The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer » Choir

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 145, One Generation

gregscheer — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:49:32 +0000

If I were to have a big hit, this would be it. It sort of won the CRC Sesquicentennial hymn contest, then appeared in Contemporary Songs for Worship, and can now be found in Psalms for All Seasons, #145G. But there were already too many of my songs and arrangements on the PfAS CD, so this got cut. After all, you don’t want to overdose on Greg. But here’s a small fix to hold you over until my next blog post.

And thus, my loyal readers, concludes my 16 song series of songs that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another. But don’t lament the one that got away. No, just head on over to the Psalms for All Seasons website, where you can buy the book and CD so you can get all the songs and recordings that did make the cut.

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 133, How Very Good

gregscheer — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:39:09 +0000

I added verses to Barbara Boertje’s “How Good It Is,” but I’ve never posted a recording of the full choral arrangement. Until now.

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 124, If the Lord Had Not Been on Our Side

gregscheer — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:22:29 +0000

This choral anthem will be coming out on GIA soon. Six years in production, it’s gonna be good… Here’s a recording of a read-through of the choral anthem, sans narration sections.

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 103, From the Dust

gregscheer — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:57:45 +0000

I’ve blogged about “From the Dust” before, but I’ve had no recording of the choral arrangement until now.

This one didn’t make it into Psalms for All Seasons and has been rejected by one publisher to date.* But I still hold out hope that it will find a good home and be loved for a long time.

*However, the rejection letter was personal and touching: Thank you for submitting your work ‘From the Dust You Shall Raise Us Up’ for our review. We regret that we are unable to accept this for publication at this time. Thank you for allowing us to review your material. We hope that you will give us the privilege of reviewing more of your work in the future.

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 36, Deeper than the Sea

gregscheer — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:38:54 +0000

Once again, this song is not new to my blog, but this is a new recording. And as a Psalms for All Seasons reject, it fits squarely in this series of Killer B posts: MP3.

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 23, The King of Love

gregscheer — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:40:09 +0000

Hands down, one of my favorite hymns is “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.” I wrote an SSA arrangement of this which found a home in the Augsburg Choirbook for Women. More recently I re-arranged it for SATB choir. Here is is: MP3.

Revenge of the Killer B’s: Psalm 13, How Long Will You Forget

gregscheer — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:26:54 +0000

This choral/congregation setting of Psalm 13 began its life as Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed (which, by the way, I think you should sing in your church this upcoming Lent). When TCS and I were doing the initial reading sessions, I decided that the arrangement of the tune MARTYRDOM would fit both texts. This tune and text combination appear in Psalms for All Seasons, but not this arrangement. You can only get that right here: MP3.

Peace in the Valley, the understudy

gregscheer — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:47:06 +0000

Chris Smit was such a hit singing “Peace in the Valley” at Church of the Servant’s Lessons & Carols service a few weeks ago, that a repeat performance was demanded for the Christmas Eve Service. Sadly, he lost his voice a few days before the service, so his understudy–me–filled in. I felt ill-equipped to follow the footsteps of those who have sung the song in my churches in the past–Chris and Charlotte Kerce–but I stepped in and did what I could. Here’s the recording.

Heinz Chapel Choir sings “Lo, How a Rose”

gregscheer — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:47:24 +0000

Back when I was doing my masters at the University of Pittsburgh I studied conducting with John Goldsmith, the director of the Heinz Chapel Choir. Besides being a great singer, scholar and teacher, he was kind enough to try out my arrangement of “Lo, How a Rose.” He must have liked it, because 20 years later he included it on the Heinz Chapel Choir’s new CD, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

Nothing John does is half-baked. This recording is no exception: MP3.

If you like what you hear, why don’t you head on over to www.gregscheer.com where you’ll find the full arrangement. It can be sung a cappella, with piano, or even with string orchestra. And for $15 for your whole choir, you can’t go wrong.

The Christian’s Farewell, premiere video

gregscheer — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:14:26 +0000

My latest commissioned composition, “The Christian’s Farewell,” was premiered Saturday night in Waco, Texas in the “Southern Harmony” Concert at Baylor University’s Armstrong Browning Library. The musicians did a lovely job! You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KDyiU3a3LM.

Check out videos from the whole concert here: http://elsalvadormusical.blogspot.com/2011/05/southern-harmonyconcert-at-baylor.html