Son of a shoe­mak­er, Simp­er worked for a while at a mu­sic shop in Wor­ces­ter, near that owned by the El­gar fam­i­ly. In the 1890s, he moved to Barn­sta­ple, where he spent the rest of his ca­reer work­ing as a choir­mas­ter, or­gan­ist and com­pos­er. He pro­duced a pro­di­gious amount of An­gli­can church mu­sic and or­gan piec­es, aimed at small pa­rish choirs and un­skilled or­gan­ists. His an­thems in par­ti­cu­lar be­came wid­ely pop­u­lar and were sold un­der the slo­gan Sung through­out the ci­vi­lized world. Over five mil­lion copies were sold by the 1920s.

1. Carol! Car­ol Joy­ful­ly
2. Caroling, Car­ol­ing, All Thro’ the Night
3. Happy Christ­mas Morn­ing
4. In Beth­l’m of Ju­dah
5. Now Let Us Raise Our Har­vest Song
6. O Christ­mas Bells, Ring Far and Near
7. O Love­ly Star That Shone So Bright
8. Ring Out, O Bells, in Glad­ness
9. Roland
10. Softly the Night Is Sleep­ing
11. Star of Beth­leh­em, Sweet­ly Shin­ing
12. Sweet An­gels, Ev­er Bright and Fair
13. Sweetest Mu­sic, Soft­ly Steal­ing
14. What Do They Say, These Bells to Me?
15. Wheat and Barl­ey, Bright with Sum­mer
16. Waken, Chris­tians! Greet the Morn