Service of Remembrance
Music has a way of carrying the voices of those we have loved long after they are gone. At our Service of Remembrance on Sunday, November 1, at 5:30 p.m., the choir will offer two canticles by composer David Hogan, a gifted musician whose life was cut short in 1996. For Jim Selway, these pieces hold a deeply personal meaning. In this reflection, Jim shares the story of a friendship that began in the Army Field Band, a teacher who opened the door to improvisation and composition, and how that encouragement continues to shape the music we sing at Saint Peter’s today.
Sunday, November 1, 2026
“Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis” by David Hogan
Our Service of Remembrance on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. features two canticles, “Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis” (St. Alban), by composer David Hogan.
While stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, and singing in the Soldiers Chorus of the Army Field Band, I worked alongside David, a fellow singer in the Soldiers Chorus. David was a fantastic musician. I was impressed not only with how beautifully and masterfully he played the piano but with how easily he improvised.
One day I asked David if he could help me to understand how to improvise. He said, “Of course! I’ll show you how.” We arranged a time to meet and subsequently had many sessions together in which I was taught improvisation methods at the piano through a course David taught called “Musicianship.”
David was very encouraging and soon I was composing pieces for the piano and playing them for others in master classes that David organized.
Over the next few years, we became good friends, travelling together as members of the Army Field Band. Both of us settled in Northern Virginia. I was able to continue studies with David and several of my piano students also had “Musicianship” sessions with David. I continue today to teach “Musicianship” to all my piano students.
David had a remarkable musical background including study with composer Nadia Boulanger at Fontainebleau in France. He shared his skill and knowledge generously and with ready encouragement.
In the following years David continued to compose and teach, dividing time between the West Coast and France. Tragically he was aboard TWA Flight 800 enroute to Paris when the plane went down over Long Island in 1996.
But his legacy lives on through his extraordinary compositions and his teaching. I am deeply grateful for my relationship and work with David.
I recognize how God leads us in a path of discipleship with each moment. And the signs are often right at our feet. Because of David’s encouragement, I have composed many choral works for the World Children’s Choir, solo vocal and piano works, and most importantly for me many anthems which have been sung at Saint Peter’s. These compositions are an expression of my faith and my recognition that love leads us in every way - in our listening, in our relationships, in our music-making, in our gratitude for all that life has given us, and in our resolve to walk a path of joy and compassion.
Jim Selway
