FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - When Pope Francis celebrates two worship services Sept. 24-25 in New York, some of the music will have a Fort Wayne connection.
Trinity English Lutheran Church Music Director Robert Hobby wrote a new musical score - the notes musicians play - for the hymn “Tu Es Petrus” (“You Are Peter”), which is scheduled for use during the pope’s evening prayer service at 6:45 p.m. Sept. 24 in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Hobby also wrote new musical arrangements for the hymn “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus,” which is set for use during the pope’s Mass at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 in Madison Square Garden.
“I feel very proud and very honored to be part of it because, first of all, we are all Christians,” Hobby, 52, said.
He will be there for both services, serving as a staff musician on standby in case they need anything during the prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, he said. He will sing with the choir during the Mass at Madison Square Garden, filling in for a choir member who had to drop out of the event.
Hobby, who has been at Trinity English Lutheran since 1987, said he has been “energized” by Pope Francis.
“I think he challenges all of us in some ways, maybe puts us in ’uncomfort’ zones,” he said. But Francis also shares a message of hope and compassion, Hobby added.
Hobby’s involvement with the papal Mass music began in late May.
The music director at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Jennifer Pascual, contacted MorningStar Music Publishers/ECS Music Publishing in St. Louis to see if they had a version of “Tu Es Petrus” scored for accompaniment by organ and orchestra and a version of “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” arranged for congregation, choir and orchestra, Hobby said.
The music publisher didn’t have what Pascual wanted, but they offered to contact several composers whose work they have published to see if any of them had what Pascual was seeking. One of those calls went to Hobby, who said he didn’t have the requested music, but he volunteered to write them. Pascual agreed.
“My first thought was my dad is still alive to see it,” Hobby said of his offer to help.
The first orchestral piece he wrote was in memory of his mother, who died in February 2004. He now has more than 250 compositions published by various music publishers, including two major works - “The Good Shepherd,” which is written for tenor solo, adult and children’s choirs, and orchestra, and “Holy Light,” a choral/instrumental Christmas work.
Initially, Hobby’s work on the hymns for the papal Masses was slowed while he waited for Vatican officials to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Madison Square Garden to approve plans for the stage and how large an orchestra would be allowed. Officials settled on about 22 musicians at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and about 40 at Madison Square Garden.
Hobby, who was born in Lebanon, northwest of Indianapolis, emailed the final music sheets to Pascual last week. The finished versions include suggestions from people he asked to review his work, including former Trinity English colleague Jeremy Bankson, who now works in Lincoln. Neb.; Adrian Mann, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic’s librarian, staff arranger and principal string bass player; and Philharmonic harpist Anne Lewellen.
This isn’t the first time Hobby, who earned a master’s degree in music from the University of Notre Dame, has had his music or arrangements used previously during Catholic Masses.
He composed a piece of music for the choir at St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus, Ohio, and one of his music pieces was used during the installation Mass for an archbishop in Philadelphia, he said.
___
Source: The (Fort Wayne) News-Sentinel, https://bit.ly/1Lfj99W
___
Information from: The News-Sentinel, https://www.news-sentinel.com/ns
Please read our comment policy before commenting.