Leon Roberts

#053: Celebrating Black Sacred Music

Leon Roberts

Leon Roberts

In place of our customary interview, today we are bringing you an audio program from the Open Your Hymnal podcast. Open Your Hymnal, cohosted by Zack Stachowski and by me, is an independent project aimed at exploring liturgical music in the Catholic repertoire through interviews with composers and special guests. 

Today, we’re focusing on the rich heritage of the Black sacred music tradition, and we’re blessed to be joined by two important voices: Leon Roberts (recorded in a presentation from 1985), and Lynne Gray. Leon and Lynne provide an exploration of the treasury of hymns, spirituals, and gospel songs. You’ll hear lots of standard and familiar music, and you’ll also hear selections from several contemporary composers. 

Lynne Gray

Lynne Gray

Episode links

You can find out more about the work of Leon Roberts by visiting his composer pages at OCP and GIA Publications. You can find out more about Lynne Gray and her work by visiting St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

You can listen to more episodes of the Open Your Hymnal podcast at www.openyourhymnal.com.

You can purchase the song recordings you heard in this episode: “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” (Goodson), “With Hands Lifted Up” (traditional), “Traditional Prayer with Moans” (anonymous), “Deep River” (anonymous), “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (traditional), “The Solid Rock (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)” (Mote), “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” (Wesley), “Lead Me, Guide Me” (Akers), “We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace” (Hatter), “The Lord is Blessing Me Right Now” (traditional), “Taste and See” (Moore), “Psalm 27: The Lord is My Light” (Harbor), “Lord, I Love You (God is So Good)” (Jansen), “Hail, Queen of Heaven” (Holland), “Holy, Holy, Holy” from the Mass of New Beginnings (Petty), “You’re the One” (Roberts).

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