Category: Church

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Art Music Church Finale demo

Tenebrae: The Shadow of Accusation

I think I’m over the hump with this movement. It’s the 4th out of 7 movements, and it’s the fastest, most complex movement of them all. (Fast music means more notes in less time, which makes it more time consuming to compose.) This movement follows the scripture reading in which Jesus stands before Pilate and the chief priests without defending himself. In the end, Pilate makes a politically savvy exchange of Barabbas for Jesus. The music reflects the agitation of the crowd, the silence of Jesus, and the mob shouts of “Crucify him!”

tenebraeWant to hear it in your head? Here’s the score: PDF.

The Shadow of Accusation: Matthew 27:11-14; 20-29
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many accusations they make against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”[a] All of them said, “Let him be crucified!”23 Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
24 So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood;[b] see to it yourselves.” 25 Then the people as a whole answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 So he released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Global

Kwake Yesu, GIA recording

One of the nice things about getting a choral piece published is that the publisher often makes high quality recordings of the pieces for promotional purposes. Here’s a new recording of “Kwake Yesu/Here on Jesus Christ I Will Stand” by GIA:

What’s that? It’s so lovely you want to purchase 40 copies for you choir? Well, head on over to the GIA website and they’ll be glad to help you out!

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Art Music Church Finale demo

Tenebrae: The Shadow of an Unshared Vigil

In this third movement, we’re down to five cellos out of the original seven. Because the scripture reading that accompanies this movement tells of Jesus leaving the others three times to pray, I gave a solo cello three “recitatives.” I’m not usually big on word painting in music, but it seemed a good way to reflect the drama of the story.

tenebraeLove notes? Here you go: PDF

The Shadow of an Unshared Vigil: Matthew 26:36-46
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. 38 Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” 39 And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” 40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial;[a] the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Retuned hymn

Do not I love Thee, Oh my Lord​?​ (DETROIT)

Update 12/18/21: Sheet music for this arrangement is now available at gregscheer.com.

I’m proud to be included on the latest Cardiphonia compilation. This time around the the theme was “shape note” hymns in new arrangements. If you’re not familiar with the shape note singing tradition, do yourself a favor and watch the documentary Awake, My Soul, or visit The Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association. Until then, listen to The Hollow Square Hymnal.

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Art Music Church FAWM 2016 Finale demo Hymn tunes

Tenebrae: The Shadow of Desertion

The 2nd movement of my Maundy Thursday piece for cellos. Since the text  begins with “when they had sung the hymn,” I decided to give this movement a hymn-like structure–very simple rhythms with a singable melody. Of course, the harmonies are more biting than the average hymn. Take a look: PDF.

tenebraeThe Shadow of Desertion: Matthew 26:30-35
30 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters because of me this night; for it is written,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.

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Art Music Church FAWM 2016 Finale demo

Tenebrae: The Shadow of Betrayal

One of the most powerful services of the church year is the Tenebrae service on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week. It is a sequence of solemn readings from the last scenes of Jesus’ life as he descends toward the cross. One of the things that gives the service such impact is that after each reading, one of seven candles is extinguished until the sanctuary is left in total darkness.

I’ve always wanted to compose a piece for seven musicians to accompany this service, with a movement of music to follow each scripture reading. After each reading, one musician at a time will turn off his/her light and leave the stage. By the 7th reading, only one musician will remain. This year, due to an abundance of cellos at the church, I finally have my chance to implement this decade long idea and am writing a piece for cello septet.

Here is a rough draft of movement #1, based on Matthew 26:20-25: When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; 21 and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” 25 Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”

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Arrangement Choir Church Global

GIA’s Abana

No one tells me anything. I just stumbled across a recording of my anthem Abana at the GIA website.

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Church Congregational Songs FAWM 2016 Hymn tunes

Rhyme or Reason

I was challenged to write music for a somewhat irregularly metered hymn text based on Ecclesiastes. (Okay, not directly challenged, but I accepted it as such.) Since the text talked about stretching and striving, I thought this rising melodic figure (with a chromatically descending bass) fit the them quite well.

The author commented that he could hear the cast of Fiddler on the Roof singing it. I’m unsure whether I should take that as a compliment or not…

If you want to revel in the nitty gritty of the musical details, see this PDF.

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Church Congregational Songs Hymn tunes Jazz Live

Come, Join in Cana’s Feast

Herman G. Stuempfle, unwitting collaborator

Update 1/11/22: Sheet music for this tune is now available at gregscheer.com.

A few months ago I wrote a tune for a text by Herman Stuempfle. Strangely, when I went searching for a text to accompany this week’s sermon on the Wedding in Cana, I was led again to Stuempfle. Even stranger? The new text, “Come, Join in Cana’s Feast,” fits the same tune!

Because yesterday’s service was led by the Joyful Noise Orchestra, I had some cool instrumental options. I’m a huge fan of jazz with orchestra, so I broke out my hollow body Ibanez and wrote some string parts, a la Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’. Throw in Lauren Figueroa on vocals and Joel Klamer on tenor sax, I figure you can’t go wrong.

Here’s the the MP3 of the service. Below, for your listening pleasure is some real music: Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’.

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Arrangement Art Music Choir Church

Vivaldi’s Domine Deus, Agnus Dei

The Church of the Servant choir is singing movements of Vivaldi’s Gloria throughout the year. Recently we sang “Dominus Deus, Agnus Dei” (“Lord God, Lamb of God…that takes away the sins of the world have mercy upon us”) during the confession.

Many of these movements can be found in public domain editions, but others have incomplete resources. Such was the case with this movement. There were plenty of choral scores, but no realization of the figured bass that was light enough to leave room for the cello. (You’ll remember that in a lot of Baroque music the continuo was a bass line with chord symbols called figured bass. The Baroque keyboardist was expected to improvise chords above the bass line. Today, few players have this skill.)

You would think that filling in chords above a bass line would be a simple task tapping into skills learned in freshman theory, but it’s actually surprisingly hard to get into the stylistic mindset of another composer and flesh out their music in a convincing way. You can assess my success here: PDF. Of course, compositional success can only be achieved when implemented by actual musicians. In this case, I had the best: Erin De Young sang the solo and Andrew Plaisier played cello. I’m blessed to be at a church with people like this!