Category Archives: Hymn tunes

We Break This Bread

At this summer’s Hymn Society meeting in St. Louis, I was approached by a publisher about composing some tunes to go with a new collection of hymn texts by Christopher L. Webber. I can never resist an opportunity to compose new … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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WCRC Take 2: God of All Creation

My second attempt at a theme song for the World Communion of Reformed Churches 2017 General Council was inspired by their meeting place: Leipzig. Leipzig, of course, is famous as the city in which Bach worked for almost three decades … Continue reading

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WCRC Take 1: Semper Reformanda

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com. I’ve been asked to write a song for use at the World Communion of Reformed Churches 2017 General Council. The difficulty of this sort of assignment is that–with … Continue reading

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Another Foothold

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here. I recently posted a quick demo of a new tune I wrote for Debra Rienstra’s sweet setting of Psalm 25. Yesterday we introduced the song to the congregation. It … Continue reading

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Foothold (Psalm 25)

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song is available here. 10 years ago, my friend Debra Rienstra wrote a hymn text based on Psalm 25, called “Foothold.” Not only that, she won the Fuller Seminary School of Psychology Fortieth Anniversary hymn … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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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 … Continue reading

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Come, Join in Cana’s Feast

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 … Continue reading

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How Wide the Love of Christ!

Update 1/11/22: Sheet music for this tune is now available at gregscheer.com. Now that my book is finished, I have a little more time for creative ventures. The first fruit of that time is a setting of Herman Stuempfle’s text … Continue reading

Posted in Choir, Church, Congregational Songs, Demos, Hymn tunes | 1 Comment