Robert E. Kreutz (b. La Crosse, WI, 1922; d. Golden, Colorado, 1996) carefully crafted BICENTENNIAL for this text in Denver, Colorado, in 1976. Though the meter changes frequently, the sung text flows very naturally, with the changing meters unified by melodic and rhythmic motifs. Singing the refrain and the stanzas in two long lines instead of four short ones brings out the beauty of the text. The entire hymn may be sung in unison, but a choral harmonization of the refrain adds a beautiful effect. The stanzas can be sung antiphonally in a variety of ways: by two or more groups in the congregation, or perhaps by a cantor or soloist(s) singing the stanzas and everyone singing the refrain. For further variety, improvise a descant for the refrain and use instruments other than organ.
Kreutz received a bachelor's degree from the American Conservatory of Music, Chicago, and a master's degree from the University of Colorado, Denver. He also studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg, Leo Sowerby, and Norman Lockwood. A resident of Golden, Kreutz worked for many years for the Gates Rubber Company as a development engineer and also directed the choir at St. Bernadette Church in Lakewood, Colorado, for more than twenty-five years. He published some three hundred choral and instrumental compositions, including many psalm settings and other liturgical music.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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