1906–1979

Introduction

portrait

Born: Ju­ly 15, 1906, Toc­coa, Georg­ia.

Died: Feb­ru­ary 13, 1979, Lex­ing­ton, Ken­tuc­ky.

Buried: Ze­bu­lon Ce­me­te­ry, Toc­coa, Georg­ia.

Biography

Theodore was the son of Jes­se Lov­ell Sisk and Cor­ne­lia Lou Et­ta Will­iams, and hus­band of Le­no­ra Smith.

He stu­died mu­sic in sing­ing schools run by his fa­ther, a min­is­ter, at the She­nan­do­ah Con­ser­va­tory of Mu­sic, and at mu­sic nor­mals con­duct­ed by James H. Rue­bush.

His teach­ers in­clud­ed the Ita­li­an te­nor Vol­pi, Dr. Rush­ing at She­nan­do­ah, Mrs. Long (pi­ano) and Dr. Sher­wood.

He be­gan sing­ing young, per­form­ing with the Sisk Quar­tet, the Sisk Fa­mi­ly, and the At­lan­ta Quar­tet.

From 1928–48, he was mu­sic ed­it­or for the Sisk Mu­sic Com­pa­ny, which spe­cial­ized in pub­lish­ing shape note mu­sic. He was as­so­ci­at­ed with the Stamps-Bax­ter Mu­sic Com­pa­ny, 1949–53. He al­so taught hun­dreds of sing­ing schools.

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Alone in the Gar­den
  2. Echoes, Sweet Ech­oes
  3. Far Above the Star­ry Sky
  4. Here We Ga­ther and Love to Sing
  5. I Am Hap­py Every Day as I Go Along My Way
  6. I Am Hap­py in the Ser­vice of My King
  7. I Am Look­ing for the Se­cond Com­ing
  8. I Will Sing My St­ory
  9. I’m Keep­ing Rea­dy for the Time
  10. I’m Press­ing On­ward with a Won­der­ful Song
  11. Jesus Brings Sweet Joy to Me
  12. Jesus Gives Me a Song as I Tra­vel Along
  13. My Heart Is Fixed on Thee, O God
  14. My Heart Is Sick, O How I Long to See
  15. My Soul Is So Hap­py
  16. O Don’t You Hear That Clock Tick­ing?
  17. O What Joy to Praise
  18. Often We Sing to the Great King
  19. Ring Ye the Bells of Hea­ven
  20. Some Glad Day We’ll Soar Away
  21. Sometimes I Grow Wea­ry
  22. That Will Be a Hap­py Time
  23. Press On, It Won’t Be Long
  24. When Bil­lows Are Rag­ing
  25. When I’m in Need
  26. When in the Hour of Trou­ble, and of Care