O Come, Let Us Sing

Description

The commission from the American Guild of Organists for an anthem for chorus and congregation for its National Convention inspired me to combine two texts that I have loved and known for many years: the “Venite” Psalm 95 text in the King James translation, and F. Pratt Green’s hymn text “When In Our Music God Is Glorified” as set to music by Charles Villiers Stanford. My anthem begins to introduce musical motives from the Stanford hymn gradually from the beginning of the anthem, largely in the organ accompaniment, and sometimes in individual voice parts, leading the the full statement of the hymn in the congregation at the end of the composition. The anthem can be performed without congregation, with the choir singing the hymn tune, and a solo quartet singing the Gloria Patri. “O Come, Let Us Sing/When In Our Music God Is Glorified” was commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for its National Convention held in San Francisco and was premiered at Grace Cathedral on July 4th, 2024.