Category: Hymns

Our move is finally over and I’ve got my office (and my mind) more or less tidy enough to start back to work. The first project was to finish this anthem/song/whatever…

You can download the score at this link:

And you can listen to it here:

I’d love to get a grant that would pay the musicians, conductor, and studio to make a recording of the couple dozen anthems (hymns) I’ve written, but I really don’t know where to even apply for such a thing. My stuff’s too commercial and, doubly damned, it’s religious. Not promising for grants.

Until such a utopian future, I’ll have to satisfy myself with computerized orchestral demos, like this one. The score gives the words, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

This coming Sunday as part of Lakewood’s Mother’s Day celebration, we’re going to sing a new hymn by Hilton called “Just As a Nursing Mother.” The words and music are by Hilton and they were inspired by a sermon of Rev. Kim’s (posted 10/23/2020 — https://lakewooducc.org/2020/10/23/corona-sabbath-32-compassion-reflection-text/).

Because it’s a hymn the congregation has never heard or sung, here’s a video recording of to listen to in order to familiarize yourself with it: https://youtu.be/FyFJTNi4BXI.

Here’s the bulletin insert of the music and words for the same familiarization purpose.

Happy listening and learning and Happy Mother’s Day (anticipated)!

A basic skill for any organist/church musician is composing hymn descants. Descants are countermelodies that make the singing of the hymn tune more enjoyable for the congregation…they allow the singers to enjoy the tension of counterpoint at a visceral level.