Eternal Praises, by Norberto Guinaldo

O praise ye the Lord! All things that give sound;

each jubilant chord re-echo around;

loud organs, his glory forth tell in deep tone,

and sweet harp, the story of what he hath done.

—William Henry Baker

Roger Allen Banks died June 5 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was born October 12, 1940, in Lawrence, Kansas, and grew up in the funeral business in Wichita, Kansas, though developing an interest in music early in life. His first experience maintaining organs was with the theater pipe organ in his uncle’s basement. He attended the University of Kansas, majoring in electrical engineering, but moved with his parents to Oklahoma City in 1960 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree in 1965 from Oklahoma City University.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Schübler Chorales have a special place in my heart. In the winter of 1978, when I was a sophomore organ major at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, I heard all six of them played (from memory) by a senior organ major during departmental organ class at Alice Millar Chapel. I was so moved by the playing that I went to the back of the chapel to greet the organist, James Biery, when he came down from the loft. It was the first time we had ever had a conversation. Forty-four years later, we are still in conversation.