Category: Live

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Retuned hymn

Jesus, My Great High Priest

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

Here is a new song co-written by Isaac Watts and me.

My pastor, Jack Roeda, is preaching through Hebrews and pointed out the other day that there are few songs that use the image of Jesus as high priest. Shepherd, Bread of Life, yes, but not high priest. Even though I knew he was baiting me, I took the hook and went off to find some good high priest songs. I fell in love with this text by Isaac Watts and wrote a new tune for it.

On thing I’ve been thinking about a lot in my writing lately is the “Occam’s Razor” principle, which basically states that the simplest answer is likely the simplest answer. Another way to state it might be “don’t gild the lily” or Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s famous, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

I’ve spent most of my life trying to master the intricacies of putting notes together, and now I’m realizing that sometimes music sounds best in its simplest forms. This doesn’t take less mastery, but more. In any case, I kept reminding myself of this while writing the tune for this song, and I think I was able to strip it back to an extremely simple, clear form that sings well. Listen to the way the volume of the singing increases on each verse–that is music to a composer’s ears!

You can download the leadsheet or the string parts at the link above. If you’re a worship nerd, you can hear some more highlights from yesterday’s service. If you’re a hymn nerd, you can visit Hymnary.org to see how Watts’ original text was broken into two modern hymn texts: Join All the Glorious Names and Jesus, My Great High Priest. (And how I chose from his 12 verses to come up with my 4 verses and a refrain.)

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live

DARWALL, funky fresh intro

Just a quick post from yesterday’s service, featuring the inimitable Joyful Noise Orchestra. If you are not familiar with JNO, it’s an ensemble (collective? flash mob? uprising?) of musicians that span from age 12 to 72, from beginner to pro. We lead worship every few months at Church of the Servant, and when we do I try to write something special to show them off. This time it was a contrapuntal introduction to the hymn tune DARWALL, which you may know as “Rejoice the Lord Is King.” (We sang it with the text “Join All the Glorious Names.”) If you want to verify that we were mostly playing the right notes, you can take a look at the score: PDF. If you want to verify that JNO is the best looking band in the business, check out this picture from Thanksgiving 2014.

IMG_0434
Church of the Servant’s Joyful Noise Orchestra, with Joel Klamer conducting

 

 

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 124: If God Had Not Been on Our Side

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

A lot of music ministers lament the never-ending grind of planning worship services, week after week, without a break. Yeah, it’s easy to get a little jealous of school teachers with their summer breaks, but frankly I like the challenge each week brings. I enjoy digging into the service’s scriptures, teasing out themes in the music. I especially savor the search for settings of the lectionary Psalm that will fit both the congregation and the day’s music ensemble.*

Which brings us to today’s post. The lectionary called for Psalm 124 in yesterday’s service. You would think that Reformed folk would have lots of songs based on this one, because the Psalm includes the words that often begin Reformed worship: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Alas! There are a few songs based on those words, a few metrical Psalms, and my octavo for choir and narrator. But nothing that fit the Guitarchestra. So I wrote a new one to fit the occasion. The lyrics are below and the PDF leadsheet is downloadable on my website (see link above). In some ways this follows the lead of my recent setting of Psalm 137, using the basic themes and images of the Psalm as clay that is then molded into a somewhat different shape. Still faithful to the Psalm, but taking some creative license.

1. If God had not been on our side, When cornered by our foes;
When there was no place left to hide, To whom could we have gone?
If God had not been on our side, When anger flared like fire;
They would have swallowed us alive, If God had not been on our side.

2. If God had not been on our side, When troubles surged like floods;
We would have watched the water rise, And waves mount up like walls.
If God had not been on our side, We would have had no hope,
been swept away in deadly tides If God had not been on our side.

3. If God had not been on our side, When hunters laid their snares;
Their steely teeth would snap us tight, We wouldn’t have a prayer.
If God had not been on our side, We wouldn’t have escaped;
But our God made the earth and sky, our help is only in his name.

*I know this makes me sound super holy. Don’t feel bad. I get tired of the weekly grind, too.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live

Make Us One within Your Spirit

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

I’ve introduced “Make Us One within Your Spirit” elsewhere (here for the story of how it lost a contest and here for music and the exciting story of the second draft), but thought I’d post a recording from yesterday’s service. I don’t know that it’s destined to be a big hit, but I’m quite proud of the lyrics. Maybe someday someone will commission me to turn this into a regal choral anthem with brass and timpani. Until then, enjoy the modest yet beautiful sound of Church of the Servant’s musicians leading the congregation in the song.

1. Living God, in the beginning, when you formed humanity–
Man and woman, child and parent, in community complete.
One with you, one with each other, let us live as your redeemed.
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

2. Jesus Christ, you are our lifeblood and the Church’s living Head.
You have cleansed us with one water. You have fed us with one bread.
And as grapes are brought together before wine can be released;
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

3. Holy Spirit you revive us, breathing life into dry bones.
Let the winds of new creation, animate our dusty souls.
Fill our lungs with inspiration. Fill our hearts; let love increase.
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

4. Blessed Trinity, you show us how to live as family.
Only tethered to each other will each one, and all, be free.
Each a gift and each a giver, offered in humility.
Make us one within your Spirit;
Join us in your bond of peace.

Added bonus for those of you who read the lyrics to the end: enjoy a beautiful song called “Una Espiga/Sheaves of Wheat,” also from yesterday’s service.

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Global Live

O Come, Holy Spirit (Sarwar)

harmoniumOne of the great things about my church is that we have a constant stream of interesting people joining us from all around the world. One of them is Eric Sarwar, a musician from Pakistan. Eric and I have collaborated before. This time we worked on a song of invocation, “O Come, Holy Spirit.”

As with many of Eric’s songs, they look simple on the page, but take on a life of their own in worship. We began our service today with a quiet tanpura drone and improvisation on the song’s raga (mode). Once the tone was set, the whole Guitarchestra came in and the congregation joined us: PDF, MP3

Later in the service the communion music began with another Sarwar/Scheer collaboration, “O Lord, May Your Kingdom Come.” That led into a set of songs that flowed so well that I include it here in its entirety. Be forewarned: the MP3 is 22 minutes long (31MB). If you have the time, though, it gives you an idea of how the communion section of a Church of the Servant service runs: COS communion 6/21/15.

Categories
Art Music Demos Live Rock and/or Roll

All Hallow’s Eve, Sine Nomine Quartet

Last year I wrote a song cycle called One Long Year. This year, I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do with it, if anything. This month, I’m recording my setting of Psalm 149 for a new Cardiphonia compilation. Today I had a string quartet scheduled to add some tracks to that project.

But you know me: if I have a string quartet showing up to record, how can I resist writing something new and non-obligatory for the occasion? So instead of the many things I should have been doing today, I felt compelled to write a string quartet arrangement of “All Hallow’s Eve” from One Long Year . This recording is the second take and third time they’d ever played the piece. Pretty good, I say.

By the way, the quartet has never really settled on a name for themselves. I hereby dub them the Sine Nomine Quartet–the No Name Four.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Kimbrough’s Psalm 104

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

I’ve featured the music of Wendell Kimbrough before, and today he makes a return appearance. An honor to be sure…

Earlier this year his setting of Psalm 104, “Oh, Rejoice in All Your Works,” won the COS New Psalm Contest. It had its church premiere in January and we’ve sung it a few times since then. This Sunday, Pentecost, the lectionary called for Psalm 104. As fate* would have it, the choir, piano, and a brass quintet were scheduled to lead that morning, so I arranged the song for those instruments.

I was really pleased with how it sounded. Sometimes the transition from guitar-driven folk song to piano-led congregational hymn can be awkward, but in this case, it brought out a whole new majestic side to the song. I hear a best-selling choral anthem in this, don’t you?

*or providence, depending on how you roll theologically.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Pentecostal Splendor at COS

This Fall I arranged Pentecostal Splendor for Calvin College’s Lessons & Carols service. It was premiered beautifully, though I wasn’t able to track down a recording for my blog.

Naturally, when Pentecost arrived at my own church, I thought of using this new piece in my own context. Brass? Check. 60 voice choir? 1/3 check. Organ? Not so much…

I retooled the organ part for piano and called in favors with every singer I knew. The result can be heard here: MP3

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 133: Behold the Goodness

james_guitarchestraIn Psalms for All Seasons is a setting of Psalm 133 (Behold the Goodness of Our Lord, PfAS 133A) that seemed just right for the Guitarchestra this past Sunday. The melody, DETROIT, comes from the Kentucky Harmony hymnal. Like a lot of early American hymn tunes, it has a rugged beauty that just won’t let you go. These tunes often benefit from a more rustic arrangement, rather than the smooth voice leading you find in hymnals, so I provided one.

Here you can see me rehearsing the song this past Sunday, shadowed by the youngest member of the Guitarchestra, James.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Kimbrough: In You, Lord, I Refuge Take

Wendell Kimbrough has appeared in this blog before. Indeed, this song has appeared previously. But for this Palm Sunday I wrote a choral part for his setting of Psalm 31 that I thought deserved a new entry. As you’ll hear on the recording the flute introduces the melody and plays a tag after each verse. Then on verse 3, the flute plays a descant on top of the singing. In verse 4, everyone cuts out but the congregational melody and an a cappella choir accompaniment. It’s really a nice effect, if I don’t say so myself.

The thing I like about arrangements like this is that they’re pretty simple, with just two pages of music, but they have a lot of impact on how you hear the song.

Extra bonus recording: Me singing Sydney “Lord of the Dance” Carter’s song “Bitter Was the Night.”