Category: Retuned hymn

Historic hymn texts set to new music.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms Retuned hymn

Psalm 132: Arise, O King of Grace Arise

Update 12/29/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

At Church of the Servant, we’re doing a series on the Psalms of Ascent. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are certain Ascent Psalms which are slim pickings from a congregational song point of view. Psalm 132 is one of these, as was made abundantly clear last night as I was rushing to prepare music for a Guitarchestra rehearsal that was rapidly approaching.

As I searched hymnary.org, I found a good text by Isaac Watts called “Arise, O King of Grace, Arise,” that teases out Christological imagery from the Psalm in a way that only Watts can do. I valiantly tried to finish setting music to it by rehearsal time, but I was thwarted by making copies, unlocking doors and other mundane tasks.

But today I completed the song, and I want to make sure the good folks of the Guitarchestra have a chance to familiarize themselves with it before the next rehearsal. See the link above for scores. So put down your turkey and get practicing! (People who aren’t Gstra members are also welcome to try it out.)

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Congregational Songs Retuned hymn

A Cardiphonia Pentecost

I’m proud to have two of my songs included in the new Cardiphonia project Pentecost Songs. This is the second of Bruce Benedict’s “flash mob” song collections, in which he gathers songwriters from around the country to write new songs on a particular theme.

The first of my tracks is named “Glossolalia,” and is not a song so much as a sound collage. It is inspired by one of my favorite memories from my Pentecostal upbringing: singing in the Spirit. Have you ever heard this? A congregation quietly sings in tongues or improvises on phrases like “Hallelujah, Lord Jesus.” It’s like the Holy Spirit is playing the congregation like a large harp.

The second is called “O Holy Spirit, Come!” The verse is based on “Veni Creator Spiritus,” a chant from the 10th century whose authorship has never been verified. I retained the chant melody and wrote a new translation of the 7 verse Latin text. I also added chords that would allow it to be led by a band; it was no easy task to squeeze the fluid chant melody into a form that made sense with a rhythm section. Finally, I added a refrain. In the end, the song spans some 11 centuries of of singing to the Holy Spirit.

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for “O Holy Spirit, Come” can be downloaded here.

But to tell you the truth, my two contributions are hardly the stand outs of the collection. You really need to listen and download the whole project: Cardiphonia’s Pentecost Songs.

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Retuned hymn

Veni Creator Spiritus

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

Bruce Benedict is at it again. Last time it was a collection of songs based on the Apostles’ Creed. This time he’s assembling a group of musicians to compose and record songs for Pentecost. I have a real affinity for the Gregorian chant Veni Creator Spiritus, so I chose to contribute an updated version of this hymn to the project. Wikipedia has a good overview that includes the Latin, chant notation, an English translation, and an audio sample. CHeck out the original, then take a look at my first draft PDF or listen to an MP3 of me singing it directly into my laptop. As you can see, my version keeps the original chant melody intact, provides a new English translation from the Latin, and adds a refrain–“O Holy Spirit, come!”

Now I need your help before I begin recording. One of the difficulties I had was trying to wrangle the flowing, asymmetrical rhythms of the chant into a regular metered pattern. I chose 3/8 to give me the most flexibility of phrasing, but am still not entirely satisfied with how that plays out in measure 6 and 16. Is the tied pick up too fussy? How about the key signature? I’ve put it in E, but it really works better with an A drone. Should I put it in A? I sort of like the way it floats between the keys of A and E–it feels more chant-like to me–but maybe I’m just being stupid. And the translation? Anything you’d change? I like how each verse gives a name for the Spirit at the beginning, and am generally pleased with the rest of the text, but would appreciate any feedback you have on it.

Let’s make this better and then I’ll get to work on the final recording!

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Congregational Songs Retuned hymn

All the Sacrifice Is Ended

A few weeks ago I and some other songwriters got an email from Bruce Benedict asking if we’d take part in his latest musical venture–a re:hymned version of Samuel J. Stone’s Lyra Fidelium. This collection is Stone’s hymnic reflections on the Apostles’ Creed. Inspired by Brian Moss‘s version of “The Church’s One Foundation,” Bruce thought it would be cool if a bunch of us would contribute new tunes to these classic texts in time for All Saints’ Day.

“Sure,” I said. “No problem.” I quickly chose Article V: He Descended into Hell. This may seem like an odd choice, but let me explain. First of all, it was one of two texts that others hadn’t chosen. Next, I felt it was penance for a job interview in which I submitted the Apostles’ Creed as my statement of faith and subsequently got grilled by one of the people on the search committee who asked if I *really* believed that Jesus went to hell. Very awkward.

The tune wrote itself fairly quickly. But a demo had to wait a week. When I had some free time to record the song on Friday, I spent the day laying down tracks that I realized by 2pm were sadly lacking. So naturally I brewed some coffee and assessed the situation. I started over with a more direct approach to the song. (See: Occum’s razor.) Somewhere around 4pm it all became an act of worship, and the arcane English worked its way deeper and deeper into my heart and the recording became an opportunity to explore Christ’s death, descending into hell, and resurrection more fully.

You can check out my All the Sacrifice Is Ended and a bunch of other songs at Cardiphonia Hymns of Faith page.

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Church Congregational Songs Hymn tunes Retuned hymn

Filled with the Spirit’s Power

Just trying to catch up on recent compositions:

During Pentecost, John Phiri from Sierra Leone preached at COS. The text “Filled with the Spirit’s Power” (Psalter Hymnal #417) fit well with his sermon thematically, but musically it left something to be desired. (Sorry Henry Lawes.) So I wrote a new tune. Check out the PDF or the MP3.

If you’re looking for a 10.10.10.10 tune, give this a try.

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Psalms Retuned hymn

The Making of Psalm 29

I’ve been composing a new setting of Psalm 29, and decided that I’d create a video of the process. “Oh boy,” you say. “That sounds exciting.” Indeed.

My compositional conundrum is that I have three different versions of the same song, and there are pros and cons to each version. I’m hoping you will listen to the MP3 (version 3) or download the PDF of version 1, version 2, or version 3 and give me some help. What is the best version of the song? Are there parts that you would change or different versions that you would combine? Maybe I should scrap the song entirely?

Feel free to leave your editorial suggestions here or at YouTube. Heck, maybe some of you will want to sing and play your ideas in a video response at YouTube. Have at it people–this is your chance to co-write a song with Greg!

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRvsPz-pL2o

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Congregational Songs Retuned hymn Uncategorized

There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy

When I was in Uganda I was doodling on the guitar one day and I came up with a cool little guitar riff. Somehow it seemed to match up in my mind with the hymn text “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy.” Like all promising musical ideas that come to me, it kept playing in my head and I kept fussing with it on paper. But then it just got too fussy. I was over thinking it until all its charm was gone. So I decided to take a break from looking at it on paper and just get back to how the started–with me doodling on guitar. Over the last few days I’ve just been playing with it and now I feel like it’s once again becoming that simple, charming song that I met in Uganda. Here’s me playing it straight into the mic on my MacBook Pro: There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy MP3.

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Church Demos Retuned hymn

Jesus Calls

Jack Roeda is preaching on the calling of  Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-10), Philip, and Nathanael (John 1:43-51) next week. As I was searching for songs to fit the theme, I came across the hymn “Jesus Calls O’er the Tumult” in the Hymnary. I liked the text, but wasn’t convinced by the tune that accompanied it in the Psalter Hymnal. So I wrote a new one and took the opportunity to learn more about Logic Studio by recording a demo of it. Here it is: Greg, the band of Greg, and the Greg choir performing “Jesus Calls.”

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Congregational Songs Live Retuned hymn

The King Shall Come

Last week at gregscheer.com I introduced the Advent song “The King Shall Come.” Actually, it was a reintroduction, as the song has been available at my site for a few years, but I recently made substantial changes to the lyrics (what we call improvements in the business) and wrote a piano accompaniment. Of course, the whole thing is based on a hymn by John Brownlie written in 1907, making it a re-reintroduction. (And Brownlie is said to have based it on a Greek Orthodox hymn, which would make it a re-re-reintroduction, but I digress…)

Hurry! There are only two more weeks in Advent to enjoy The King Shall Come.

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Church Congregational Songs Finale demo Retuned hymn

A Great and Mighty Wonder

Due to popular demand (okay–one request) I just wrote a piano accompaniment for my Christmas song “A Great and Mighty Wonder.” I also took the opportunity to update the text a little and write out a descant. The descant is kind of cool in a musically geeky sort of way–it uses the refrain of “O come All You Faithful” as counterpoint to this song’s refrain. (Do I smell a Christmas medley?) You can hear a demo MP3 here or download the lead sheet and piano score at my main site.