Author: Greg Scheer

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Art Music Demos Live Rock and/or Roll

All Hallow’s Eve, Sine Nomine Quartet

Last year I wrote a song cycle called One Long Year. This year, I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do with it, if anything. This month, I’m recording my setting of Psalm 149 for a new Cardiphonia compilation. Today I had a string quartet scheduled to add some tracks to that project.

But you know me: if I have a string quartet showing up to record, how can I resist writing something new and non-obligatory for the occasion? So instead of the many things I should have been doing today, I felt compelled to write a string quartet arrangement of “All Hallow’s Eve” from One Long Year . This recording is the second take and third time they’d ever played the piece. Pretty good, I say.

By the way, the quartet has never really settled on a name for themselves. I hereby dub them the Sine Nomine Quartet–the No Name Four.

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Church Congregational Songs Psalms

Psalm 80: Restore Us, O God! (Guitarchestra)

The FDA says: Limit your use of 80 mg Simvastatin. But you can use Psalm 80 all you like.

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

After a sluggish round of correspondence (due to travel for me and a new teaching position for Naaman) we’ve finally brought “Restore Us, O God!” from draft into final form. I think it was worth the wait. Particularly unique is its Klezmer-ish feel that captures the lament of the Psalm well.

I was excited enough about it that I didn’t let the Guitarchestra leave rehearsal last night until they recorded it with me. Two times through and you get a pristine recording like this: that’s the magic of Gstra!

I think you’ll be excited enough about it that you won’t want to wait until December 20, 2015 when it comes up in the lectionary next. Go ahead. Sing it now. MP3

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Kimbrough’s Psalm 104

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

I’ve featured the music of Wendell Kimbrough before, and today he makes a return appearance. An honor to be sure…

Earlier this year his setting of Psalm 104, “Oh, Rejoice in All Your Works,” won the COS New Psalm Contest. It had its church premiere in January and we’ve sung it a few times since then. This Sunday, Pentecost, the lectionary called for Psalm 104. As fate* would have it, the choir, piano, and a brass quintet were scheduled to lead that morning, so I arranged the song for those instruments.

I was really pleased with how it sounded. Sometimes the transition from guitar-driven folk song to piano-led congregational hymn can be awkward, but in this case, it brought out a whole new majestic side to the song. I hear a best-selling choral anthem in this, don’t you?

*or providence, depending on how you roll theologically.

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Pentecostal Splendor at COS

This Fall I arranged Pentecostal Splendor for Calvin College’s Lessons & Carols service. It was premiered beautifully, though I wasn’t able to track down a recording for my blog.

Naturally, when Pentecost arrived at my own church, I thought of using this new piece in my own context. Brass? Check. 60 voice choir? 1/3 check. Organ? Not so much…

I retooled the organ part for piano and called in favors with every singer I knew. The result can be heard here: MP3

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Rock and/or Roll

Over Oceans

It’s been far too long since I’ve updated my blog. The sad fact is that I’ve been busy working rather than writing music. (The indignities I suffer in order to feed my family!)

I shouldn’t complain too much. Part of my work was two weeks in Indonesia. En route to Indonesia, a little ditty popped into my head, so I opened up my computer, fired up Logic Pro, and entered it using the laptop’s keyboard. I forgot about it until a few days ago when I was archiving old files. A little gussying up and–voila!–a radiant little bon bon of electronica I call “Over Oceans.”

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Arrangement Church

What Wondrous Love, quartet

clint_harris
Clint Harris, 1954-2015

Update 3/12/22: Sheet music for this arrangement is now available at gregscheer.com.

Clint Harris died this week. I didn’t know him well, but everyone seems to agree he was a man who lived fully and loved deeply.

As often as I can, I compose a little something for church member funerals. In this case, the family asked that at some point in the service I sing and play my guitar, and I thought it would be a nice touch to round out the guitar with the string players who would be at the service.

I returned to one of my favorite songs, “What Wondrous Love.” I’ve arranged it before, but keep returning to it, perhaps because it’s one of those songs that is so elusively beautiful that I hope the next time I’ll get it right. It’s also perfect for a funeral, because it begins with the story of redemption and ends in eternity.

This was recorded as people walked in before the service, so it’s quite noisy.

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 133: Behold the Goodness

james_guitarchestraIn Psalms for All Seasons is a setting of Psalm 133 (Behold the Goodness of Our Lord, PfAS 133A) that seemed just right for the Guitarchestra this past Sunday. The melody, DETROIT, comes from the Kentucky Harmony hymnal. Like a lot of early American hymn tunes, it has a rugged beauty that just won’t let you go. These tunes often benefit from a more rustic arrangement, rather than the smooth voice leading you find in hymnals, so I provided one.

Here you can see me rehearsing the song this past Sunday, shadowed by the youngest member of the Guitarchestra, James.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Kimbrough: In You, Lord, I Refuge Take

Wendell Kimbrough has appeared in this blog before. Indeed, this song has appeared previously. But for this Palm Sunday I wrote a choral part for his setting of Psalm 31 that I thought deserved a new entry. As you’ll hear on the recording the flute introduces the melody and plays a tag after each verse. Then on verse 3, the flute plays a descant on top of the singing. In verse 4, everyone cuts out but the congregational melody and an a cappella choir accompaniment. It’s really a nice effect, if I don’t say so myself.

The thing I like about arrangements like this is that they’re pretty simple, with just two pages of music, but they have a lot of impact on how you hear the song.

Extra bonus recording: Me singing Sydney “Lord of the Dance” Carter’s song “Bitter Was the Night.”

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Uncategorized

O Sacred Head, duet

Update 3/22/22: Sheet music for this arrangement is now available at gregscheer.com.

It’s time to catch up on recordings from Holy Week. Let’s start with “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” the quintessential Passion hymn. Knowing that I’d have my go-to flutist Kristen Zoetewey playing on Palm Sunday–and never being one to miss the opportunity to gild the lily–I decided to write a fancy introduction for the hymn. Once I got into it, I realized that I could add a second part, and that my go-to recorder player (recordist?) Cal Stapert would be there to play it.

Voila! A fancy pants intro for a classic hymn. Don’t zone out–the duet comes back as a descant on verse 3.

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Art Music Demos Rock and/or Roll

Deep Calls to Deep

greg_precisionAfter Easter, I often feel the need to shun my to do list, taking a little time for renewal and creation. (Hence the term, “recreation.”) This Eastertide it took the form of an idea for bass that came to me last week.

I had just gotten some work done on my trusty Fender Precision bass down at North Coast Guitar Co, and it was feeling great. That always leads to new musical ideas. The ideas kept swirling around in my head and finally came to full fruition this afternoon in the form of “Deep Calls to Deep.”

Because the whole recording is just bass, my boys and I were trying to think of good names for the song. “All About the Bass” is already taken. “Big Bottom”–also taken. I decided to take the high road with a phrase pulled from Psalm 42.