July 5, 2020 + The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Vocal Music

• The House I Live In – Music by Earl Robinson (1901-1991); words by Abel Meeropol (1903 –1986), Bruce Bailey, baritone

Instrumental Music

• Variations on “America” – Gary R. Smoke (21st C.)
• Prelude and Fughetta in C Major – Johann Kaspar Ferdinand Fischer (1656-1746)

Congregational Music (from the Hymnal 1982)

• Hymn 716 - God bless our native land (AMERICA)

The solo this Sunday is not a “sacred song,’ per se. It became a patriotic anthem in America during World War II, so I thought it would be good to remind us, today, what America means to us, all “races and religions,” as the song says.  The lyrics describe the wonderful things about the country, with images of the era like the grocer, the butcher, and the churchyard. The "house" is a metaphor for the country.

First introduced in the 1942 revue, Let Freedom Ring, it has lyrics by Abel Meeropol and music by Earl Robinson. Meeropol, who wrote it under the pen name Lewis Allan, had very liberal views and mixed feelings about America. He loved the constitutional rights and freedoms that America was based on, but he hated the way people of other races, religions, and political views were often treated. His lyrics do not reflect the way he thought America was but what it had the potential to be. With the country under attack, he wanted to express why it was worth fighting for.

It was first sung by Frank Sinatra for the 1945 short-subject film, The House I Live In. Made to oppose anti-Semitism at the end of World War II, the movie received an Honorary Academy Award and a special Golden Globe Award in 1946.

The song became a hit for Sinatra and was recorded by him several times. It was performed on radio, television, and in concert throughout his career, including at every stop of his 1974 national “Main Event” tour. Significantly, it was one of his final recordings (for the electronic duet with Neil Diamond).

Here's Sinatra's introduction to this song, live at Madison Square Garden in 1974:

It's a song about this great, big, wonderful, imperfect country. I say imperfect because if it were perfect it wouldn't be any fun trying to fix it, trying to make it work better, trying to make sure that everybody gets a fair shake and then some. My country is personal to me because my father, who wasn't born here, rest his soul, he made sure that I was born here. And he used to tell me when I was a kid that America was a land of dreams and a dreamland, well I don't know if our country fulfilled all of his dreams while he was alive, but tonight with all of us together for this hour, it sure fulfills my dreams. And to all of you in the country and all of you watching tonight, here's a song about a place we call home, probably the greatest nation ever put on this earth.

Our Handbell Choir includes two mother/daughter combinations, the Jenkins (Kathy, Bryn, and Meredith) and the Wilsons (Missy and Celeste). We could safely rehearse in three groups, 6 feet apart from each other, so we gathered to learn some arrangements of Patriotic songs for the Fourth of July.

The set of variations on “America” (or “God Save the Queen,” if you are a Royalist) is arranged by Gary Smoke, an organist, composer, and church musician from Alabama. He received a BM in Organ Performance and a MM and DMA in Music Composition from The University of Alabama.  His catalog of works includes an opera, orchestral music, choral music, organ music, piano music, and a large quantity of chamber music. He owns High Meadow Music Publishing, which specializes in handbell music.

He has been the organist at Mountain Brook Presbyterian Church near Birmingham since August 2004.