Music for October 12, 2014 + The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• O Taste and See – Richard DeLong (1951-1994)
• Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us – William Bradley Roberts (b. 1947)

Instrumental Music

• Basse de Trompette - Jean-François Dandrieu (1682-1738)
• Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness - Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
• Rigaudon - André Campra (1660-1744)

Congregational Music (all hymns from the Hymnal 1982 with the exception of those marked “R” which are from Renew.)

• Hymn 7 - Christ, whose glory fills the skies (RATISBON)
• Hymn 645 - The King of love my shepherd is (ST. COLUMBA)
• Hymn 383 - Fairest Lord Jesus (ST. ELIZABETH)
• Hymn 321 - My God, thy table now is spread (ROCKINGHAM)
• Hymn 556 - Rejoice, ye pure in heart (MARION)

Dr. William Bradley Roberts

The things you learn writing (and researching) a blog about your music. For instance: this Sunday we are going to sing one of the anthems from last week's Diocesan Choral Festival, a simple but beautiful piece by a friend of mine, Bill Roberts. I had met Bill several years ago at the Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy and strengthened that friendship through the avenue of Facebook. It was not until looking up pertinent information about him  (read: his birth-year) that I learned he was a graduate of Houston Baptist University. The Rev. Dr. Roberts is currently Professor of Church Music at Virginia Theological Seminary and Director of Chapel Music there, so you can imagine my surprise to find out that not only is he an alum of HBU, but was also ordained as a Baptist minister! He is now, however, thoroughly Episcopalian, having served as music director of some of the country's largest and most active Episcopal congregations.

We are singing his setting of the hymn text, Savior, like a shepherd lead us, which employs a lilting melody in compound triple meter. The addition of a flute (played by Ruth Clark) on the second stanza really adds to the pastoral feel that one would expect for a song about a shepherd.

Richard DeLong

Our other anthem was written by another friend of mine from my SMU days, Richard Delong, Richard was an organist, harpsichordist, conductor, composer, and clinician, from Mansfield, Ohio, before he moved to Dallas, Texas in 1973 to attend Southern Methodist University, where he received the degrees of Master of Music and Master of Sacred Music. He served as director of music for East Dallas Christian Church and St. Matthew's Episcopal Cathedral before being appointed Director of Music for the Roman Catholic parish of St. Mark the Evangelist, in Plano, Texas, a position he held until his death.  He was an exquisite choral conductor, and his choirs rivaled any choir at home or abroad.

His work as a composer became recognized nationally following the premiere of his "Deus Creator Omnium" at the opening of the 1985 Regional American Guild of Organists convention in Providence, RI. His own choir sang the premiere performances of nearly 100 choral works. His anthem, O Taste and See, was published in 1992. It is a superb a cappella motet on the text from Psalm 34. It has a harmonic language with really requires the choir to listen and tune to each other.