Songs of Loudest Praise (2012)
Angie Willoughby, my colleague at Mississippi College, asked me to write a piece based on a hymn tune for two of her students, Robby and Mary Catherine. When I asked the students to name their favorite hymn, they surprisingly came up with the same answer, and there were two! Songs of Loudest Praise is based on the hymns "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and "Be Thou My Vision", but not simply as a hymn medley. The request from the teacher of these two students was that the musical construction be engaging and complex. The result is this sonata-like piece in which the two hymn-tunes feature as contrasting themes that are developed and recombined throughout in order to present a unity of praise in wordless jubilation.
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