May We Honor You

"May We Honor You" is a 2009 piece written by Richard R. Hembree for concert band. It is a Grade 4 piece and is about 7 minutes and 20 seconds long.

Originally, it began as a choral piece that was meant to be a "joint song" for the brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi, Iota Alpha and sisters of Tau Beta Sigma, Eta Omega to sing together. Richard worked with Christin Day, who wrote the lyrics to the song, to create a 2 minute piece that contained moving melodic lines and dissonant harmonies. Unfortunately, the piece contained a large amount of dissonance and very little melodic distinction, making it a struggle to put together. Therefore, the project was abandoned for the time being. Richard Hembree, however, kept the musical ideas and decided to expand upon it, creating an allegro section that takes up a majority of the piece. Several themes were added to the piece, mainly those that stem from CSU Fresno's fight song and alma mater.

Lyrics to the choral version of "May We Honor You":

Brothers: Kappa Kappa Psi

Sisters:Tau Bet Sigma

All: Oh, Fresno State

May we honor you

Sisters: Our bond will never die

Brothers: Our bond, that keeps us all together Iota Alpha

Sisters: Eta Omega

All: Brothers and Sister, we are

Serving the bands

Serving music

Serving our hearts

Sisters: For Greater Bands

Brothers: Strive for the highest

All: We are united

Unity, loyalty,

<p style="text-align: center; ">In the bond

<p style="text-align: center; ">For music.

<p style="text-align: center; ">Lyrics by Christin Day