Wayne Hooper: A Celebration of Life

Yesterday afternoon, partly out of curiosity and also because I work for the LLU Archives/White Estate Branch Office, I drove out to Glendale to observe the "celebration of a lifetime" in honor of Wayne Hooper (1920-2007), perhaps the most famous Adventist musician in our denominational history. For me Hooper is a complicated individual who was extremely talented on the one hand and who loved the Voice of Prophecy, but who was far from perfect as highlighted in the memorial service--someone who knew how to pinch every last penny (as Del Delker said yesterday, a "tight wad") and who had a temper. Listening to the service helped me understand some of the things I had heard about him--a paranoia that others in the church were trying to take advantage of his musical talent by not giving him enough money for his royalties, and even my personal experience with him when he changed his mind about doing an oral history because I would try to control or make money off his memoirs (a rather preposterous idea!). Regardless, for those interested in Adventist history, for biographical purposes, a lot could be gleaned yesterday just by watching and listening. Here are a few interesting tidbits:

(1) Hooper was one of the original members of H. M. S. Richards' "King's Heralds" quartet. He was the last surviving member of the original group and his death, according to Lonnie Melashenko, represents the "end of an era."
(2) His musical talent was extraordinary. During the service his songs and photography were demonstrated. One recording featured Hooper singing all four parts. Del Delker couldn't believe that Hooper actually sang the soprano part, a difficult piece to sing--even for her. It is also interesting to observe the relationship between Hooper and Delker, the latter describing the former as her mentor and teacher.
(3) The famous song "We Have This Hope" was composed for the 1962 GC Session and has been played for more than half the subsequent GC sessions (including the most recent one held in St. Louis in 2005).
(4) Hooper's style of quartet arrangement, known as the "Hooper style" reflects his unique contribution to this particular genre of music.
(5) Hooper is probably responsible more than any other single person for the current hymnal sitting in the pew of most churches throughout the Seventh-day Adventist Church (brought out in 1985). He also authored the "Companion to the SDA Hymnal" with helpful commentaries (I've used it on a number of occasions).
(6) Hooper was responsible for over 1500 arrangements and compositions. Several including "We Have This Hope" appear in the SDA Hymnal.

Comments

[Colin M]

Hi Michael,

What's your new email address these days? The LLU one on this site doesn't work. Cheers,

Colin.

[Jean-Luc Rolland]

Hi Michael,

Same question. Do you remember me, I teach in Collonges (France). I would like to order a exemplar of your dissertation. Could you arrange that for me and send the bill through the traditionnal way, I mean through the EUD division, mine.

Jean-Luc Rolland
Faculté adventiste de théologie
33, chemin du Pérouzet
74165 Collonges sous Salève
France

Jean-Luc

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