Composing inspirational music is Dick Lee's way to "make a joyful noise unto the Lord." And he's been doing so since he composed his first piece at age 5.

A member of the Class of 1941, Lee is one of Cornell's oldest living chimesmasters, and his numerous works for the instrument as well as choral groups are still performed on campus. A Cornell chimes recital of Lee's music will be performed during Reunion Weekend, Saturday, June 10, at 11 a.m., and audience members will gather on the stone terrace outside McGraw Tower.

"His compositions are a favorite among many a chimesmaster," said Marisa Piliero-LaFalce, coordinator for student and academic services.

Several pieces by Lee resonate with performers and passersby alike today. These include "The Bellman's Suite" -- especially the movement titled "Lament" -- and "The Oriental Necklace," among others. Lee also composed the music and lyrics for "Strike Up a Song to Cornell," a Glee Club standard.

Although he received technical training from such well-regarded professional composers as the late Ernest Toch, Lee is not a methodical or mechanistic tunesmith -- and never was, he says. During his undergraduate years as an English major he was known for his "inspired moments." A cartoon from the time depicts Lee in the middle of a soccer game saying, "Take me out, coach, I feel a tune coming on."

Sixty-five years later, Lee remains a humble servant to a muse that often transcends the diurnal rhythms of most human affairs.

"He will get up at all hours of the night to write down a tune," says Laurie Lee, his wife, who is awakened when the muse is astir. "I say to him, 'Can't you tell it to come back in the morning?'"

Well, no. Lee says he is more or less an open channel to the tunes that come to him unbidden and unpredictably, 24-7. It's not a choice; it's a calling. And he doesn't want to mess with the divine magic of it.

"It's a very humbling experience to have these inspirations," says Lee, a member of the Christian Science Church. "And I mean to keep it that way. I try to take myself out of the picture and simply let the music express itself through me."

The Lees were married in 1995. At that time, says Laurie, the composer had some 400 unpublished works on hand in various stages of development. She helped organize and complete the manuscripts, then launched a publishing company and recording label, ForeverEndeavor Records, to document her husband's prolific output. One result, "Transparency in Song, Vols. I and II," is a collection of hymns based on Biblical scriptures set for voice and organ.

The tunes come to Lee pretty much intact. The hard part is setting text and creating a hymn, often from scriptural verse. Lee, who also writes poetry, says one of his greatest satisfactions is having singers "who understand the words and perform the piece so well they reveal new meanings in the text."

His compositions, almost exclusively for voice and accompaniment, are inspired by past masters of sacred music, including Bach, and listeners can detect the Baroque master's influence in some of Lee's lambent melodies. But the tunes are authentic, and the arrangements, while conservative, reflect a modern sensibility.

A direct descendant of Robert E. Lee, the Cornell alumnus says there is nothing in the family tree to indicate a musical pedigree. Whatever the source of his fountain of song, Lee says it is as spontaneous today as it was when he was a young man singing in St. John's Episcopal choir in Washington, D.C.

"I'm amazed that it still comes out so fresh," he says. How does he keep the music flowing? He doesn't, he says.

"It's not me doing it. It's God."