The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer

I recently composed a new hymn tune using a meter of 11.10.11.10.11.10. The tune has been driving me crazy the last few days. I just can’t get it out of my head. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. In any case, I’m trying to exorcise it from mind by posting it here.

It joins a number of other “orphan tunes” that you can read about at my other website (www.gregscheer.com). Maybe it’s an orphan because it’s written in a meter that narrows it down to about five existing texts. Maybe it’s an orphan because I gave it the tune name “SYCOPHANT.” Maybe it’s an orphan because you haven’t yet written a brilliant new text to go with it. Take a look or a listen. What would be really helpful is if some kind, semi-informed person (David Fuentes, where are you when I need you?) would give me some feedback–is this tune stuck in my head because it’s a perfectly crafted work of miniature genius or because it’s cloying clump of dump detritus?

No, I’m not taking a trip to Russia, but one of my songs is. I just got word from Colin Gordon-Farleigh that a number of our songs will be recorded by the Russian group, Lyra. Here’s one called “Benediction” in Russian translation. (PDF, MP3)

I’m sure most of you have read the press release by now, verifying yours truly as the award winning composer of the Illinois Central College’s fight song “We Are the Cougars.” This got me to thinking about other fight songs and marches I’ve written in the past. I don’t really think of myself as much of a march person, but the fact is that I’ve written a number of other songs in the style. One could categorize me as “nipping at Sousa’s heels.” Or maybe not…

In any case, let’s take a tour of songs leading up to “We Are the Cougars.” First came “Interesting Thing” (MP3, PDF) in 1995. It became somewhat of a theme song for the Rascals, Rogues & Rapscallions, and each year I added new verses based on presentations that had been given throughout the year. They will mean nothing to you if you weren’t there–perhaps even if you were. After that came “The Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club Fight Song” (MP3, PDF) composed at the request of Dan Morrision in 2000 to honor the rich history of The Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club. One could even argue that the 1st and 3rd movements of my Brass Quintet, written in 1987, were just elaborate deconstructions of marches. Or one could opine, with my wife Amy, that “all marches sound the same.” All I know is that I’m $1000 richer, and I can now fulfill a lifelong dream of adding “composer of a college fight song” to my resume.

People do all sorts of things with their free time. Some play sudoku, some watch the Weather Channel; me, I enter song contests. My latest challenge has been to compose music for a college fight song and alma mater. The prize is $1500. ($1000 for the fight song and $500 for the alma mater.) Some people might see this as wasting time. Me, I see it as money in the bank.

Once again, I’ve turned to Michael Morgan’s 1999 Psalter for Christian Worship as the starting point for a new Psalm setting, this time Psalm 30. I like the way Morgan places the joyous sentiments of the Psalm text in the first half of each verse, and the lament and supplication in the second half. That allows the musical setting to reinforce the meaning of the text in each verse.

Morgan recommends the tune ABBOT’S LEIGH (”God Is Here”) for the text. That’s a beautiful tune, but I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. I wrote a draft of a new tune one afternoon last week, obsessed about it the rest of the evening, revised it the next morning, got some helpful feedback from my friend David that afternoon, then finished it by dinner time.

We’ll sing it at COS as the lectionary Psalm this Sunday. In the meantime, you can download a PDF file of the music or listen to a cheesy Finalefied MP3.

Colin and I have now written over 20 songs together! That’s a pretty decent output seeing as we started in October. The latest two are “Come, Stay with Me Tonight” (MP3, PDF) and “The Happy Song” (MP3, PDF).

Paul McCartney can have his silly love songs, Colin and I have written the perfect love song. Okay, there’s probably no such thing as a perfect love song, but that’s the title of our new one. Check out the PDF file or the MP3 demo played by Mr. Finale.

I just returned from 2 weeks in Uganda. To assuage your eager ears while I catch up with things, here are two songs I wrote with Colin Gordon-Farleigh before I left. The first is “Let Your Fingers Do the Walking” (PDF, MP3), a 1920s-style romp of a song. The second is a ballad called “Colours” (PDF, MP3).

I just finished three new songs in collaboration with Colin Gordon-Farleigh before leaving for a weekend in Indianapolis. You want to hear them? You want to see them? You’re in luck! They’re below.

Starting Over (mp3)

Starting Over (pdf)

He Is Always with Me (mp3)

He Is Always with Me (pdf)

Triumph (mp3)

Triumph (pdf)

The songwriting collaboration between Colin and me continues to go well. A while back he sent me his first non-worship lyric–a love song. I thought it would be appropriate to compose music for it on Valentine’s Day. Take a look: When I’m with You, pdf or a listen: When I’m with You, mp3