This is, literally, my musical diary–notes fresh from my pen and recorded in a few hours. You can find my finished works elsewhere; here, it's all about capturing the moment!
Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer.com.
As I study the Psalms I’m setting to music during my Adopt-a-Psalm month, I often find echoes of the Psalms in the New Testament. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; after all, Jesus quoted the Psalms more than any other book of the Old Testament. When I was working on Psalm 3: I Shall Rest in Peace, it seemed that Romans 8:38-39 was Psalm 3’s New Testament twin: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I decided to write a song on Romans 8 that could be paired with Psalm 3. It’s just a short chorus that can be sung as a coda to Psalm 3 (same key) or as a stand-alone scripture song. You’ll notice I took quite a bit of liberty with the text. I think it still conveys the spirit of Romans 8, though it doesn’t quote it verbatim.
Neither death nor demon can hold me, or life’s sweetest angels control me, and no pow’r today or to come; highest high or lowest low. For nothing can resist the tireless love of God; And nothing can undo our redemption in Christ’s blood; For nothing can change what our God’s already done.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
This song is the first of my February Adopt-a-Psalm settings. It is based on Psalm 3, which is traditionally associated with King David as he fled from his son Absalom. Whether or not the Psalm was actually written while fleeing for his life during a revolt, the Psalm is certainly full of fears and anxieties–with a side order of vengeance. (“You break the teeth of the wicked.”
But more than that, the Psalm is full of trust. Even though all hell is breaking loose, the Psalmist talks about going to bed: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I am not afraid…” Indeed, sleep is one of the common themes between Psalm 3 and its pair, Psalm 4 (coming soon!).
As I studied the Psalm and commentaries on it, it struck me that the focus of these two Psalms is not so much the occasion of the cry for help as the deep, centered peace that the Psalmist finds within the storm. So I focused both of the songs on the theme of rest. In this setting of Psalm 3, “I shall rest in peace” becomes a repeated refrain throughout. What I like about that phrase is that “rest” not only indicates peaceful sleep but “rest in peace” is a euphemism for death. It seems to me that many people who might read Psalm 3 or sing this song may be fighting the enemy of disease, age, or death itself. Even in death, we can rest in the Lord.
Musically, the song is almost entirely modal. In early drafts, I had all sorts of clever chord changes but realized they were detracting from the simple beauty of the melody. In the final draft, the only non-modal chord is the Dsus to D which lifts the harmonic progression nicely to the B section. In the demo above, I went with a folkish groove. This shouldn’t be heard as definitive. I worked with what I had. I could also hear this with piano in a slightly slower tempo than my recording with flowing arpeggios in the left hand–still syncopated, but not bouncy.
Below is the text, and see the link above for the leadsheet. Thanks to Tami Parks who adopted this Psalm in honor of Ken & Candace Schaap on the 3rd Anniversary of Faithway Baptist Church
1. Surrounded by my enemies;
I shall rest in peace.
They say there is no help for me;
I shall rest in peace.
For you, O Lord, you are shielding me;
My one true hope and my glory.
I shall rest in peace.
I shall rest in peace.
2. The Lord will hear my cry of pain;
I shall rest in peace.
I sleep, I wake, God still sustains;
I shall rest in peace.
Ten thousand foes may surround my bed;
I shall not fear, for my God protects.
I shall rest in peace.
I shall rest in peace.
3. Rise up, O God, deliver me!
I shall rest in peace.
Lord, bring the violent to their knees;
I shall rest in peace.
For you, O Lord, are a help so sure.
Your blessing’s strong and your love endures.
I shall rest in peace.
I shall rest in peace.
I’m just coming down from the mountaintop known as the annual Calvin Worship Symposium. Beyond the 4 sessions and 2 services I helped lead, I contributed an arrangement to the service led by Bruce Benedict and the Hope College worship team. At 18:15 in the video below you’ll hear my string arrangement of Bethany Brooks‘ “Sanctus.” Bethany wrote a fine song–simple and stately–and I knew the best thing I could do is simply stay out of they way.
While tracking down recordings of my arrangements from this year’s Calvin College Lessons and Carols service, I was also able to locate a recording of “Pentecostal Splendor” from the service in 2014. The vivid imagery of the text by John E. Speares and the rugged melody by Dale Wood gave me plenty of material to work with. It sounded splendid with a huge choir, pipe organ*, and brass quintet. You can email me for a score or read the full program here: http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/a-pentecostal-christmas
*I should mention that the organ sounds splendid in part because of how well Norma Malefyt played it, but also because she spent a good deal of time with me working on how to write well for the instrument.
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.
This Christmas I had the honor of contributing to Calvin College’s Lessons and Carols service. They commissioned two pieces. The first was a musical collage paired with the scripture about Jacob’s dream of a ladder to heaven. I was asked to set the Negro Spiritual “Jacob’s Ladder” with numerous Glorias: Taizé’s, “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and Pablo Sosa’s. For three choirs and organ. That was not enough of a challenge, so I threw in the verse about Jacob’s ladder from “Nearer My God to Thee.”
You can see the whole program here or email me to see the score.
I’ve been making my music available online for two decades; in fact, I was one of the first church music publishers online. And Richard Janzen was there from the beginning. Richard directs the choral program at Rosthern Junior College in Saskatoon where he has been programming my pieces every few years since before his students were in diapers. Indeed, he has the distinction of premiering more of my works than anyone else in his country. The latest is his choir’s recent rendition of my “We Three Kings.” Thank you, Richard and others like him who support independent artists!
Update 10/28/21: Sheet music for this song can now be purchased at gregscheer.com.
For a long time now, people* have been clamoring for the Scheer men to form a band. Indeed, we are the ultimate boy band: tall and lanky Simon–the funny one–with his hair piled high, Theo–the cute one–with his blonde mop top, and Greg–the mature older brother† with his hipster beard. Heck, we even have a diabetic member like the Jonas Brothers!
But I digress. The point is that this marks the first time that the Scheers have recorded a song together: I’m on guitar and vocals, Simon’s on bass, and Theo’s on cello.
And what a song it is! I was introduced to “Oče naš” by a woman who was taking ESL classes at Church of the Servant. She helped me find a recording of the song (below), gave me the meaning of each word of the original text, and even guided me through the Croatian pronunciation phonetically. I created a singing translation in English and arranged it for piano.
It’s a simple and haunting song that I hope will find its way into many congregations. For now, you will have to satisfy yourself with the Scheer Men’s rendition.
*By “a long time” and “people” I mean, of course, “one person” and “once.”
†By “mature older brother” I mean, of course, wishful thinking.
Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer.com.
A few months ago, I was asked to compose a theme song for the World Communion of Reformed Churches’ 2017 General Council meeting in Leipzig, Germany. After three tries I got it right. One of the out-takes from that process was a hymn tune in a distinctly Bach style. I was really pleased to hear from the event organizers that they not only liked the song I submitted, but they liked the Bach-style hymn, as well. They asked if I’d be willing to write a new text for that tune; a text focusing on the suffering of the world.
After a week of drafting, crumpling, re-drafting, and editing, I’m done. “Ever-Tender Shepherd” is a musical “collect prayer”–a prayer which petitions God based on God’s attributes. In this case, attributes of Jesus are connected to the needs of the world. We ask Christ, the Shepherd, to gather scattered refugees, for example. This seemed a good way to address the needs of the world without taking sides or naming issues so specifically that the song would be obsolete by the time it was used. I’m especially fond of the third verse. But who am I to play favorites?
1. Ever-tender Shepherd,
hear your people’s moans
as they sift through rubble
that was once their homes.
See your children scatter
as cities burn to ash.
Be for them a refuge;
Be for them a rest.
2. Ever-blessing Brother,
grant again your peace.
Breathe on us your Spirit,
that our wars may cease.
Stanch the endless bleeding
of self-inflicted wounds.
May your blood be healing
and your cross our truce.
3. Ever-wounded Healer,
feel your planet’s pain.
Fever wracks its body;
poison fills its veins.
Hear creation’s groaning,
its sighs too deep for words.
Be the re-creation
of all things on earth.
4. Ever-reigning Victor,
ever-loving Lord,
ever intercede for
us, your weak and poor.
May we ever follow
your perfect sacrifice,
offering lives of mercy,
ever-living Christ.
I’ve been working on this song forever. A sketch has been in my idea folder for at least a year and multiple recorded fragments reside on my handheld recorder, my phone, and my computer. On a beautiful fall day not long ago, I sat outside in the afternoon sun and completed the lyrics. Since then, I’ve been adding a few tracks at a time until it was full enough that it felt like a finished recording. This is a little different for me: simple music as a frame for the lyrics, with atmospheric instrumentation swirling around in the background.
1. You’re taking the dirt
and the clouds and the rain,
and you’re making it beautiful.
Out of the ground
There sprouts a grain.
And it is beautiful.
Even the fire
and the flood;
Rising from ashes;
New life from mud.
Even from fire and from flood
There comes something beautiful.
You’re making it
Beautiful.
2. All of my doubt,
my fear, and my pain—
can You make them beautiful?
All of the things
I can’t understand—
Will they become beautiful?
You’re taking my failures,
and my scars
and making
a canvas for your art.
The night is dark,
But it’s full of stars.
They are so beautiful.
You’re making it
Beautiful.
3. I burn a bridge,
can you part the seas?
Lord, I need a miracle.
O God, make a way
When I can’t see
How it could be beautiful.
A story of sin
Told in regrets;
A history
Written by mistake…
Will there be hope
When morning breaks?
Will it be beautiful?
You’re taking it,
You’re making…
All things new. All things new again.
All things new. All things new in the end.
For the record, yes, the atmospheric background vocals were a tip of the hat to 10cc’s hit “I’m Not in Love.”
1. Ever-tender Shepherd,