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.
Category: Arrangement
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The First Nowell
What better time to premiere a new arrangement than on Christmas Eve just before the stroke of midnight? Indeed, last night saw the unveiling of an arrangement of “The First Nowell” for solo, guitar, strings and piano.
It’s been something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time. “The First Nowell” is a classic folk tune, but the arrangement in most hymnals fetters the flowing melody with four part harmony. People, homophony is not the right solution for every song! But enough ranting. My approach was simple: let the melody sing itself and support it with an accompaniment that keeps things moving forward. After a brief string intro, I start small–just guitar and solo voice–and then build momentum over the song’s 6 verses. Take a listen to the MP3 from last night, then email for a score so you can premiere it in your town next Christmas.
By now y’all are probably sick of hearing about the Psalms of Ascent series at Church of the Servant. Sorry…
A few weeks ago Psalm 129 came up. Now, if you search hymnary.org for, say, Psalm 8 or 40, you’ll get around 60 hits. And most of them will be viable options. But if you search for Psalm 129, you’ll get two hits. And one of them is “Those hating Zion have afflicted me.” That makes for some tough going if you’re a worship planner trying to plan a service around Psalm 129.
I looked in my bag of tricks (the “bag” in this case is my file folders and google doc of the 150 Psalms) and found a song Bruce Benedict had written using the words of Isaac Watts. The song really grew on me. Psalm 129 is not an easy sell, but this musical setting of it made it feel somehow like the timeless struggle of good versus evil. The Psalm is essentially saying “The MAN (and you know who you are) has pushed me down since the day I was born, but he’s gonna get his in the end, because God’s on my side.” That’s the kind of sentiment that we cheer in a film about a triumphant underdog, but it makes us uncomfortable when we read it in the Bible.
Bruce’s original version has an ethereal, lament vibe, whereas mine is more angry, fight the man take on the music. I don’t know if this is a reflection of the difference between Bruce’s and my character, but it just kind of came out that way. It also came out as a full-blown arrangement with string quartet, piano and guitar. Pretty epic stuff. I described it to my pastor like this: “Imagine a film directed by Clint Eastwood in which a man exacts vengeance on the murderers of his family. This is the music that plays as he walks slowly out of town, with his gun still smoking in its holster.”
Take a listen to the MP3 of COS singing it a few Sundays ago, or geek out with the PDF full score.
“How Can I Keep from Singing?” is an odd hymn. The title phrase gives the impression of a wide-eyed universalist anthem of feel-good hope. This is probably the reason it didnt make it past the eagle eyes of the Psalter Hymnals editors and that it has been sung by New Age artists like Enya.
But a deeper look shows a hymn that recognizes both the struggles of life and the hope of faith in Christ. Its really a lovely text.
The music is a different story. Its awfully sprightly, which is probably why my wife hates it. I dont mind the tunes happy energy, as long as its sung with some muscle and not too fast. But Ive also been playing with a new arrangement of the song that brings out the lament of the verses with a minor harmonization, switching to a major key when the refrain proclaims confidently, No storm can shake my inmost calm.
I wouldnt propose my version as definitive, but a fresh new reading of a classic is never a bad thing, right? PDF, MP3.
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SALVATION
In an odd unfolding of Psalmic fate, my top choice settings for two Psalms in the last month were both set to the same tune: SALVATION. In My Distress I Called to God (Psalm 120) and When God Restored Our Common Life (Psalm 126). The tune had not previously gained my attention, though its common enough that I have probably have used it before. Its from Kentucky Harmony, and like all great early American tunes it is rugged as the Appalachian mountains, yet as balanced a melody as Gregorian chant.
Shape note hymn tunes sound perfect in their original settings, with raw, static harmonies, sung with open-throated energy. However, they can sound like fish out of water when theyre set with more modern harmonies. Thats how I felt about the harmonization in the Psalter Hymnal. (Sorry Kenneth…) It wasnt bad, but it just didnt bring out the melodys charms.
Heres what I like about my reharmonization: It puts a big fat accent on the pickup note to each phrase; to my ear thats one of the keys to the tunes character. It uses big block chords, with no harmonic fussiness distracting from the tunes earthy modality. The broad harmonic movement is from D minor (i) in the first two phrases to Am (v) in the last two, which gives the melody a sense of movement. Finally, the deceptive cadence and short interlude gives the congregation a quick chance to breath before diving into the next verse.
Wow. I should be a used harmonization salesman Would you like to take it for a test drive?: PDF, MP3.
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.
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My Jesus, I Love Thee
One of things I like about Church of the Servant is that we do funerals well. Everyone pitches in, whether at the piano or in the kitchen, to make sure the life of the person who died is celebrated and the family left behind are comforted. I think sometimes people are surprised at how heartily we sing on these occasions.
Such was the case at Jud Mereness’s funeral. Jud was a longtime member of the church and sang for a number of seasons in the choir. His wife Cele plays her viola at the church and has herself played in her share of funerals. So it was an honor to give a little something back to the family.
Cele asked if I’d sing “My Jesus, I Love Thee.” I’m never very comfortable singing at funerals (I cry), so I decided to sing only verse 1 as a solo and then invite the congregation to join me. I also thought that a string arrangement would be just right, so I wrote a new one. Here’s the recording from the service: My Jesus, I Love Thee (MP3).
A few weeks ago, I posted the video of “A Christian’s Farewell.” I just got the professional recording of the performance at Baylor, and it sounds great. Listen to the MP3 on headphones and you’ll hear the piano, solo, children’s choir, fiddle, string quartet and barbershop quartet in all their stereophonic glory. Better yet, program the piece the next time you host a concert featuring piano, solo, children’s choir, fiddle, string quartet and barbershop quartet so that you can hear it in all its live acoustical glory!
Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for the final version of this song can be downloaded here.
Bruce Benedict is at it again. Last time it was a collection of songs based on the Apostles’ Creed. This time he’s assembling a group of musicians to compose and record songs for Pentecost. I have a real affinity for the Gregorian chant Veni Creator Spiritus, so I chose to contribute an updated version of this hymn to the project. Wikipedia has a good overview that includes the Latin, chant notation, an English translation, and an audio sample. CHeck out the original, then take a look at my first draft PDF or listen to an MP3 of me singing it directly into my laptop. As you can see, my version keeps the original chant melody intact, provides a new English translation from the Latin, and adds a refrain–“O Holy Spirit, come!”
Now I need your help before I begin recording. One of the difficulties I had was trying to wrangle the flowing, asymmetrical rhythms of the chant into a regular metered pattern. I chose 3/8 to give me the most flexibility of phrasing, but am still not entirely satisfied with how that plays out in measure 6 and 16. Is the tied pick up too fussy? How about the key signature? I’ve put it in E, but it really works better with an A drone. Should I put it in A? I sort of like the way it floats between the keys of A and E–it feels more chant-like to me–but maybe I’m just being stupid. And the translation? Anything you’d change? I like how each verse gives a name for the Spirit at the beginning, and am generally pleased with the rest of the text, but would appreciate any feedback you have on it.
Let’s make this better and then I’ll get to work on the final recording!
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