The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer
My friend Herbert Tsang and the stellar folks at Church Music Ministry of Canada held a Psalmfest in Vancouver late last year which included the orchestrated version of “One Generation Calls to the Next.”
Lucky for us, he recorded it. Check it out: MP3
Before I became the music director at Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, I was just a lowly grad student in the composition program at Pitt. But the people of Bellefield were took pity and asked me to compose a choral anthem for a sanctuary rededication. I chose Psalm 118:19 as my text and wrote an extremely difficult anthem. Bellefielders must also be long-suffering folks; if I were the choir director, I would have pulled the plug on this after one read-through. I’m glad they didn’t, though, because it ended up sounding pretty good: MP3
Speaking of spring cleaning, you’ll need to spring clean your ears after you’re done listening to this one. No, actually, I quite like this one; but it certainly isn’t easy listening music. I wrote it toward the end of my undergrad days. The second recording is of me on bass and my friend Jim DeFrancesco playing it at my senior recital. At one of our rehearsals my father said it sounded like it was composed by Palestrina’s demented younger brother. The first recording is performed by Andy Kohn, a guy who can actually play all the notes at tempo and on pitch. (Thank you, Andy!)
Astute listeners will recognize a quote from Bach’s chorale “Ach Wie Flüchtig” at the end of the piece. In fact, the whole piece distills the biting dissonance of that chorale, but whereas Bach resolved the tensions, I leave them hanging. If you know much about string bass solo literature, you’ll know that it’s mostly frothy show off stuff. I like that “Elegie” uses the entire range and playing techniques of the instrument while not losing focus on the music. Ironically, when I played it at a bass master class for a prominent bassist, he didn’t know what to say about it. There was a moment of awkward silence as he tried to think of something nice to say about the piece or my playing, and then he quickly moved on to more frothy show off stuff.
MP3 (Andy Kohn)
MP3 (Greg)
As I announced previously, I lost the Grandfather Home for Children song contest, even though my song was the best. (A fact that was lost on the judges.) But the kind subscriber who alerted me to the contest liked my song enough to include it in his own church’s worship. Here is Dean and his crew at Erwin Presbyterian Church, TN, singing “We Are the Children of God.”
It does my heart good to know the song has found a loving home. As a matter of fact, I’m glad to hear from anyone who uses my music. Feel free to let me know you’re using a song or send me a recording. That’s what this blog is all about!
Easter is always a big day for church music, and this year was no exception. What was an exception was the difficulty level of the piece I wrote for the day’s Psalm. I actually wrote this setting of Psalm 118 a few years ago, but this time around I got a good recording of it.
Psalm 118 is a sprawling, rhapsodic Psalm of emotional valleys and mountains. I wanted the composition to reflect that, but I also wanted to make it accessible to the congregation. What I came up with is a short, tuneful refrain that the congregation sings repeatedly throughout the piece. The choir, on the other hand, is given a number of episodes, each mirroring the feelings of the different parts of the Psalm. Put Laura de Jong on soprano, support her with strings, and throw in a timpani–and you’re in business!
Listen to the MP3 from Sunday, or visit the karaoke version of the score on YouTube.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s been a few weeks since I last posted. (Please say you’ve noticed…) My excuse is that I was busy preparing for the 2013 Calvin Worship Symposium, which ended Saturday. Among other things, I led the music in a worship service with the Calvin Christian High School, under Erin De Young’s fine leadership.
You can check it out here: http://new.livestream.com/calvin-college/events/1738250.
It featured three of my arrangements of hymns/songs for orchestra. It was very satisfying to be sandwiched between a full string orchestra and a thousand some worshipers singing their hearts out. The whole service–which I helped Sue Rozeboom plan and in which Luke Powery preached–is worth watching. But if you’re just interested in hearing the music I wrote or arranged, fast forward to:
Last week I posted a recording of my flute arrangement of “Good Christian Friends (Men), Rejoice.” Unfortunately, the flutist from that recording wasn’t available for the Christmas Eve service. But in a bad news/good news turn of events, recorder player par excellence, Cal Stapert, was willing to take over. Take a listen.
Added bonus: super sweet segue between the Good Christian prelude and the processional hymn “Once in Royal David’s City.”
I know you’re all dying to know how my new arrangement of “We Three Kings” went. Well, die no more! Here’s the MP3 from COS’s Christmas Eve service.
I’m a song maven. When I find a song I like, I make a point of sharing it with as many people as possible. If the song comes from a pop or global context, the sharing process often includes arranging it so that the pianists in my own church can lead it.
A while back I wrote two piano arrangements (one hard, one easy, plus SATB) of Bruce Benedict’s setting of Psalm 120 (via Isaac Watts), Thou God of Love. I’m pleased to say that Bruce’s song (and my arrangement) ended up in Psalms for All Seasons and the Choral Scholar CD, Cry Out to God.
Recently we sang the song at Church of the Servant on a Sunday that included a string quartet, so I whipped up a string arrangement. It’s simple, but it worked really well.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for my arrangement of this song can be downloaded here.
This is one of my favorite hymns. Ever. I found it in the old maroon Presbyterian Hymnbook in my first church position back in Pittsburgh, but have only had the opportunity to use it a few times over the last 20 years.
We sang it a few months ago at COS when Jack preached the “blessed are the peacemakers” part of the Sermon on the Mount, and it is sadly relevant again this weekend in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings.
Read more about the hymn at Hymnary or listen to the MP3: Peace, Perfect Peace