Christmas Anthems by Glenn Osborne and John Dalles

This morning, Glenn Osborne sent me a link to his web page on which he has placed recordings of the three anthems with my hymn texts:

Babe of Bethlehem, Draw Near!

See a Baby, See a Manger!

God We Would Hear the Angels Sing!

You can listen to them by clicking on this link and then opening each anthem in the column on the right.

http://wmglennosborne.com/audio2.html


There are other works by Glenn on the page, and I encourage you to listen to them all.

Anthems with Composer Wm. Glenn Osborne

Last night I was invited by Wm. Glenn Osborne to hear three anthems that he wrote, using my hymn texts, as sung by the Shrine Choir, the professional octet at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe at their Thursday evening rehearsal.

What a thrill it was to hear them sing this fantastic music that Glenn wrote this month.

The SHRINE CHOIR is the professional choir-in-residence at the Shrine, directed by Dr. Wiliam Picher.

The Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine Choir is the resident professional choir-in-residence at Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine, the last great Marian shrine of the Second Millennium, which opened in 1993. The Shrine Choir was formed to minister to the many thousands of tourists who attend Mass at the Shrine, and to provide the very best in liturgical choral music. The Shrine Choir's members come from all parts of the United States, and all have extensive choral experience. In addition to singing regularly at Shrine liturgies on Sundays and Holy Days, the Shrine Choir performs concerts and other outreach ministries.

Dr. William Picher (director) was born to a musical family in Portland, Maine and began taking organ lessons with his father, Frank Picher, at the age of 7. At age 13, he began study of trumpet and has continued playing both instruments throughout his career, as well as composing, conducting and teaching. Dr. Picher holds music degrees from the University of Maine, Eastman School of Music and Catholic University of America. He as has served at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Portland, Maine), the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle (St. Petersburg, Florida) and as a member of the United States Navy Band in Washington DC. He has composed and arranged several published choral and brass works. In 2000, Dr. Picher was awarded the St. Jude Medal by Bishop Robert Lynch in recognition for his service to the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle and the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Currently, Dr. Picher serves as Director of Music/Organist and the Artistic Director of the Shrine Concert Series at Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine. Additionally, he is on the music faculty of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.

With a repertoire ranging from the ancient chants of the Church, to selections by contemporary composers, the Shrine Choir ministers at select 9:30 a.m. Sunday masses, along with other special events.

The women and men of the Shrine Choir have such wonderful voices, they truly did justice to Glenn's setting of my words.

You can read mead more about the Shrine Choir at their webpage:

http://www.maryqueenoftheuniverse.org/choirs.html

The names of the anthems are:

...

"See a Baby! See a Manger!'

...

"Babe of Bethlehem, Draw Near!"

...

"God, We Would Hear the Angels Sing"

...

Glenn wrote these anthems because he recently had a conversation with the school music director at St. Margaret Mary. She is looking for Christmas music for her choir to sing at the Pueri Canotres festival in Rome. Glenn had one Christmas text of mine already, but wanted to know if I had any others I could share with him. I sent him several, not knowing which might work best for his purposes. Immediately he set to work and has created three stunning anthems.

About Pueri Cantores: The basis of the modern International Federation of Pueri Cantores, founded in the twentieth century, was formed on a deep ancient Christian conviction that singing can be an instrument of worshipping God. It has been a significant element determining the musical form of Christian worship over the centuries. St Paul in his letter to Colossians encourages them to teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as they sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs with gratitude in their hearts to God (cf. Col 3:16). These words prove that in the early Christian consciousness there was a strong belief that people, through singing, not only worship God, but also professes their faith. Thus singing was a tool of preaching the Gospel and a means of spiritual and moral development of a believer. An ancient conviction that "music soothes the savage beast", and allegedly St Augustine's saying that "he who sings, prays twice as much", serve as a very convincing proof. Those early Christian ideas are fundamental to the present shape of the Pueri Cantores Federation.

I wish you could have heard the Shrine Choir sing them. And I wish you could have heard their enthusiastic reactions at the end of each piece.

Let me tell you about Glenn:

William Glenn Osborne is the Director of Liturgical Music for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, Florida. Mr. Osborne works in conjunction with the Director of Liturgy to plan all major and secondary diocesan liturgical celebrations. He also serves as a consultant to clergy and musicians throughout the diocese on relevant liturgical, musical and personnel issues.

Prior to coming to Orlando, Mr. Osborne served as Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, NY. His duties included not only playing the organ, directing the choir and training cantors, but also organizing concerts and composing music for liturgy.

Mr. Osborne studied organ, improvisation, and composition in France, living in Aix-en-Provence and Lyon. Before studying abroad, he earned degrees from Westminster Choir College and the University of Notre Dame where he studied organ with William Hays and Craig Cramer, respectively. Mr. Osborne has given concerts in the United States, Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, and Greece, and has placed in several national and international competitions.

With singer-songwriter Kim Harris, he composed Friends of Freedom to introduce children to spirituals, opera and the underground railroad. In 2006, he was commissioned by the Festival Celebration Choir in Albany, NY to compose a piece, “Festival Te Deum,” which premiered in honor of their 20th anniversary. In 2008, Mr. Osborne arranged pieces for papal liturgies during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to New York City.

Glenn plans to take the anthems to the AGO conference in July and I plan to take them to the Hymn Society Conference the week thereafter. Maybe at one or the other, they will find a home with a publisher.

"Sinfonia Festiva" with words by John A. Dalles

In about a month I will be presenting a new book of my hymns called "We Turn to God" at the 2010 Annual Conference of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

I have just recently learned the happy news that last year's Annual Conference of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada included as the closing composition of the hymn festival "Hear the Children Life Their Voices" a work by James Biery called "Sinfonia Festiva". James Biery is the Director of Music of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the festival was held. "Sinfonia Festiva" was presented with the first stanza of my hymn "God, Bless Your Church With Strength" printed as an accompanying text. "God, Bless Your Church with Strength" was written for the 150th anniversary of First Presbyterian Church of South Bend, Indiana.

For more about Jim Biery and his work, see: http://bierymusic.com/

For more about architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, who was Isabel Roberts' architecture professor, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Louis_Masqueray

O God, Our Lives are Parched and Dry - A New Anthem with Dorothy Frisch

In this weekend's mail I received my author's ten copies of a new anthem, with my words and music by Dorothy Frisch, called "O God, Our Lives are Parched and Dry."As with most anthems, this one has an interesting back story...

I wrote the words to be sung to the very familiar tune OLD 100TH, on June 23, 2005. So five years ago, this month. It is a hymn about living water, and the scriptural allusion most apt is from John Chapter Four. As is possible for anyone writing hymns, I posted the hymn text on The Hymn Society website, so that those who are interested in new hymns could see it and consider using it; this was on August 12, 2005. Permission for its one time use in worship was also given with that posting, which was to end at the end of 2006.

It was there that Dorothy found the words, and wrote beautiful music to go with them, setting the hymn as an anthem, very much the anthem that you see today in this new publication. While Dorothy had worked for a church in Pittsburgh at a time that coincided with my time of serving Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, there, we had never met.

The anthem was sung here at Wekiva and at Dorothy's church as well, by their respective choirs. Eventually, GIA Music in Chicago indicated an interest in the work as an anthem, and now, here it is, available for choir directors and congregations, wherever they may be.

There is more to the story of course, with lots of emails and conversations back and forth between author, composer and publisher, but this is the condensed version. Five years may seem a long time from conception to publication, but it seems to be pretty typical.

And as many of you know, Dorothy has set other of my works to music including a complete Christmas cantata and a complete Easter Cantata.

Hymn for the Merger of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church and Conway Presbyterian Church

On Sunday afternoon, I had the joy of attending the service of dedication and merger for the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church here in Orlando. It was a wonderful occasion, as the former Conway Presbyterian Church and Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church united, as planned, under the Grace Covenant name. Also part of the festivities were many former members of the now closed John Calvin Presbyterian Church, whose building and property had been bought by the school district for the purposes of expansion. So while "officially" this was a merger of two congregations, in many ways it was a merger of three.

I served as the chairperson of the Merger Commission, which began in 2007 and has now concluded its work. This was the second time that I had the responsibility of serving on such a commission of Central Florida Presbytery. The last time, it was for College Park Presbyterian Church. In both of these circumstances, it is fair to say that the gifts and talents of the congregations, when combined, brought new vitality for mission and enthusiasm for ministry.

The service was lovely in every way, with a video showing the history of the three congregations. To symbolize their union, three cords were braided together—one gold, one white and one a deep burgundy. Then our Executive Presbyter spoke, declaring the merger perfected. Afterward there was cake and punch and all could tour the new facilities for the congregation, including a new gym, youth wing, day care center and more.

The concluding hymn is one which I wrote especially for the congregation for this merger celebration. The congregation sang it beautifully, filling the sanctuary with a joyful noise.

Here is the hymn…

COME PRAISE THE LORD WHOSE LIVING WORD
Dedication Hymn for Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church
Text: John A. Dalles
Familiar Tune: GOSHEN
Meter: C.M.D.

Come praise the Lord whose living word
Can challenge, cheer and guide us!
Come sense anew what God can do,
With open hearts and hands!
Come sing a new song to the Lord,
Who has done wondrous things!
God’s hand brings might! God’s truth brings light!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing!

Come praise this day, Christ’s holy way,
Of true and trustful living!
Bring memory and constancy,
And joy on this great day!
Friends new, friends dear, now gather here,
Within God’s holy place,
So we may share and we may bear
God’s covenant of grace!

Come praise always God’s constant ways
Of kindness, love and mercy!
Come dedicate and consecrate
Our church, our lives, to God!
For we depend on all God sends
Us by the Spirit’s power;
So we may live and freely give,
To God our best, this hour!

Come praise once more, rejoice, adore,
God’s everlasting presence!
Come strive to be prepared as we
Do what the Lord would do!
Show forth God’s light, with promise bright,
Until Christ’s work is done,
And all shall see, eternally,
In Christ, we are made one!


Copyright © 2009, John A. Dalles
Permission granted to Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church.

"God Bless the Work Your People Do"

Press Release - March 2010

Macalester Plymouth United Church of St. Paul, Minnesota, is pleased to announce the winners of the 14th annual hymn contest, a search for new hymn texts to be sung on Labor Day. The contest specifically asked for "words that especially address the plight of the unemployed. Traditionally, we have celebrated work on Labor Day. But what if one does not have work of is under-employed? Denied the opportunity to earn a living, an unemployed worker often questions his or her value and worth. We hope to explore the role of the church in addressing these issues."

The winning hymn, "God Bless the Work Your People Do", was written by the Rev. Dr. John A. Dalles, the pastor of Wekiva Presbyterian Church in Longwood, Florida. He is a graduate of both Lancaster Theological Seminary (UCC) and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PCUSA). A life member of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, his hymn texts have been published in a number of denominational hymnals.

For the past 14 years, the church has sponsored a hymn-writing contest seeking new texts that "can motivate the church to be more actively involved in social reform."

Church officials say the contest is the longest-running one they know of. It has attracted entries from around the country and much of the rest of the English-speaking world including Canada, England and Australia.

In church hymn circles, the social justice hymn contest has acquired an "American Idol" or Sundance Film Festival or Oprah Book Club sort of clout, capable of elevating a previously unknown artist to national prominence.

"It's one of the most respected competitions because it's an ongoing thing. It has a certain cachet," said Carl P. Daw Jr., executive director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. "It has often been a kind of initial recognition of emerging hymn writers."

The St. Paul contest is funded with an endowment by A.A. "Al" Heckman, a church member and philanthropist who died in 1994.

Here is my winning hymn. If you have ever selected Jane Laurie Borthwick's celebrated Labor themed hymn "Come Labor On", it is hard to find another useful hymn for Labor Day.  I encourage you to consider singing it this coming Labor Day Sunday. Please note the copyright information at the bottom and be in touch with me, via email, if you wish to use the hymn:

GOD, BLESS THE WORK YOUR PEOPLE DO
A Labor Day Hymn
Winner 2009 Macalester Plymouth United Church Hymn Writing Contest
Text: John A. Dalles, April 3, 2009

I.
God, bless the work your people do throughout each working day,
The contributions that they make, the talents they display.
God, bless the work your people do, with minds and hands and hearts,
To benefit the common good, the sciences and arts.

II.
For all who have no respite, God, from labor without ease,
For those for whom their work is filled with danger or disease.
For all who labor without gain; or have no rest this day;
For all who labor without hope, O God, we humbly pray;

III.
We pray for those who cannot work, or seek for work in vain,
Great God, we pray your mercy shall encourage them, again!
We pray for those whose work is hard, on body, spirit, soul,
The underpaid, under-employed, who fill a vital role.

IV.
Grant unto each a day designed for worship, joy and rest;
A Sabbath time of holiness, in which they may be blessed.
As you achieved creation’s work, then rested from your task,
God bless the work your people do, and call it good, we ask!
Meter: CMD
Suggested Tunes: FOREST GREEN or ELLACOMBE

Copyright © 2009, John A. Dalles

Permission for use must be obtained in writing from the author.

At the time that the winning hymn was announced, articles sharing that news appeared in several different places, including: ''Notes About People'' - By Jerry L. Van Marter of the Presbyterian Church (USA); ''Lancaster Online'' - Article by Lori Van Ingen; and ''Hymn Contest Winner'' - By Deborah Lofts, Executive Director of The Hymn Society.

Since its selection, this hymn text has found its way to many places, often sung in congregations on Labor Day weekend.  it also is included the hymn book called ""Sing of the World Made New: Hymns of Justice, Peace, and Christian Responsibility" by editors Jeffrey Rowthorn and Russel Schultz-Widmar. You can see it as hymn number 116.

A New Christmas Carol

In Bethlehem the Lord was Born
The Bethlehem Carol

Text: John A. Dalles, December 26, 2009
Tune: MIT FREUDEN ZART or BIRDSTOWN
Meter: 87.87.88.7.


In Bethlehem the Lord was born
And there the shepherds found Him,
Christ in a manger soft and warm,
With swaddling clothes around Him,
While overhead a star shone bright,
As angel choirs filled the night:
All glory in the highest!


In Bethlehem, we saw His face,
And were blessed by our seeing,
The Author of eternal grace
Brought into human being.
So hold your breath all who draw near;
And thrill to God’s redemption here:
All glory in the highest!


In Bethlehem, high accolades,
And worship true are given!
This Child will grow to teach us ways
To trust and honor heaven;
And every child shall call Him friend—
This Child for whom earth’s praises blend:
All glory in the highest!


In Bethlehem we celebrate,
We join in joyful singing;
Then onward go to emulate
The love this Child is bringing!
For still the light of Christ is bright;
And angels echo through the night:
All glory in the highest!


Copyright © 2024, John A. Dalles

You have my permission to use this Christmas hymn, one-time in worship with the proper copyright information as shown, using the guideline information above.

Please let me know if you use this hymn!