Fanfare Prelude on "God of Our Fathers"

James Curnow

Subtitle: The National Hymn

General Info

Year: 1876 / 1983
Duration: c. 3:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Jenson
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

Bass Drum
Mallet Percussion
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Commission in honor of the Centennial of Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, for the University Band, Dr. John W. Taylor, conductor.

- Program Note from score

God of Our Fathers is a 19th-century American Christian hymn, written in 1876 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. The hymn was written by Daniel C. Roberts, a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church serving, at the time, as rector of St. Thomas & Grace Episcopal churches in Brandon, Vermont. Roberts had served in the American Civil War in the 84th Ohio Infantry.

In 1892, Roberts sent the hymn anonymously to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to be considered by a group tasked with revising the Episcopal hymnal. If the group accepted his hymn, Roberts said he would send them his name. The commission approved it. The hymnal editor and organist George W. Warren were to choose a hymn for the celebration of the Centennial of the United States Constitution. They chose Roberts' lyrics, which were originally sung to a tune called Russian Hymn. Warren wrote a new tune called National Hymn.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: Concordia University Wind Symphony (Richard Fischer, conductor) - 1993

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Orcas Island (Washington) Community Band (Karen Key Speck, conductor) - 4 June 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Amber Waves of Grain (Flex instrumentation) (1994)
Canticum (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
Fanfare and Flourishes (Flex instrumentation) (1995/2013)
Korean Folk Rhapsody (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
Nathan Hale Trilogy (Flex instrumentation) (1990/2013)
Renaissance Suite (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (c.1551/1983/2016)
Valdres (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1904/1985/2015)

All Wind Works

African Sketches (1992)
Album for the Young (Op. 39) (as arranger) (1878/2007)
Amber Waves of Grain (1994)
Amber Waves of Grain (Flex instrumentation) (1994)
Appalachian Dances (2008)
Apple Island Legend (1997)
Beyond the Stars
Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair (as arranger) (1985)
Blazon (1997)
Bridge of the Gods (2012)
Canadian Sketches (1996)
Canterbury Coronation (1996)
Canticle at Christmastide (2006)
Canticle of the Creatures (1984)
Canticum (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
The Carnival of the Animals (as arranger) (1886/2008)
Celebration Fanfare
Celebration (1994)
Ceremonial Flourishes (1988)
Chinese Folk Fantasy (2013)
Christmas Classics (1993)
Christmas Fancies (2000)
Christmas Flourish, A (1998)
Christmas Prelude (as arranger) (1989)
Christmas Travelogue (as arranger)
Classical Suite for Piano and Band (as arranger) (2006)
Concertino for Tuba and Band (1978/2001)
Concertpiece (1990)
Concertpiece for Clarinet, Winds and Percussion (1990)
Dance Episodes (2006)
Day at the Circus, A (1998)
Day at the Museum, A (1997)
Day in Space, A
Dialogues for Saxophone Quartet, Winds and Percussion (2005)
Dimensions of Seven
Dublin Sketches
Fanfare and Flourishes (1995)
Fanfare and Flourishes (Flex instrumentation) (1995/2013)
Fanfare for Christmas (2004)
Fanfare for Spartacus (1996)
Fanfare Prelude: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (1999)
Fanfare Prelude on "God of Our Fathers" (1876/1983)
Fanfare Prelude on "Joy to the World" (1985)
Fantasia di Falcone
Fantasy on a Colonial Air
Festive Fanfare for the Holidays (2006)
Festivity (1993)
Festivo Fantastico (1998)
Fiddle Tunes (as arranger) (2002)
Finale for a Winter Festival (2004)
Folk Dances (as arranger (1942/2000)
Freedom Road (1994)
Freedom's Song (2009)
French Christmas Carol Fantasy (1989)
Golliwog's Cakewalk (as arranger)
Guadalcanal March (as arranger) (1952/1989)
Heroic Tribute (2006)
Illini Fantasy (2006)
In Storm and Sunshine (as arranger) (1884/1986)
In the Valley of the Sun (2013)
International Christmas Salute (1996)
Inventions from the Sacred Harp (2005)
Irish Legends (1994)
Journey (2009)
Jubilee (2012)
Kentucky Kaleidoscope
Korean Folk Rhapsody (1988)
Korean Folk Rhapsody (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
Land of Tomorrow (2010)
Lion of Lucerne (1986)
Lone Star Celebration (1995)
Megaforce (1997)
Midway March (as arranger)
Moment in Time, A
Mutanza (1981)
Nathan Hale Trilogy (1990)
Nathan Hale Trilogy (Flex instrumentation) (1990/2013)
Nexus (2015)
Nulli Secundus (Curnow)
Nutcracker Suite (as arranger) (1891/1987)
Overture to a Winter Festival (1995)
Peter and the Wolf (as arranger) (1936/1986)
Praetorius Variations
Prelude and Celebration (1996)
Prelude on a Hymn of Praise (1996)
Prelude on Lobe Den Herren (1982/1997)
The Promise of Living (as arranger) (1954/2012)
Quintessence
Rejouissance (1988)
Renaissance Festival (as arranger) (2008)
Renaissance Suite (as arranger) (c.1551/1983)
Renaissance Suite (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (c.1551/1983/2016)
Rhapsody for Euphonium and Band (1978/1999)
Rhapsody on American Shaped Note Melodies (1996)
Romanza (2017)
Russian Christmas Music (as arranger) (1944/1990)
Russian Folk Fantasy (1992)
Sea to Shining Sea (2006)
Seacliffe Overture (1983)
Selections from "Slavonic Dances," Op. 46 (as transcriber) (1878/)
Selections from "Suite of Old American Dances" (as arranger) (1950/2005)
Selections from Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1992)
Slavonic Dances, The (as transcriber)
Songs of the West (as arranger) (1907/1986)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (as arranger) (1897)
Sovereign Variants
Spirit of the Pioneers (2007)
Suite from "Messiah" (as transcriber) (1741/1989)
Suncatcher (2000)
Symphonic Chorale for Band (1989)
Symphonic Suite from "The Right Stuff" (as arranger) (1983/1984)
Symphonic Triptych (1978)
Symphonic Variants (1998)
Three Colonial Ballads (as arranger)
The Three Drummers (2004)
Toward the Sunrising (1999)
Turkish March (as arranger) (1809/2001)
Valdres (arr Curnow) (as arranger) (1904/1985/2016)
Valdres (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1904/1985/2015)
Vanguard (2003)
Voluntary on Old Hundreth (as transcriber) (/2000)
A Wexford Reverie (as arranger) (2005)
When the Morning Stars Sang (2005)
Where Never Lark or Eagle Flew (1993)
Winds of Change

Resources

Curnow, J. [1983]. Fanfare prelude on "God Of Our Fathers" : The National Hymn [score]. Jenson Publications: [New Berlin, Wisc.]
God of Our Fathers, Wikipedia Accessed 11 October 2016