M. Lee Suitor
Biography
M. Lee Suitor (1942–2017) was an American organist, conductor, composer, and church musician whose published work was closely connected with practical liturgical music. Hymnary’s authority record identifies him as a specialist in children’s music and education as well as an organist and conductor. After a long professional career, he retired to Seattle in 2000 and continued composing.
Suitor contributed hymn tunes and other church music that entered several denominational collections. His named tunes include CORNISH, KINGSBORO, and POVERTY. CORNISH, composed in 1984, is a Long Meter tune and later became one of the settings used for Russell Schulz-Widmar’s marriage hymn Your Love, O God, Has Called Us Here. The United Methodist Hymnal of 1989 pairs that text with CORNISH and identifies the tune and its 1984 copyright under Suitor’s name.
His work extended beyond short congregational tunes. Hymnary notes that Union Theological Seminary commissioned God’s Promises in 1987, an extended composition for parish choir and instruments. His music also appeared in collections associated with the Episcopal Church and Harvard’s Memorial Church. These surviving works reflect a composer concerned with usable church music rather than concert display alone.
Suitor’s contribution to hymnody is therefore best understood through his craftsmanship as a liturgical musician: writing melodies and larger works intended to support worship, congregational participation, and church choirs. Because documentation of his personal denominational affiliation is limited, no specific church affiliation is assigned here.
Suitor contributed hymn tunes and other church music that entered several denominational collections. His named tunes include CORNISH, KINGSBORO, and POVERTY. CORNISH, composed in 1984, is a Long Meter tune and later became one of the settings used for Russell Schulz-Widmar’s marriage hymn Your Love, O God, Has Called Us Here. The United Methodist Hymnal of 1989 pairs that text with CORNISH and identifies the tune and its 1984 copyright under Suitor’s name.
His work extended beyond short congregational tunes. Hymnary notes that Union Theological Seminary commissioned God’s Promises in 1987, an extended composition for parish choir and instruments. His music also appeared in collections associated with the Episcopal Church and Harvard’s Memorial Church. These surviving works reflect a composer concerned with usable church music rather than concert display alone.
Suitor’s contribution to hymnody is therefore best understood through his craftsmanship as a liturgical musician: writing melodies and larger works intended to support worship, congregational participation, and church choirs. Because documentation of his personal denominational affiliation is limited, no specific church affiliation is assigned here.
Hymns by M. Lee Suitor
Your Love, O God, Has Called Us Here
Role: Composer