The Musical Diary of Greg ScheerMy choral arrangement of Kwake Yesu/Here on Jesus Christ I Will Stand (GIA) is beginning to make its way in the world. Here is a video from a recent LOFT service at Calvin College: http://livestream.com/calvin-college/events/4678265/videos/113157761.
Kwake Yesu begins at 22:55.
Imagine Earth, Wind & Fire (rest in peace, Maurice White) retired from touring and set up residence in a local church. Now imagine that in a dusty hymnal on the shelves of that church they came across the hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name, but decided it needed new music to fit their sound.
That’s pretty much what this version of “All Hail” aspires to be.
Now, this two-bit demo doesn’t do much to help you imagine what I’m hearing in my head, but suffice it to say this is a fat funk sandwich filled with a deep meaty groove slathered in buttery vocals, and topped with spicy horn licks.
Email me for the score if you’ve got an Earth, Wind & Fire cover band that would like to cover this. (Or if you’re Earth, Wind & Fire.)
One of my first compositions to ever be published was “A New Song (Psalm 96)” in A
ugsburg Fortress’s GladSong Choirbook in 2005. It’s nice to know that it’s still being used. How do I know choirs are still singing the song? Because I just got an email from a choir director in Lansdale, PA who would like his choir to hear a recording of the anthem. I searched high and low and finally put my hands on the only recording I have. It was just a read through I did with some students at Northwestern College, but it’s the best I’ve got. (Until the folks at Trinity Lutheran in Lansdale send me a recording!)
Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
I wrote Creation’s Chorus in 2000 hoping to forge a daring new path of Motown Psalmody that I was sure others were sure to follow. But it turns out people prefer to keep their Sons of Korah and their Jackson Five separated by family…
However, when Psalm 148 came up in the lectionary this week, I thought I’d give it another try. Unlike the 4/4 syncopated funk of the original, I decided to reimagine the song in a 3/4 Black Gospel groove. It’s easier for musicians and congregations who are not steeped in pop styles, and there is, perhaps, less of a gulf between the words and music style.
I was pleased with the basic shift in meter, but I’ve marked dozens of edits I plan to make to the choral arrangement. (This may have something to do with my finishing it 5 minutes before rehearsal started.) If you’re interested in seeing the choral score, just follow the link above. Otherwise you’ll have to wait for the release of Creation’s Chorus 2.1!
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)
Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
I am not an abstract composer. That is, I find it difficult to compose a piece for a performer who doesn’t exist and a concert that might not happen. But give me an ensemble, an opportunity, and a deadline and I’ll whip out my pencil and get to work. Such was the case this Palm Sunday when I had a willing choir and a flutist who I knew would practice whatever I wrote. The result is an energetic prelude for choir, flute, and congas; an arrangement of the Guatemalan “Santo es el Señor/Holy Is the Lord.”
Update 12/18/21: Sheet music for this arrangement is now available at gregscheer.com.
This is not a new arrangement, per se, but it’s newly notated and recorded. Plus, it segues right into Wendell Kimbrough’s “O Rejoice in All Your Works,” so that warrants its own post.
“God Himself Is with Us” is a stately hymn that goes underused in most churches. My church sings it so confidently that I can count on them to hold their own against a tricky violin descant, so I kind of went over the top with what I gave the violin…
Appearing here for the first time is the score for the violin descant you hear above. If you use it in your church, why don’t you head over to my “orders” page and plunk down $3 to let me know you care.
While it’s fun to have your music played on your home turf, there’s something special about learning that a church far away is using one of your songs or arrangements. My friends Phil and Sarah Majorins used my string arrangement of “We Sing the Mighty Power” (KINGSFOLD) at Christ Church in Davis, CA this Fall. As you’ll hear, they did a splendid job. While you’re checking out my song, make sure to take a listen to Sarah’s “Psalm 8,” “Sanctus,” and “Mystery of Faith.” I am a thorn among roses!
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!”