing hymns and songs. Her earliest hymn, written in 1863, was ╥There Is a Land of Pure Delight.╙ Later works included ╥I╒ve Wandered Far Away,╙ ╥Invocation to Love,╙ ╥Das VÜglein Singt,╙ ╥Take My Soul, O Lord,╙ ╥Around the Lord in Glory,╙ ╥Hear, O Hear Us,╙ ╥I Hold My Heart So Still,╙ ╥We Have Sinned Unto Death,╙ a cantata, a ╥Te Deum,╙ and The Prince of Asturia, an opera. Her compositions were generally well received by critics, and many became widely known. It was said that no piece of hers was ever rejected by a publisher. She also wrote numerous stories and in 1888 published a volume of Poems, Dramatic and Lyric. She died in Winnetka, Illinois, on May 17, 1911. ╓styl `
