Category: Demos

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Contests Demos Live Psalms

Oh, That I Had Wings (Psalm 55)

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

You may have heard that I won the 2017 Church of the Servant New Psalm Contest with my Psalm 40 song, “Patiently.” What you may not have heard is that I lost the contest with my Psalm 55 song, “Oh, That I Had Wings.”

It’s understandable that my setting of Psalm 55 didn’t win. It is not the most endearing Psalm in the Psalter. It’s the plea of someone who has been betrayed and attacked by a former friend. Understandably, the Psalmist wants to beat a hasty retreat: “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” These are emotions that most of us have faced, but perhaps few of us are interested in singing about them.

Given the urgency of the Psalm, I wrote a tune that comes in short, breathless bursts. The tight meter could have become trite, but there are lots of harmonic twists and turns to avoid that. The string arrangement on the recording (played by the St. Sinner Orchestra in one take into my laptop) creates a conversation with the melody that pushes the song forward. You can find the string arrangement as well as the piano version at the link above.

1. Listen to my prayer, O God, please hear:
troubled thoughts rise from a heart of fear;
Fear of those who would undo my days—
the whispers, stares, contempt, the lies and rage.

Oh, that I had wings,
Oh, that I had wings to fly,
Oh, that I had wings to fly away.

2. Malice seeks its prey, it roams the streets.
Night and day, it prowls— there is no peace.
God, please let the innocent escape,
while schemers writhe within the traps they’ve laid. (refrain)

3. Bracing for the sword of foe’s attack,
feel the steel of dagger in my back.
Why have you betrayed me, oh my friend?
The one with whom I’ve shared the wine and bread? (refrain)

4. Night and day, I pray, O God, please hear:
troubled thoughts rise from a heart of fear.
Every care that weighs upon my soul
is safe with you, please keep me safe, O Lord. (refrain)

Categories
Art Music Demos Quirky

The Parade of Food

How many school orchestra concerts have I attended since my children began playing bass and cello? Many. And while it is mostly inspiring to hear children create music together, there are certainly times when I hear one of their pieces and I think, “I could have written something better than that.”

So now I’m putting my money where my mouth is, with my very first educational orchestra composition. My kids always complain about alliterating titles on pirate themes (“Swashbuckler Serenade,” “Pirate Prelude”), so I decided to take a completely different tack: The Parade of Food. With the approval of my children, I began writing. It started as a short piece with a simple melody that was given to each section. But then I decided to write another movement consisting entirely of funny or rhythmic food names. (Thank you, Facebook friends, for your help!) And if there are Hors d’Oeuvres and a Second Course, there needs to be Dessert, right? I ended with a bon bon of a third movement that brought back the original melody.

The MP3 is above. The full score can be gotten by emailing and asking nicely. If you know anyone who directs or plays in a school orchestra, let me know. This thing is going to be a hit!

Turkey, and stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
Snickerdoodle, jam, pumpernickel, ham.
Guacamole, quesadilla.
Pork tacos, beef tacos, chicken tacos, fish tacos.
Bruschetta, pancetta, linguini, panini.
Tater tots and chocolate milk, breaded chicken fingers, breaded fish sticks.
Peanut butter and jelly, mozzarella sticks, corn dogs.
Baba ganoush, strawberry, raspberry,
liverwurst, wienerwurst, rutabaga, mashed potata,
korma, shwarma, roti prata, kimchi, kiwi, schnitzel,
chicken tikka masala, samosa, spaghetti, falafel and waffle soufflé.
I say “sweet potato”; you say “yam.” Let’s call the whole thing succotash.

The parade of food. Oh, it all looks good.
I’m afraid I’ll eat more than I should.
The parade of food. I’ll tell you the truth:
if I had two mouths to give, I probably would.
if I had two mouths to give, I would.
Glorious Parade of food!

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

We’re Holding On for Dear Life

In 2014, I wrote a song cycle called, “One Long Year,” a set of songs chronicling the unraveling of the narrator’s life over the course of a year. It has only seen the light of day in demo form. I hope to change that sometime next year with a performance by the St. Sinner Orchestra. In the meantime, I’ve never been quite satisfied with the opening song, so this morning I gave it another try. This new one is more poetic and ethereal–which is where the song cycle ends. It feels like it might be able to introduce and frame the song cycle well. Feel free to compare it to the previous opening song, listen to it in context of the larger song cycle, and offer feedback.

 Raindrops explode and combine;
they stream down windowpanes in the night.
Cars pass in brief bursts of headlights;
shine like stars falling from night skies.
   We’re holding on for dear life.

Warm breath, exhaled, intertwined;
this breath is it yours? Is it mine?
Can two hearts resonate, synchronize?
As the universe keeps time
   we’re holding on for dear life.

This night will never end.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Hymn tunes

Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart

E.H. Plumptre, author of “Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart.”

Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer. com.

This hymn tune is another one that’s been hanging out in my idea folder for far too long. From the very beginning, the refrain was just how I wanted it: a perfect wedge of notes that vibrated with dissonant energy. The verse, however, was another story. It went through 3 or 4 entirely different drafts before I was satisfied.

What I like most about this hymn tune is that it twists, turns, and teeters on the edge of chaos without ever losing its melodic momentum. Let’s if you agree.

I would be very pleased to turn this into a festive choral anthem with organ and brass. If your church commissions it, you get to name the hymn tune! Alternately, if you want to write a new hymn text (6.6.8.6 with refrain) to this tune, I’d be happy to collaborate with you.

Categories
Arrangement Church Commissions Congregational Songs Demos Global Production music

Oh Jerusalén, que bonita eres/Oh, Jerusalem, How You Shine in Beauty

Lately, a large part of my work for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship has been translating and arranging Hispanic worship songs for the forthcoming bilingual (Spanish/English) hymnal. These songs have included everything from the smooth pop praise of Marcos Witt to the joyous coritos that travel from church to church in Latin America and the USA, often changing as they go. I’ve completed almost 50 songs and have at least another 25 to go before my work is done.

To give you a taste of the project, my boys and I recorded “Oh, Jerusalén, que bonita eres / Oh, Jerusalem, How You Shine with Beauty.” The MP3 is above. You’ll just have to wait until the hymnal is published to see the music!

The Scheer Boys: they’re not only your favorite boy band, they’re a biking team!
Categories
Demos Quirky

If You Use It, Put It Back

America’s favorite boy band is back!

The Scheer Boys (Simon on bass, Theo on cello, Greg on voice/guitar) have a new hit, and this one is for the kids. You know who you are. And you know that you drive your parents crazy by using things around the house and not returning them to their proper places. Maybe you cook something and then leave dirty dishes strewn all over the kitchen. Or you use your Dad’s phone and return it with a gallery of marmoset monkey pictures open. Or you use your father’s favorite composing pencils and eraser which seem like they would be just right for drawing a comic but then suddenly your father tries to write down a melodic idea and all he has are pencils with dull tips and no erasers. These are random examples.

Well, kids, this song is for you. It’s a little reminder that if you use something, you should put it back. It’s only right.

The Scheer Boys recorded the first verse–the heavy-handed, guilt-ridden verse sung from the exasperated, finger-wagging parent’s point of view. We’d be very pleased if children all over the world recorded the second verse–sung from the dutiful if somewhat dreary child’s point of view. Here’s the music: PDF. Get to work, kids!

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Rock and/or Roll

Behold, a Table is Spread

Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer.com.

Some songs come quickly. This one, however, took well over a year. It draws its inspiration from “I Hunger and I Thirst.” I liked how that hymn ties Old Testament stories to the communion table. At first I was going to simply write a new tune for this text, but soon my aspirations grew: I added a chorus, then I began to rewrite the original text, and soon it was a completely different song with the 8 “I am” titles for Jesus mapped out to 8 different Old Testament stories.

And then I got bogged down. I had pages of drafts for an epic (read: sprawling, unfocused) 8 verse hymn that said everything and nothing at all. When I came back to it recently, I decided that done is a lot better than perfect. I trimmed it down to 3 verses–bread, blood, water–and kept things tightly focused on the Table.

After listening to the recording, my son, Theo, declared that my songwriting is getting better. I hope so. I was especially pleased with the lyrics, which strike me as poetic without being unlyrical, supported by music which is harmonically “slippery” without losing singability. In any case, an uptempo modern communion song is certainly a welcome addition to the repertoire. My only regret is losing the word “gush” in the third verse after a long, intense rhyming battle to the more predictable “flow.”

Decide if Theo is right.

1. O Bread of Life, sustain,
with manna each new day;
and ease our hunger pangs
with food along the way.

For hunger hounds us still;
we faint, but you are kind.
Our hearts long to be filled
with you, O Bread of Life.

Behold, a table is spread—
a feast for hungry souls.
Come, eat the Living Bread.
Come, drink the wine that flows.

He who bids us, “Come and dine,”
is feast, and friend, and host.
Come taste and see
the goodness of the Lord.

2. O Spotless Lamb of God,
be yet again our life.
May your redeeming blood
run deep, and rich as wine.

Oh, let this new wine flow,
fruit from the one True Vine.
Let those who drink it know
a joy complete, divine. CHORUS

3. O Living Water, flow
in never ending streams
revive our withered souls
within the desert’s heat.

For still your people thirst–
parched are the throats that praise.
Let streams of mercy burst;
drench us with floods of grace. CHORUS

Categories
Contests Demos Quirky

Run with the Pack!

While I have vowed to enter no more contests, I still have a Google alert set for “song contest.” A few days ago, it alerted me about a new high school in Utah that was in need of a school song. How could I say No to one, teensy-weensy song for a school in need?

The announcement read:

Green Canyon High School, opening in North Logan next year, is excited to announce a community contest to write a school song that will capture the spirit of the students and community that we will serve. We are looking for a song that is catchy, warm-hearted, dignified, timeless, and appealing to a wide audience. The text should convey the values of our school and community, including the idea of a wolf pack–we are stronger together, and the values of knowledge, friendship, and service. The song should consist of one verse and one chorus and be written for voices and piano. 4 part hymn style is also appropriate.

Here is what I hope will be Green Canyon High School’s new school anthem: PDF

 

Categories
Demos electronic Quirky Rock and/or Roll

Keep Your Nose to the Grindstone

As followers of this blog know, I am no stranger to ridiculous ideas. Indeed, I am willing to chase a ridiculous idea to extraordinary lengths.

This is one such idea.

When work begins to pile up, I either remind myself of the old adage: Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time. Or I begin to hum a little tune with the words, “Keep your nose to the grindstone.” When my friend, Julie, told me she was “just keeping her nose to the grindstone,” how could I resist providing an inspirational soundtrack for her work?

 

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

It Will All Be All Right Someday

As I came home from church today, I vowed that I would keep the Sabbath by doing something creative (i.e. re-creation), but not something that was work (a fine line when writing music is your work). The result is a song based on a line I sang into my phone a few weeks ago, “All the things that you can’t change.” It feels like there’s something still to be done with this, but for now, I’m happy to have gotten back in touch with the joy and immediacy of simply writing what’s on my mind.

There’s only silence when you wake.
You breathe the air, but it is thick.
You don’t know if you’ll ever sing again;
You don’t remember how it felt.

Because everything has changed.
Your little life came to an end.
It wasn’t much, but it was all you had
And all that’s left is sad.

Everything’s broken that could break
You took everything that you could take.
Wished you’d been good instead of trying to be great.
But you will be okay.
    It will be all be all right someday.

All the things that you can’t change;
All the things you can’t forget;
All the demons that have been with you so long
That they start to feel like friends:
    It will all be all right someday.

Now you think that it’s the end,
But it’s never just the end.
You don’t know what, but it’s about to begin
And it will be beautiful in its own way.
    It will all be all right someday.