- Ride On, King Jesus – Hall Johnson (1888-1970), arr.; Richard Murray, baritone
- O Beautiful for Spacious Skies – Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)
- Neo-Classique – Mark Hayes (b. 1953)
- Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Emma Lou Diemer
- Hymn 718 - God of our Fathers, whose almighty hand (NATIONAL HYMN)
- Hymn R23 - The steadfast love of the Lord (Edith McNeill)
- Hymn 707 - Take my life, and let it be (HOLLINGSIDE)
- Hymn 716 - God bless our native land (AMERICA)
- Hymn 773 - Heal me, hands of Jesus (SHARPE)
- Hymn R191 - O Christ, the healer, we have come (ERHALT UNS, HERR)
- Hymn 610 - Lord, whose love through humble service (BLAENHAFREN)
The Fourth of July (Independence Day) is one of the most American of Holidays, where we unabashedly celebrate our patriotism. Though it does not take precedence over the prescribed readings for the day, we can still celebrate America with truly American music and composers.
One truly American genre is the Negro Spiritual. Richard Murray will sing an upbeat spiritual arranged by Hall Johnson, a highly regarded African American choral director, composer, arranger, and violinist of the 20th century who dedicated his career to preserving the integrity of the Negro spiritual as it had been performed during the era of slavery.
Johnson was born in Athens, Georgia, taught himself to play the violin by reading a book about it, moved to New York City where he played in the orchestra of Broadway musicals, and set out to preserve the heritage of the Spiritual. He arranged spirituals for his own ensemble, the Hall Johnson Singers as well as soloists such as the famed Marion Anderson. He also provided the scores for several films, his last being “Cabin in the Sky” in 1943 with Ethel Waters and Lena Horne.
Another American treasure (who is still alive, by the way) is the composer Emma Lou Diemer. Born in Missouri to a family that valued arts and education (her father was a university president, he mother a church worker), she began piano lessons at a very early age and became organist in her church at age 13. Her great interest in composing music continued through College High School in Warrensburg, MO, and she majored in composition at the Yale Music School (BM, 1949; MM, 1950) and at the Eastman School of Music (Ph.D, 1960). She studied in Brussels, Belgium on a Fulbright Scholarship and spent two summers of composition study at the Berkshire Music Center.
Through the years she has written many works of varying levels of difficulty from hymns and songs to concertos and symphonies. Her church music background is evidenced in her works for choir and organ.
The piano offertory is a piece written in a quasi Classical style ("Classical" meaning the period in Music History, as typified by Mozart and Haydn.) The Classical era was an era of formality and its music was characterized by careful attention to form and by elegance and restraint.
Classical music tends to be more homophonic and lighter in texture than that of the Baroque. Instead of a multi-voiced fugue, you'll find a single melody line over a choral accompaniment. You'll also find a slower harmonic movement. Baroque music is characterized by frequent harmonic changes, sometimes on every beat. Classical music changes chords much less frequently, giving it a more graceful sweep and lightness of phrasing than that created by the rapidly changing embellished chords. This is the effect that Mark Hayes has tried to emulate.
Hayes, like Diemer, is an internationally known and award-winning composer, arranger, and performer with over 1200 publications in print. And, like Diemer, he hails from Missouri, making his home in Kansas City.
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| Hall Johnson |
Johnson was born in Athens, Georgia, taught himself to play the violin by reading a book about it, moved to New York City where he played in the orchestra of Broadway musicals, and set out to preserve the heritage of the Spiritual. He arranged spirituals for his own ensemble, the Hall Johnson Singers as well as soloists such as the famed Marion Anderson. He also provided the scores for several films, his last being “Cabin in the Sky” in 1943 with Ethel Waters and Lena Horne.
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| Emma Lou Diemer |
Another American treasure (who is still alive, by the way) is the composer Emma Lou Diemer. Born in Missouri to a family that valued arts and education (her father was a university president, he mother a church worker), she began piano lessons at a very early age and became organist in her church at age 13. Her great interest in composing music continued through College High School in Warrensburg, MO, and she majored in composition at the Yale Music School (BM, 1949; MM, 1950) and at the Eastman School of Music (Ph.D, 1960). She studied in Brussels, Belgium on a Fulbright Scholarship and spent two summers of composition study at the Berkshire Music Center.
Through the years she has written many works of varying levels of difficulty from hymns and songs to concertos and symphonies. Her church music background is evidenced in her works for choir and organ.
The piano offertory is a piece written in a quasi Classical style ("Classical" meaning the period in Music History, as typified by Mozart and Haydn.) The Classical era was an era of formality and its music was characterized by careful attention to form and by elegance and restraint.
Classical music tends to be more homophonic and lighter in texture than that of the Baroque. Instead of a multi-voiced fugue, you'll find a single melody line over a choral accompaniment. You'll also find a slower harmonic movement. Baroque music is characterized by frequent harmonic changes, sometimes on every beat. Classical music changes chords much less frequently, giving it a more graceful sweep and lightness of phrasing than that created by the rapidly changing embellished chords. This is the effect that Mark Hayes has tried to emulate.
Hayes, like Diemer, is an internationally known and award-winning composer, arranger, and performer with over 1200 publications in print. And, like Diemer, he hails from Missouri, making his home in Kansas City.
