Fanfare Prelude on "God of Our Fathers"

James Curnow

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)
• Amber Waves of Grain (1994)
• Amber Waves of Grain (Flex instrumentation) (1994)
• Appalachian Dances (2008)
• Beyond the Stars
• Bridge of the Gods (2012)
• Canticle of the Creatures (1984)
• Canticum (Flex instrumentation) (1988/2011)
• 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)
• 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 Prelude (1876/1983)
• Fanfare Prelude on "Joy to the World" (1985)
• Fanfare Prelude on Lobe Den Herren (1982/1997)
• 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)
• Freedom Road (1994)
• French Christmas Carol Fantasy (1989)
• Golliwog's Cakewalk (as arranger)
• Guadalcanal March (as arranger) (1952/1989)
• Illini Fantasy (2006)
• In Storm and Sunshine (as arranger) (1884/1986)
• In the Valley of the Sun (2013)
• Inventions from the Sacred Harp (2005)
• Journey (2009)
• Jubilee (Variations on "Saints Bound for Heaven")
• 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)
• 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)
• Quintessence
• Rejouissance (1988)
• 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)
• Seacliffe Overture (1983)
• 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
• Suite from "Messiah" (as transcriber) (1741/1989)
• Symphonic Chorale for Band (1989)
• Symphonic Triptych (1978)
• Symphonic Variants (1998)
• Three Colonial Ballads (as arranger)
• 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)
• 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