From the Organist & Choirmaster

This Sunday, the choir will sing Harold Friedell’s anthem Draw us in the Spirit’s Tether. Published in 1949, this anthem quickly became one of the most celebrated American contributions to Anglican choral music. Its text comes from Percy Dearmer (1867-1936), a priest and liturgist whose influence shaped Anglican worship in the twentieth century. Dearmer was best known as editor of The English Hymnal (1906), produced with Ralph Vaughan Williams, and as a tireless advocate for the renewal of ceremony and music in the Anglo-Catholic spirit. His poetry, like this text, emphasizes the unity of the Church around the altar, where “all our meals and all our living” become a sacrament of Christ’s presence.

Percy Dearmer

Priest, Saint Mary the Virgin, Primrose Hill

Harold Friedell (1905-1958) studied at Juilliard School and Union Theological Seminary, later serving as organist and choirmaster at Calvary Church, Saint Bartholomew’s, and finally Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York. There he carried forward the English cathedral tradition in an American setting, succeeding the great Thomas Tertius Noble.

Harold Friedell

Organist & Choirmaster, Saint Thomas 5th Ave, NYC

Together, Dearmer and Friedell represent the Anglo-Catholic impulse across two continents: Dearmer renewing worship in England with beauty and dignity, and Friedell shaping a distinctly American voice for Anglican choral music. This anthem calls us to reflect on how throughout time and space, the Spirit continues to draw Christ’s Church closer together, around word, song, and above all the Sacrament.