For the Beauty of the Earth - VCU (1998)

For the Beauty of the Earth - familiar lyrics reset
MW: baritone TNR: tenor AW: alto TM: soprano

For the beauty of the earth, for the Glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies: Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light:
For the joy of ear and eye, for the heart and mind's for the mystic linking sense to sound and sight:
For each perfect gift of Thine, to our race so freely given, graces human and divine, flowers of earth and buds of Heaven:

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In hymn writing, it's typical to name the melody specifically, as it may be switched out to various lyrics and verses. This Ronda Melody was named for my mom in 1998.
Grabbing the attention of Saint David's Episcopal, Richmond, this hymn landed my first directing job as their Minister of Music. Each week we had something of mine performed by either kid's band or adult choir, plus I'd sing regularly and perform on various instruments (flute, clarinet, djembe, trumpet, guitars, piano, mandolin, flugelhorn, etc.) - a fantastic learning experience. Regrettably, I hadn't yet a recording studio.
Recorded here for my VCU Composition Recital (2001): baritone Matt Wenninger, T. Nathan Roane singing tenor, alto Amy Daugherty Wenninger and jazz soprano Terri Murphy.