Before I became the music director at Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, I was just a lowly grad student in the composition program at Pitt. But the people of Bellefield were took pity and asked me to compose a choral anthem for a sanctuary rededication. I chose Psalm 118:19 as my text and wrote an extremely difficult anthem. Bellefielders must also be long-suffering folks; if I were the choir director, I would have pulled the plug on this after one read-through. I’m glad they didn’t, though, because it ended up sounding pretty good: MP3
Category: Choir
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this composition can be downloaded here.
Sometimes spring cleaning can get downright dirty. In this case, my men’s choir composition based on Psalm 142, “I Cry Aloud to the Lord,” is sung by Greg, Greg, Greg, and Greg. I apologize in advance. On the other hand, it’s pretty fun to hear what I did 20 years ago when I got a hold of a 4 track cassette recorder.
Listen to the MP3. You may want to look at the score to have any idea of what the piece is supposed to sound like!
I can’t believe I’ve never uploaded my setting of Psalm 42/43, “As the Deer,” to this blog. It’s kind of my big hit, appearing on the Greg Scheer Songbook CD, as a choral anthem in Augsburg Fortress’s GladSong Choirbook, on the Choral Scholar CD Cry Out to God, and even available in Chinese translation.
Sorry for the oversight. Here’s an MP3 to make it up to you.
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Abana – SATB & Piano
Like “Kwake Yesu,” the Arabic Lord’s Prayer is something I’m really proud of. It just seems to capture people’s spiritual imagination. This is especially satisfying, given the fact that a hymn expert (who shall remain unnamed) declared that congregations would never sing it. A half dozen hymnals and recordings later, I think we can safely say that hymn experts don’t always predict what congregations will and won’t do!
But enough gloating. The version that appears in hymnals is an arrangement by me that makes heavy use of a drone in a hymn texture. That’s lovely, but not like the recordings I’ve heard of the song from Egypt. This SATB and Piano arrangement is more along those lines: almost Klezmer-like use of the harmonic scale, a rhythmic accompaniment with lots of rubato, and vocal harmonies that tend to move in thirds.
It’s stale Finale playback, but it’s the best I’ve got for now: MP3
My dad tells me that there’s a Spanish proverb that says something to the effect of, “Write a book. Have a son. Plant a tree.” I’ve done the first two and figure I’m covered on the third, because I have two of the second.
When I take stock of things I’ve done that I’m proud of and that are likely to outlive me, the song “Kwake Yesu Nasimama” is pretty high up on the list. I didn’t write the song–just translated it–but there’s no better feeling than finding a great song from Kenya (or elsewhere) and making it available to the larger Church. This Kenyan heartsong has already become the heartsong of lots of people in the English-speaking world.
In any case, the next step was to make choral arrangement of the song. And that’s just what I did. I’m not going to upload the score, because it’s under consideration by a publisher. And though this publisher rarely answers my email, I want to give them first crack at rejecting it before I blog it. But I’m sure I could be convinced to send you the PDF score if you ask me nicely via email…
For now take a listen to this sterile Finale playback, and imagine a heartfelt performance: MP3
As I announced previously, I lost the Grandfather Home for Children song contest, even though my song was the best. (A fact that was lost on the judges.) But the kind subscriber who alerted me to the contest liked my song enough to include it in his own church’s worship. Here is Dean and his crew at Erwin Presbyterian Church, TN, singing “We Are the Children of God.”
It does my heart good to know the song has found a loving home. As a matter of fact, I’m glad to hear from anyone who uses my music. Feel free to let me know you’re using a song or send me a recording. That’s what this blog is all about!
You heard “Den Armen” in a previous spring cleaning post in its original form as part of a cantata for choir and organ. Later, I returned to this movement and turned it into an anthem for women’s choir and piano, ably sung by the University of Pittsburgh Women’s Chorale: MP3. (I also have a version for women, strings and harp if anyone’s interested.)
Easter is always a big day for church music, and this year was no exception. What was an exception was the difficulty level of the piece I wrote for the day’s Psalm. I actually wrote this setting of Psalm 118 a few years ago, but this time around I got a good recording of it.
Psalm 118 is a sprawling, rhapsodic Psalm of emotional valleys and mountains. I wanted the composition to reflect that, but I also wanted to make it accessible to the congregation. What I came up with is a short, tuneful refrain that the congregation sings repeatedly throughout the piece. The choir, on the other hand, is given a number of episodes, each mirroring the feelings of the different parts of the Psalm. Put Laura de Jong on soprano, support her with strings, and throw in a timpani–and you’re in business!
Listen to the MP3 from Sunday, or visit the karaoke version of the score on YouTube.
Last week I posted a recording of my flute arrangement of “Good Christian Friends (Men), Rejoice.” Unfortunately, the flutist from that recording wasn’t available for the Christmas Eve service. But in a bad news/good news turn of events, recorder player par excellence, Cal Stapert, was willing to take over. Take a listen.
Added bonus: super sweet segue between the Good Christian prelude and the processional hymn “Once in Royal David’s City.”
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We Three Kings, Christmas Eve 2012
I know you’re all dying to know how my new arrangement of “We Three Kings” went. Well, die no more! Here’s the MP3 from COS’s Christmas Eve service.