Category: Live

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Church Congregational Songs Hymn tunes Jazz Live Psalms

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 went swimmingly, in part due to the leadership of the Rienstra Clan Band (Deb on viola, Ron on bass, Philip on sax).

It’s not a foregone conclusion that a jazzy piece will work with congregation. It may end up sounding too lounge lizardy or it may simply be too complex for a congregation to sing. I feel like we struck a good balance, keeping it from excess and caricature.

I’m pretty sure this song will soon become a staple of jazz worship services all over the world. All two of them.

For those of you who are considering using the song, see the link above for the most recent version.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Retuned hymn

O Breath of Life (by rote at COS)

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Recently I recorded a pop punk retune of a hymn text by Bessie Porter Head. Naturally, the idea was met with some skepticism. Don’t let the style throw you off! Beneath the hood is a perfectly singable congregational song. How do I know? Because I taught it to my congregation this Sunday. By rote.

Sometimes communion takes longer than expected, so I always plan to have a few extra songs ready to go just in case. Normally I just call out a number for the people to look up in the hymnal. Other times I lead a song by rote–either something they’re likely to know by heart or a repeated call-and-response style song that doesn’t need written music.

This week I taught them the chorus of “O Breath of Life” by rote and then sang the verses for them. You can hear the congregation gain steam with each returning chorus. You see? Songs are just like people. Sometimes beneath a prickly punk facade is a placid heart of gold.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Global Live

2016 Calvin Worship Symposium, final service

Only 5 months after the fact, here’s a video from the concluding worship service at the 2016 Calvin Worship Symposium. I led the service with my Church of the Servant home team, which made it really special. http://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/new-heavens-and-new-earth/

New Heavens and New Earth from Calvin Worship Institute on Vimeo.

Some of my contributions (beyond my welcoming hand gestures):

  • 5:20 Let the Spirit of the Lord Come Down (Nigeria, one that I arranged last year)
  • 8:18 Sing Praise to the Lord (SweeHong Lim, Singapore, with a new string arrangement)
  • 47:40 Canticle of the Turning with dance (I didn’t do anything, but I like what the COS dancers do with the song)
  • 1:04:40 Abana In Heaven” (my GIA anthem, led by choir and sung by the whole assembly)
  • 1:13:49 Fear Not, Rejoice and Be Glad (a new arrangement)
  • 1:23:26 May the Love of the Lord (SweeHong, string parts I’ve been using for a few years)
Categories
Art Music Live

Brass Quintet at Calvin

In 1987* I wrote a 3 movement piece for brass quintet. If I remember correctly it won a contest and was played at a horn festival in New Hampshire. Also in the “if I remember correctly” department, it received its Michigan premiere at a 2006ish Calvin College composer’s concert. Here is the proof:

*1987? That was almost 30 years ago!

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Church Congregational Songs Live

In a Still, Small Voice (Germany)

Just for fun, here’s a cellphone recording of my friend Cathrin Campo singing “In a Still, Small Voice” at a baptism service in Emden, Germany. If you would like to sing this song in your country, you can download the music for free, just like Cathrin did. Thanks for sharing, Cathrin!

In case you are a geographic neophyte who doesn’t know where Emden is located…
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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Kimbrough: Oh Rejoice in All Your Works, strings

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Wendell Kimbrough won the Church of the Servant New Psalm Contest a few years ago with his setting of Psalm 104, “Oh Rejoice in All Your Works.” Since that time it has become a favorite of our congregation. Psalm 104 was the lectionary Psalm for Pentecost and I had a string ensemble available, so I took the opportunity to write a string arrangement for the service. It turned out splendidly, if I don’t say so myself.

If you want to hear the song in context (along with Pastor Jack Roeda’s exclamation at the end of the singing) visit the COS website.

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Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms Uncategorized

Psalm 67: Let All the Peoples Praise You!

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

If necessity is the mother of invention, the lectionary is the muse of new Psalm settings.

67-10I already composed one setting of Psalm 67, but that was a complicated choir, organ, brass, and percussion anthem. What I needed for yesterday was a simple, solid setting that all but sang itself. A first attempt was…frothy. My second attempt put me on a path I knew would be more fruitful.

The song is in what I’ve dubbed a “modern medieval” style–stately but with a strong rhythmic spine. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how music can dignify or trivialize a congregation’s humanity, and this feels like something an adult could sing without being trite on the one hand or elitist on the other.

One of the cool features of the song is that the verse mirrors the chorus, but one step up. This modulatory slight of hand makes each return of the chorus sound inevitable, but surprising. It also allows for Taizé style layering of verse on top of chorus or men singing the chorus underneath the women singing the verse. I love that Escher stuff!

To feast your eyes on the dignified modern medieval Taizé-style Escheresque goodness, see the link above.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Global Live

Kwake Yesu at Calvin Colloge’s LOFT

My choral arrangement of Kwake Yesu/Here on Jesus Christ I Will Stand (GIA) is beginning to make its way in the world. Here is a video from a recent LOFT service at Calvin College: http://livestream.com/calvin-college/events/4678265/videos/113157761.

Kwake Yesu begins at 22:55.

Categories
Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 148 – Creation’s Chorus (for chorus)

This graphic was unwittingly donated by C148, an independent musician who is doing some great electronica, including contributions to the Minecraft soundtrack. Check him out at http://c418.org/.
This graphic was unwittingly donated by C148, an independent musician who is doing some great electronica, including contributions to the Minecraft soundtrack. Check him out at http://c418.org/.

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

I wrote Creation’s Chorus in 2000 hoping to forge a daring new path of Motown Psalmody that I was sure others were sure to follow. But it turns out people prefer to keep their Sons of Korah and their Jackson Five separated by family…

However, when Psalm 148 came up in the lectionary this week, I thought I’d give it another try. Unlike the 4/4 syncopated funk of the original, I decided to reimagine the song in a 3/4 Black Gospel groove. It’s easier for musicians and congregations who are not steeped in pop styles, and there is, perhaps, less of a gulf between the words and music style.

I was pleased with the basic shift in meter, but I’ve marked dozens of edits I plan to make to the choral arrangement. (This may have something to do with my finishing it 5 minutes before rehearsal started.) If you’re interested in seeing the choral score, just follow the link above. Otherwise you’ll have to wait for the release of Creation’s Chorus 2.1!

Categories
Art Music Church FAWM 2016 Live

The Shadows: Cello Septet for Tenebrae

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that two weeks in February were devoted to writing a new piece for Maundy Thursday. The composition accompanies seven Tenebrae (deepening of the shadows) readings, one movement for each reading. The service starts with seven cellos; one cello leaves after each movement until only a solo cello is left.

Unfortunately, something is lost in the describing and recording of the service. You’ll just have to trust me when I say that the readings, the candles, the music, and the darkness made for a very moving service. Above is a recording; at 32 minutes, I decided SoundCloud might make for easier listening. (If you’d rather download it, here’s the MP3.) Below is a list of the seven readings and the cellist who exited after the music:

The Shadow of Betrayal: Matthew 26:20-25 (Theo Scheer)
The Shadow of Desertion: Matthew 26:30-35 (Lois Nordling)
The Shadow of an Unshared Vigil: Matthew 26:36-46 (Karen Saupe)
The Shadow of Accusation: Matthew 27:11-14, 20-26 (Maria Poppen)
The Shadow of Crucifixion: Matthew 27:27-37 (Eve Clayton)
The Shadow of Death: Matthew 27:45-54 (Carolyn Muskens)
The Shadow of the Tomb: Matthew 27:57-60 (Josh Ruiter)