“We Sing To Him” by Robert W. Padgett

This hymn for four voices and piano was composed by Robert W. Padgett between late November and early December 2021. It was written in memory of Pat Montalbo, a piano instructor and friend who passed away on November 15, 2021. She graciously encouraged Mr. Padgett and his children in their musical studies and pursuits.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/starlocalmedia/name/patricia-montalbo-obituary?id=31619536

This hymn is featured on a card that commemorates Christmas 2021 and New Year’s 2022. The idea of adding an original hymn to such a greeting was inspired by the English composer Edward Elgar who wrote a carol and engraved it on a greeting card to celebrate Christmas 1897 and New Year’s 1898.

https://rumble.com/vbss71-grate-malverne-on-a-rocke-by-edward-elgar.html

The hymn’s melody is constructed almost exclusively from a two-bar subject introduced in bars 3-4 that covers the span of a minor or major third. The theme opens with a half note that ascends stepwise to a dotted quarter that next rises stepwise to an eighth note followed by a whole note that repeats the prior pitch. This two-bar sequence represents the melodic inversion of a subordinate theme (bars 185-186) from Felix Mendelssohn’s concert overture “Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt” (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) Op. 28. That two-bar phrase is cited by Elgar in Variation XIII of the Enigma Variations, a movement dedicated in secret to Jesus Christ. Richard Wagner adapted Mendelssohn’s thematic subject for the opening of Senta’s redemption leitmotif in his opera “Der fliegende Holländer” (The Flying Dutchman) WWV 63.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYPpVry33Ko
http://enigmathemeunmasked.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-scent-of-wagners-senta-in-elgars.html