Category: Church

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 125: All Those Who Trust

Update: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

A while back, I was looking for a musical setting of Psalm 125 to fit with our church’s series on the Psalms of Ascent. Like any good researcher, I went to YouTube. There, I found a video of two Brazilians playing a song called Proteção. I had no context for the music, but I couldn’t get the song out of my mind.

A little poking around brought me to a treasure trove of newly composed songs in Portuguese, written primarily by Rubem Amorese, but often co-written with others, most notably the other man in the video, Toninho Zemuner. Toninho has also recorded many of these songs. The man has golden ears and works with extremely talented musicians! You can hear the studio recording of Proteção at Amorese’s website or at their church’s website.

I wasn’t able to finish a translation in time for the sermon series that first led me to the song, but recently returned to it. A few days ago I completed a translation and piano score, and yesterday recorded a demo.

I hope to work with more of these songs in the future, and have been dropping hints at the CICW that a trip to Brazil would be an appropriate–no, necessary–part of my work. For now I’ll have to settle for this being a long distance collaboration, bringing more of Rubem’s songs to English speakers and making my presence in Brazil felt only through “Povo do senhor,” the Portuguese translation of my song “People of the Lord.”

Categories
Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Road-testing two songs

I usually reserve this blog for premieres, but as you know, a composition’s success is measured by repeat performances. In the case of a congregational song, there’s a big difference between what’s on the page, how it sounds when a congregation sings it, and how well it settles in after repeated singing.

So here are two songs that Church of the Servant has sung a few times each. Deeper than the Sea is published as a choral anthem, but that doesn’t mean that it sings well when given to a congregation. In this recording, it’s led by the Guitarchestra. From the Dust was rejected by the same publisher, but once again, that doesn’t mean much in terms of its worth as a congregational song. In this particular case, the COS choir sings the choral anthem version of the song, but the congregation is invited to join in on the refrains.

What do you think? Do these two have that undefinable it that makes a great congregational song? If there were a musical cage fight between the two songs, which one would win?

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live

WALY WALY: O Blessed Spring

I’ve loved the folk tune WALY WALY for years. I used to sing “The Water Is Wide” with guitar and violin back in my coffeehouse days. I’ve annoyed congregation members by using the tune with the text “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” (It’s a better pairing, but people don’t seem to care about the facts when it comes to church music.) More recently I arranged the tune for piano and used it with the text “As Moses Raised the Serpent Up.”

But my favorite so far is Susa Palo Cherwein’s text “O Blessed Spring.” The wistfulness of WALY WALY brings out the seasons-of-life theme of Cherwein’s text beautifully. The added strings and Erin De Young’s solo are icing on the cake. If you can listen to it without crying, you need a heart transplant.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed

This Lent, Church of the Servant is using a different version of Isaac Watts’ text “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed” each Sunday. Kauflin, Benedict, Governor–we’re doing them all. My own humble contribution to the collection is an arrangement of the traditional tune MARTYRDOM. Check it out.

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs

SALVATION

What’s with all the songs in D minor?

I’m still stuck on the tune SALVATION. It’s a Kentucky Harmony tune that’s not used nearly as much as some other early American tunes. And that’s a shame. I am trying to single-handedly right this imbalance by using it every other week at my church. This time it’s paired with the Herman Stuempfle text “You Strode into the Temple, Lord,” and accompanied by the COS Guitarchestra. Take a listen to the MP3. Of course, the problem is that I’ve used the tune so much that now people in my church are beginning to ask,

“What’s with all the songs in D minor?”

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Psalms

Psalm 80: O Faithful Shepherd

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

Diephouse/Scheer strike again!

A month ago, I decided that Psalm 80’s vine themes would fit perfectly with a sermon on “I am the Vine.” But I wasn’t sold on any of the versions I found. The closest thing to something that excited me was a stodgy metrical text paired with a great Genevan tune that I hadn’t heard before, O PASTEUR D’ISRAEL, ESCOUTE.

So I sent David Diephouse an email: I think there could be some kind of rich ties between God clearing a place to plant a vine (Israel), Jesus ingrafting us into himself the Vine, and perhaps even the fruit of the vine and the Tree of Life. Play with it and see what you come up with, whether it’s a literal metrical setting or a looser hymn that treats Psalm 80 through New Testament eyes.

He, like me, works best when a songwriting project is a diversion from a pile of “real” work, and he quickly sent me a first draft. He would insist that the bulk of the final draft is my words, but the fact is he established the basic structure and set up key phrases like “graft us into the Living Vine.” Add a bit of advice on Goudimel’s harmonization from our church’s local music historian, Cal Stapert, and you end up with a really solid metrical Psalm that revives an overlooked, but beautifully singable Genevan tune.

MP3

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Retuned hymn

Jesus, Lord of Life and Glory – two recordings

Update 2/15/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

A few weeks ago, I told you the exciting story of writing this song. (It was exciting, wasn’t it? I mean, when I got to the part about the 4/4 measure, I bet you were on the edge of your seat.) Now I’ve had a chance to test drive it twice.

The first time was at the Ash Wednesday service. There we used the piano accompaniment I wrote for the occasion, and added a few recorders for good measure (MP3, Ash Wed). The next time was during a Sunday morning service in which the Guitarchestra led the singing (MP3, Guitarchestra). It’s interesting to hear how the music takes on a different feel with the different accompaniment. The Ash Wednesday version brings out the plaintive, lamenting character of the melody, while the guitars make it sound more like an urgent prayer.

Which do you like better?

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

WTS Bless the Lord

My friend Ron, knowing that I can’t say No to a quirky commission asked me to write a short refrain based on Psalm 103 for use at Western Theological Seminary’s graduation. What can I say? Not no, that’s for sure.

The graduation will be held in the massive Dimnent Chapel which has the reverb of the Grand Canyon, so I decided I needed to go easy on syncopations and quick rhythms. Instead, all the rhythms lay pretty flat from the congregation’s point of view, with ample opportunity for a good gospel pianist to put some life in between the notes. Speaking of gospel, the MP3 features the Gospel of Greg Mass Choir. Righteous!

Bless the Lord, MP3

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Retuned hymn

Jesus, Lord of Life and Glory

Update 2/15/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

If you aren’t a musician, you might be led to believe that composers just pluck ripe songs from the muses’ orchard of musical delights.

You would be wrong.

This composition stuff is actual work. Take, for example, my latest creative endeavor. I came across the 1839 text “Jesus, Lord of Life and Glory” by James John Cummins and wasn’t convinced by the tunes written for it. So I wrote one. That was easy enough. But then I tweaked and tweaked until it sang more smoothly. (What–you think that single 4/4 measure is an accident?) And then I entered it into Finale. And then I tweaked a few more things as I saw it on the page. And then I made the best demo I could in the last 35 minutes of my Friday afternoon. (Yes, my voice does crack in verse 4. Cut me a little slack–I did it in one take.) And then I realized that in taking out the Thees and Thous I had messed up one of the rhymes. And then I added a cool echo that Theo really liked. And then I realized that it wouldn’t work without a bass line and maybe some percussion. And then I remembered that Logic Pro got all out of whack when I got a new computer, so I didn’t have a quick way to add more stuff. And then I took out the cool echo that Theo liked. And then it became 9pm on Sunday night and I said “I’m going to upload this thing, warts and all!”

So here it is, straight from muses’ the orchard of musical delights (just not quite ripe), Jesus, Lord of Life and Glory: MP3.

Categories
Choir Church Congregational Songs Psalms

Revenge of the Killer Bs: Psalm 145, One Generation

If I were to have a big hit, this would be it. It sort of won the CRC Sesquicentennial hymn contest, then appeared in Contemporary Songs for Worship, and can now be found in Psalms for All Seasons, #145G. But there were already too many of my songs and arrangements on the PfAS CD, so this got cut. After all, you don’t want to overdose on Greg. But here’s a small fix to hold you over until my next blog post.

And thus, my loyal readers, concludes my 16 song series of songs that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another. But don’t lament the one that got away. No, just head on over to the Psalms for All Seasons website, where you can buy the book and CD so you can get all the songs and recordings that did make the cut.