The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer
20 years ago I wrote a song about a girl I really liked. She was pretty, smart and talented, all rolled into one. 18 years ago I married her, which was the best thing I ever did. In 2 days it will be Valentine’s Day, so I thought I’d finish recording a song I wrote when we were dating. Back then I didn’t know much about love, and to tell you the truth I still don’t get it right most of the time. But even though it’s hard sometimes, I’d do it all over again.
The Choral Scholars, Norma de Waal Malefyt and I produced a CD with 22 tracks (Cry Out to God!). But we also recorded all the “B Sides” you’ve been enjoying here over the last few weeks, as well as reading 200 some Psalm settings in preparation for the recording. That’s pretty exhausting stuff, and there are bound to be some moments in which things get giddy.
Here, in a “choral scholars gone wild” moment, is our reading of Psalm 2. We were chanting through the Psalm and it occurred to me how funny it would be to not only chant the text “The God whose throne is in heaven is laughing,” but to also chant the laughing itself. You can hear the ridiculous result here.
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.
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.
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.
I finally met Michael Morgan, the author of this text, at the 2012 Calvin Worship Symposium. He’s a friendly guy and a fine organist as well as the author of a mother load of metrical Psalm settings. Here’s a new recording of our collaboration* on Psalm 127, “Rest in the Lord.”
*”Collaboration” in this case means “I took his text and put new music to it and he was nice enough to say he liked it.”
Perhaps I’m too dedicated to setting lesser-known Psalms to music. Maybe I should just stick to Psalm 23. But if you’re going to set Psalm 114 to music, you could do a lot worse than this.
Update 2/8/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
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.
Update 2/11/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer. com.
This setting of Psalm 107 came about when the Psalm came up in the lectionary on a Sunday that the Guitarchestra was playing. I couldn’t find a workable version of the Psalm, so I took David Diephouse’s metrical text which is found in the Psalter Hymnal and paired it with a tune I composed to be guitar friendly. For such utilitarian beginnings, it’s had a surprisingly good run. Currently it’s sitting pretty in Psalms for All Seasons, 107D. Take a listen to the recording that didn’t make the CD: MP3.
Having just finished the 2012 Calvin Worship Symposium, I’m all ramped up on the Psalms. Then, I’m always all ramped up on the Psalms…
Here’s my setting of Psalm 81. This might not be a “zinger,” but I think it’s a solid song that gets across the text well. Added bonus: it can be sung in both a pop/praise style and as more of a straight hymn, like it is here. If you’re interested in reading an article which includes this hymn, visit Call to Worship.