By Karianne Salisbury
Bursts of creativity over the last few years led two BYU professors to write and compose an award-winning hymn that received recognition among names such as Janice Kapp Perry and David Macfarlane.
David Dollahite, a professor of home and family living, and Gordon Jessop, an associate professor of the School of Music, wrote the words and music, respectively, for the hymn 'As Families in the Latter Days' which was recently given an Award of Merit in the Hymns division of the 2006 Church Music Submission.
Diane Bastian, with the General Music Committee, said the submission program received between 600 and 700 pieces combined and only about 20 were recognized. The top recognition is the Award of Distinction, while two Awards of Merit represent the second and third place submissions.
Creating and submitting a hymn to the LDS church was a first-time experience for both professors and after winning one of the top rewards, they said they were pleasantly surprised.
'This is the first hymn I have ever written,' Dollahite said. 'I had been thinking about writing a hymn on family for some time, but didn't really work hard on it until after I asked Gordon if he would be willing to write the music to a hymn if I wrote the words.'
Although Jessop said this award is an honor, he only considers himself a 'hobbyist composer,' and said he simply thinks it's important to have good music and explore the potential of depth it offers.
'Whenever I'm working with a text I let it decide what will happen with the melody,' Jessop said. 'I see whether it's somber or rejoicing and go from there, finding a melodic structure that portrays that in the best, most meaningful way.'
With Dollahite's interest in the family sciences and the church's family proclamation, he said he noticed there were very few hymns that addressed those areas and wanted to write something families could sing together.
'I hoped to write a hymn that could be used by families in family home evening and other family gatherings as well as in church meetings,' Dollahite said. 'Hymns have great power to turn hearts to God and to others, and my hope was that our hymn would help turn the hearts of family members to the Lord and each other.'
Bastian said she agreed the family and the proclamation are subjects that aren't covered well in church music and said the committee that reviews the submissions consider each hymns' text very highly.
Although Bastian said there are a lot of people trying to write songs on those subjects, it's difficult to do without taking an idea and growing from there, rather than using the exact words from the proclamation.
Several of the hymns recognized by the 2006 Church Music Submission will be performed next February as part of the Temple Square Performance Series. The selected pieces will be kept for consideration to print in church magazines and may be featured on the Web site, lds.org/cm/display.