Nature Gave the Perfect Touch
Some of the great moments of a lifetime were experienced by lovers of sacred music on an evening in late June, 1931, at the stadium of Cornell University. The Westminster Choirs, arrayed in their resplendent robes, sang under the leadership of the distinguished conductor, Dr. J. Finley Williamson. A representative of The Syracuse Post-Standard thus sketched the event for his newspaper:
“The scene:—Eleven harps were ranged on the velvet green in front of the singers. The skies were hung with black clouds for a canopy. The soft beauty of the marvellous scenery, as far as the eye could reach, surrounded all. Lightning darted through the clouds, and the low rumble of thunder was a background for the celestial music of the harps as they played the hymn:
“‘Day is dying in the west;
Heaven is touching earth with rest:
Wait and worship while the night
Sets her evening lamps alight
Through all the sky.’
“When the voices, in unison with the harps, hummed the melody, it was something to be cherished in memory. Words fail to describe adequately the impression. It was the perfect touch that only nature is able to give to human effort.”
During such sublime moments the musicians passed to the close of the hymn:
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of Thee!
Heaven and earth are praising Thee,
O Lord most high!”
The music combined with the display of nature to induce a mood which brought God very close to his earthly children that June afternoon.