Lutheran composer Richard Hillert passed away February 18th. He was Distinguished Professor of Music Emeritus at Concordia University Chicago. He wrote many articles and composed many hymns and pieces of service music, among which is the widely used “This is the Feast of Victory.” During this paschal season we rejoice in Christ’s victory and we hope to share, with Richard, in the feast of victory with all the saints.
RIP Richard Hillert
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3 responses to “RIP Richard Hillert”
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Although I only met him a few times, Richard was a charming, delightful and (very importantly) modest man, as well as being a musician to his fingertips. He will be sadly missed.
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Richard Hillert possessed exceptional compositional craft, gifting the church with a significant corpus of sacred music. That has been multiplied exponentially through his long career of mentoring young writers as a teacher of composition. The fruits of his gift have spread far and wide.
On a more personal note, he was an absolute prince of a guy. A truly kind, gentle, holy and humble man.
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Richard Hillert was my composition professor in graduate school at Concordia University-Chicago. He became my mentor and, with his wife Gloria, my dear friend. His compositional skill and impeccable taste were at the service of the Lord and of His Church, and they enriched several generations of students, not only in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, but in larger Lutheran circles further afield in the Church Catholic. Bob Batastini’s comment about “a truly kind, gentle, holy and humble man” is right on the mark. May his memory be eternal!
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