The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer
Here is the recording of “Savior of the Nations, Come” performed at Baylor University’s 2017 Lessons and Carols service. I wish I could have been there in person. It sounds beautiful.
You can read about how the piece came to be written here: https://musicblog.gregscheer.com/2017/11/22/savior-of-the-nations-come-string-orchestra/. Of course, I’m happy to receive emails from anyone who would like to use it at their Lessons and Carols service. All the cool kids are doing it!
Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
For the fourth year in a row, I’ve been commissioned to write a piece for Calvin College’s Lessons and Carols service. Not only is it an honor, but it’s always a treat because I know the performances will be top-notch. This year was no exception. Calvin’s musicians did a wonderful job with my choral fantasy on the hymns “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” “Ah, Holy Jesus,” and “All My Heart Again Rejoices.”
It seems that each year the commissions become more difficult. Last year I was asked to weave “Jacob’s Ladder” with a variety of “Gloria” songs; difficult, but at least the songs were similar in nature. This year, I almost thought John Witvliet was jerking my chain when he asked me to put “Lo, How a Rose” and “Ah, Holy Jesus” together in one anthem. You couldn’t find two more different songs!
On the other hand, they fit the theme, “Born to Die, Born to Rise” beautifully. Christmas can become saccharine when it’s populated only with sweet baby Jesuses, choruses of angels, and mild Marys. Just as the Magis’ myrrh foreshadowed Jesus’ burial, “Ah, Holy Jesus” reminds us of the full meaning of the incarnation. As I began to work on the piece, I found that I could weave “Lo, How a Rose” and “Ah, Holy Jesus” together in musical counterpoint that thickened both their differences and underlying unity. After focusing on these two sides of Christ, our only response can be praise; the piece ends with a rousing rendition of “All My Heart Again Rejoices.”
The recording is above. Follow the link above if you’d like to see the score.
Update 10/28/21: Sheet music for this piece can now be purchased at gregscheer.com.
My friend Carlos Colón directs worship at Baylor University. He recently asked if I had anything for string quintet that might work as an interlude for an upcoming Advent service. And he needed it quickly. I sent him a few ideas, including this fugal intro to the Advent hymn, “Savior of the Nations, Come.” I thought I was going to be able to simply adapt what I had written before, but once I got started it was clear that I needed to rewrite it from the ground up. Two days from inquiry to completed score. That’s how I roll.
How many school orchestra concerts have I attended since my children began playing bass and cello? Many. And while it is mostly inspiring to hear children create music together, there are certainly times when I hear one of their pieces and I think, “I could have written something better than that.”
So now I’m putting my money where my mouth is, with my very first educational orchestra composition. My kids always complain about alliterating titles on pirate themes (“Swashbuckler Serenade,” “Pirate Prelude”), so I decided to take a completely different tack: The Parade of Food. With the approval of my children, I began writing. It started as a short piece with a simple melody that was given to each section. But then I decided to write another movement consisting entirely of funny or rhythmic food names. (Thank you, Facebook friends, for your help!) And if there are Hors d’Oeuvres and a Second Course, there needs to be Dessert, right? I ended with a bon bon of a third movement that brought back the original melody.
The MP3 is above. The full score can be gotten by emailing and asking nicely. If you know anyone who directs or plays in a school orchestra, let me know. This thing is going to be a hit!
Turkey, and stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
Snickerdoodle, jam, pumpernickel, ham.
Guacamole, quesadilla.
Pork tacos, beef tacos, chicken tacos, fish tacos.
Bruschetta, pancetta, linguini, panini.
Tater tots and chocolate milk, breaded chicken fingers, breaded fish sticks.
Peanut butter and jelly, mozzarella sticks, corn dogs.
Baba ganoush, strawberry, raspberry,
liverwurst, wienerwurst, rutabaga, mashed potata,
korma, shwarma, roti prata, kimchi, kiwi, schnitzel,
chicken tikka masala, samosa, spaghetti, falafel and waffle soufflé.
I say “sweet potato”; you say “yam.” Let’s call the whole thing succotash.
The parade of food. Oh, it all looks good.
I’m afraid I’ll eat more than I should.
The parade of food. I’ll tell you the truth:
if I had two mouths to give, I probably would.
if I had two mouths to give, I would.
Glorious Parade of food!
Every year for a few decades I’ve woken up early on Easter morning to lead worship. With no service to lead this year, I’ll contribute Easter music of a different variety: “Death Swallowed by the Real Good.” The text was written and narrated by Amy Phillips, interspersed with 1 Corinthians 15 from Eugene Peterson’s The Message. In these poignant scenes from the end of her grandfather’s life, we hear echoes of the pain and brokenness in our own lives.
We could all use a little resurrection, couldn’t we?
(The first version of Real Good appeared in 2009 on this blog; this is a brand new mix of the piece.)
The second piece I was asked to arrange for Calvin College’s 2016 Lessons and Carols service was “What Adam’s Disobedience Cost.” This hymn text by Fred Pratt Green (V5 Carol Bechtel) is not all that well known, but it fills an important niche in the church year, matching the reading about the fall of humanity in Genesis 3.
It is also a wonderful tune, DETROIT, which I fist learned from the amazing early American hymnal The Southern Harmony, 1835. Part of the difficulty with arranging this tune is that I had already arranged it once before in a very different context. In the end, I was able to conjure up an entirely different approach which fit the choir, organ, and reverberant LaGrave sanctuary well.
You can see the whole program here or email me to see the score.
In 1987* I wrote a 3 movement piece for brass quintet. If I remember correctly it won a contest and was played at a horn festival in New Hampshire. Also in the “if I remember correctly” department, it received its Michigan premiere at a 2006ish Calvin College composer’s concert. Here is the proof:
*1987? That was almost 30 years ago!
If you follow this blog, you’ll know that two weeks in February were devoted to writing a new piece for Maundy Thursday. The composition accompanies seven Tenebrae (deepening of the shadows) readings, one movement for each reading. The service starts with seven cellos; one cello leaves after each movement until only a solo cello is left.
Unfortunately, something is lost in the describing and recording of the service. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that the readings, the candles, the music, and the darkness made for a very moving service. Above is a recording; at 32 minutes, I decided SoundCloud might make for easier listening. (If you’d rather download it, here’s the MP3.) Below is a list of the seven readings and the cellist who exited after the music:
The Shadow of Betrayal: Matthew 26:20-25 (Theo Scheer)
The Shadow of Desertion: Matthew 26:30-35 (Lois Nordling)
The Shadow of an Unshared Vigil: Matthew 26:36-46 (Karen Saupe)
The Shadow of Accusation: Matthew 27:11-14, 20-26 (Maria Poppen)
The Shadow of Crucifixion: Matthew 27:27-37 (Eve Clayton)
The Shadow of Death: Matthew 27:45-54 (Carolyn Muskens)
The Shadow of the Tomb: Matthew 27:57-60 (Josh Ruiter)
It is finished. This is the last of the 7 movements. In this solo movement, I recapitulate many of the themes that have appeared in previous movements, hopefully in a way that is suggestive of what’s gone on before rather than an overbearing repetition.
Once again, the Finale playback leaves much to be desired, so feel free to fire up your musical imagination and read it directly from the score: PDF. I’m sure I’ll post a recording of the service itself. We had our first rehearsal today, and even though there were lots of rough spots, it had the seeds of something really wonderful.
The Shadow of the Tomb: Matthew 27:57-60
57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away.
With only two cellos (down from the original 7 of the first movement) the musical options in this 6th movement are quite restricted. I had to focus on texture rather than harmony. The musical gesture that gives this movement its character is the portamento, a slight slide between notes. I first heard the possibilities of two cellos portamento-ing in Beth Orton’s “She Cries Your Name”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFZc4ax4tJs(music video) or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TnH52SkOdo (live). (Of course, there are also the famous sliding basses of Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KaWSOlASWc).
Unfortunately, Finale playback conveys nothing of the portamento, so it just sounds like a string of notes. Sigh… If you want to read along, imagining the whole movement unfolding like a musical sigh, here’s the score: PDF.
The Shadow of Death: Matthew 27:45-54
45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”