Category: Arrangement

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Arrangement Choir Church

Vivaldoxology

One of my jobs as a music director is to put a multitude of music styles together in one service, then smooth the edges so that it feels natural.

This 9/13/15 medley begins with the choir singing Vivaldi’s “Gratias Agimus Tibi.” I wrote a short fugal transition between the Vivaldi and Thomas Ken’s “Doxology” that just makes me smile. The Doxology’s closing “amen” provides the opening chords of Ron Rienstra’s “The Lord Be with You” communion music. That’s who we roll at COS–a few centuries of music wrapped up in a 4 minute bon bon.

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Retuned hymn

May the Mind

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

15 years ago I wrote a “retune” of the hymn “May the Mind of Christ, My Savior.” Of course, in those days we didn’t call them retunes, we called them, “hey I really like this hymn so I wrote some new music for it.” (Retune is catchier.) 15 days ago, I wrote string parts for the song, which we used in the 9/13/15 service at COS. They add a nice little halo to the song. (And be honest; we could all use a nice little halo.)

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs

We Sing the Mighty Power, string quartet

Update 12/29/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Last Sunday at Church of the Servant I had the luxury of leading worship with a choir and string quartet. You know I can’t resist fully exploiting an opportunity like that!

The service began with “We Sing the Mighty Power of God,” the perfect opening hymn for a sunny Fall day: “Lord, how your wonders are displayed, wherever we turn our eyes, if we survey the ground we tread or gaze upon the skies.”

I wrote this string arrangement for a worship symposium service a few year ago and I was glad for the opportunity to use it again. KINGSFOLD is a great tune, and I like the way this arrangement brings out its folk character. Add the strings and you’re golden.

If you’re interested in the score/parts, just send me an email.

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Global

All of My Heart, voiceover edition

Update 1/15/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

A while back I discovered the Brazilian congregational song writing duo of Rubem Amorese and Toninho Zemuner. They produce an astounding number of songs, all of them good. When they found out I had translated “Adoracão” into English, they were kind enough to ask that I sing the English over their instrumental tracks. It is nowhere near as good as the original, but I gave it my best.

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Global Live

O Come, Holy Spirit (Sarwar)

harmoniumOne of the great things about my church is that we have a constant stream of interesting people joining us from all around the world. One of them is Eric Sarwar, a musician from Pakistan. Eric and I have collaborated before. This time we worked on a song of invocation, “O Come, Holy Spirit.”

As with many of Eric’s songs, they look simple on the page, but take on a life of their own in worship. We began our service today with a quiet tanpura drone and improvisation on the song’s raga (mode). Once the tone was set, the whole Guitarchestra came in and the congregation joined us: PDF, MP3

Later in the service the communion music began with another Sarwar/Scheer collaboration, “O Lord, May Your Kingdom Come.” That led into a set of songs that flowed so well that I include it here in its entirety. Be forewarned: the MP3 is 22 minutes long (31MB). If you have the time, though, it gives you an idea of how the communion section of a Church of the Servant service runs: COS communion 6/21/15.

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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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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.

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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.”