Category: Church

Having just finished the 2012 Calvin Worship Symposium, I’m all ramped up on the Psalms. Then, I’m always all ramped up on the Psalms…

Here’s my setting of Psalm 81. This might not be a “zinger,” but I think it’s a solid song that gets across the text well. Added bonus: it can be sung in both a pop/praise style and as more of a straight hymn, like it is here. If you’re interested in reading an article which includes this hymn, visit Call to Worship.

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

More Killer B’s, more revenge. And this time, the theme of the Psalm revenge, too. Psalm 52 is pretty biting stuff, as I discussed before. Naturally, I’m partial to my rendition, but I can also see the charms of Doug Gay and John Bell’s setting that made its way to the pages of Psalms for All Seasons. Theirs uses the tune BACA, which is a sturdy, singable tune, whereas my tune is a bit more difficult. Both our texts struggle to apply the Psalm’s vitriolic language into something that could be used in today’s worship.

$5 to the first church who uses either in a worship service: MP3.

Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

“Two settings of Psalm 40,” you ask? “Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

Well, perhaps. But the previous one is a festive, praise band version, and this one is a contemplative take on the same Psalm. In a previous post, I recorded the song with my guitar and lots of overdubbing. This one is for choir and piano, and I think I like it better. It feels more settled.

See what you think: MP3.

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

Another oldy, but goody. This is one of my earliest congregational songs and was immortalized (well, recorded) on my CD The Greg Scheer Song Book, which, by the way is still available for the unbelievable price of $10.

On that recording the song had more of a folk/praise band vibe. But for this reading session I stripped it back to exactly what was on the page of the voice/piano arrangement, which, by the way you’ll find at my main website on its own page (update: see link above). This simpler version is quite fetching in its own unadorned manner, which, by the way, can be heard on this MP3.

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

I’ve blogged about “Sing to God” previously (and shortly after that), but I thought I’d let you hear it again. I still like this tune quite a lot. Evidently the editors of PfAS didn’t. (To be honest, I can’t remember if I submitted this one.) In #30C they paired this text with the Jewish tune YISRAEL V’ORAITA, which is actually a pretty nice fit.

One of the things I do to keep myself honest is to let choirs sight read my music without the warnings I often give before before rehearsing a new piece: “watch out for the harmony in measure 5” or “that rhythm in the chorus goes da daa da doo da.” If the choir stumbles on something, there’s a good chance the congregation will find it tricky.

That’s just what I did during this reading session. The twists and turns in this one caught the choir off guard, as evidenced by the laughing in verse 1. But by verse 3 they got those wrinkles ironed out: MP3.

Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

Next week, Psalms for All Seasons, a collection of a gazillion Psalm settings, will be given to every one who attends the Calvin Worship Symposium. Cry Out to God!, an accompanying CD made in collaboration with The Choral Scholars and a host of other friends, will also be released next week.

I’ve spent the last six months rehearsing, recording, and mixing this CD’s 22 songs. Along the way a number of songs have fallen by the wayside. In honor of the release of PfAS, I’m going to make a number of these songs available at my blog. You could call these songs “also rans,” “runner ups,” “the despised and rejected”; I call them Revenge of the Killer B’s in honor of an LP of the same name, which was a collection of B-sides* from various 80s artists.

First up is my setting of Psalm 5, “Hear My Words, O Lord.” It appears as Psalm 5C in the Psalms for All Seasons hymnal, but if you want the unsquished piano part you hear on this recording, see the link above. The recording is just a rough read through of the refrain without the reading. The reading allows the whole Psalm to be heard, and really lets the multiple voices of the original text come through.

*The back side of a single–if you don’t understand what I’m talking about, ask an old person.