HESSEL PARK

Composer: Emily R. Brink

Emily R. Brink is a Senior Research Fellow of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and Adjunct Professor of Church Music and Worship at Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her main areas of responsibility are conference planning and global resources. She is program manager of the annual Calvin Symposium on Worship, which draws more than 70 presenters and 1600 participants from around the world. She also travels widely to lecture and to learn about worship in different parts of the world, especially in Asia, where she has lectured in Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan. Her areas of interest include congregational song from all times and places;… Go to person page >

Psalter Hymnal editor Emily R. Brink (PHH 158) wrote HESSEL PARK for the Barendrecht text in 1976; the text and tune were first published in For the Time Being. The tune is named for the Hessel Park Christian Reformed Church, Champaign, Illinois, where Brink was music director while teaching at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

HESSEL PARK consists of two long melodic units, each with its own pattern of dramatic rising phrases and descents to the tonic. Sing this tune in unison at a moderate pace with a large organ plenum as supporting cast.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook