Richard Janzen (www.musicshare.sk.ca) just sent me recordings from his Christmas concert, which included two of my choral pieces. Richard directs the Rosthern Junior College choirs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. RJC is an independent Mennonite church high school (grades 10-12). His 35 voice choral sang Lo, How A Rose, and the 100 voice concert choir (which he lovingly refers to as his “mob” choir) sang We Three Kings. Listen to the recordings, then head on over and download the pieces from www.gregscheer.com so you, too, can pay a mere $30 for 135 octavos.
Category: Live
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Three Rivers Overture
In 1996 I was asked by Roger Zahab–new music’s greatest friend–to compose a piece for the University of Pittsburgh Orchestra. The result was The Three Rivers Overture. After its spring premiere, Roger decided it would make a good piece for Pitt’s graduation. In fact, he used it for a number of years after that–maybe even still uses it.
Here’s a funny anecdote about money and music. At my graduation from Pitt, I got paid to play my bass in the orchestra, got paid to hire other musicians to fill out some sections, and got royalties on The Three Rivers Overture. The latter was the greatest source of revenue, because BMI calculates royalties based on number of instruments (full orch), length of piece (over 6 minutes) and number of people in audience (about 20,000). I was very pleased when I opened up my BMI check that year. The sad thing is that BMI changed their rules, so they no longer pay royalties on events–only concerts. So my source of easy money dried up…
The good news is that a new piece was born, even though it’s no longer a money maker.
The Three Rivers Overture, mp3 (performed by the Pitt orchestra)
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True Confessions
The new year is a good time to reflect on one’s life. A few years ago some of my reflections turned into a song named “True Confessions.” This recording is from a chapel at Northwestern College. I’m on vocals and guitar, Cory Grimm is on the other guitar, Adam Grimm is on bass and Joseph Barker is on drums.
True Confessions by Greg Scheer, October, 2003
The second hand keeps on ticking, the hours fly, but I
find the days grow short as the years go by.
Half my life may be goneeven though Ive tried and tried
Im still not half the man that I thought I would be.
But Im older and wiser, and happy and tired, and richer and wider,
and just now getting comfortable living inside this skin.
Even though half the things that I thought were me recede
just get forgottenlost in the living.
My true confessions,
my best intentions,
I guess in the end that
is all I can give.
My true confessions,
my best intentions,
I guess in the end that
is all I can give.
Dive below the surface and youll find things in me
that even I dont know or choose not to believe.
But Im open to your reviving streams. You see,
I want to be a tree whose roots grow deep.
CHORUS
What on earth is the problem with humanity?
Why do we run to wrong? How can we be so mean?
But if I had been Adam and you were Eve, I think
Id bite any apple that you offered me.
The serpent is speaking
so convincing and sweetly.
The spirit is willing
but the flesh is weak.
Since the garden of Eden,
with our sweat weve been reaping
the price of our pride
and our disobedience.
CHORUS
Im in trouble sometimes, but I still believe Ill see
the goodness of my God while Im still living.
When I worked at Wildwood Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee, Florida, we had an annual “Festival of Carols” service during Advent. (Can I really call something “annual” when it only happened twice?) Basically, this was a lessons and carols service, but I knew that would sound too high church, so I called it a “Festival of Carols.” In any case, in 1999 the theme of the service was “An American Christmas.” It featured Christmas songs from Canada to New Mexico, with lots in between.
The first song of the evening came from the shape-note (Sacred Harp) singing tradition. Instead of singing it in shape-note style, though, we performed it with solo voice (me), mandolin (me) and guitar (Mike Houghton). This isn’t a particularly good performance–I botch a note in the first few measures–but it’s a great song. In fact, I like the song so much that I used it again this year at Church of the Servant’s lessons and carols service. This time we sang it in proper shape-note style, with bright chest voice and men and women doubling the soprano and tenor lines. But I don’t have a recording of that.
Without further ado, here is “The Babe of Bethlehem.”