Category: Psalms

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Art Music Church Hallel Psalms

Hallel Post-Nations

“What’s up with the goofy name–“Hallel Post-Nations?” you say. Indeed.

As promised, I continue to chip away at my multi-movement work based on the Hallel Psalms. All the Psalm songs are done, and now I just have a few instrumental movements to finish before bringing the composition to completion and setting a date for a premiere. This movement comes right after the Psalm 117 song, “All You Nations,” hence “post-nations.” (Now that I hear the title by itself, it sure sounds apocalyptic. No matter, I’ll change the title in the end.)

Astute listeners will hear that this movement is a fugue. Or as one person put it, I’m “channeling my inner Bach.” The big difference being that Bach improvised fugues, whereas this took me many hours. One of the fun things about this movement is that it combines the folk style of the songs with the classical style of the instrumental interludes. That is, this fugue will segue directly from “All You Nations” and the guitar and bass will continue to lay down a folkish boom/chunk-a-chunk groove throughout the fugue.

You won’t hear that very well on this mock up MP3, but you’ll see it in the PDF score.

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Church Congregational Songs Hallel Psalms Psalms

Tremble Before the Lord (sleep deprivation remix)

A few weeks ago I posted a refrain based on Psalm 114. On February 28 I had a deadline for turning in a recording of said Psalm. I completed the recording at 5:30am that morning. Now my sleepless night can be enjoyed in a compact musical form on the new Cardiphonia compilation, Hallel Psalms.

My promise to Bruce Benedict, the wizard behind the Cardiphonia curtain who asked me to contribute to his project, was that it would be “Philip Glass meets Brother Roger, performed by Mike Oldfield.” There might be a bit of Tom Waits and Monks of Solesmes in there as well. Decide for yourself. Better yet, listen to the whole Hallel Psalms CD. It’s great.

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Church Congregational Songs Hallel Psalms Psalms

Psalm 118: Everlasting to Everlasting

Update 3/12/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

This is it, people. This is the last of the Hallel Psalms; that is, 118 of 113-118. Now that all the songs are completed, I still need to write two more instrumental sections to complete the whole cantata thingy I’ve been working on.

A word on Psalm 118. When you’re turning a Psalm into a song, there are a million ways you could go. In the case of Psalm 118, it is all over the place thematically, ranging from “this is the day the Lord has made” to “open the gates of righteousness” to “I will exult over my enemies.” Really, the Psalm deserves a rhapsodic composition rather than a simple song. Which is exactly what I did a few years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKXjkRaEZ8M.

But this time I wanted something more congregational. I pulled two major themes from the Psalm: death/imprisonment versus life/freedom, and the eternal nature of God versus the fleeting nature of human power. It still makes for somewhat of a sprawling song, but manageable by a cantor and congregation.

MP3 (By the way, Psalm 118 is the lectionary Psalm for Palm Sunday and Easter. Hint, hint…)

Categories
Art Music Church Hallel Psalms

Hallel Post-Glory

I spent the day writing just as fast as I could and spent the evening doing a read-through of my Hallel Psalms with some friends. Here is part of the fruit of our labors. Once again, I’ll come up with a better title for the piece at some point in the future. For now, the name “Hallel Post-Glory” identifies it as the movement in the larger Hallel piece that comes after the song “For the Glory of Your Name.”

It’s always fun to hear a composition played by real musicians (as opposed to Finale’s robotic playback) for the first time. That just never gets old.

Listen and look.

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Hallel Psalms Psalms

Hallel Post Sunrise

For those of you just tuning in, my FAWM project is a cantata of sorts. I’m writing a congregation-friendly song for each of the Hallel Psalms (113-118) and filling it out with instrumental interludes and hallelujahs. This is one of those interludes, written for alto recorder, flute, two violins and a continuo of bass and guitar.

Why the title “Post Sunrise”? It is the interlude that comes after (“post”) Psalm 113: From the Rising of the Sun.  This is just a working title. Once the whole cantata is assembled I’ll give each movement a proper name.

Hear Finale play the score (MP3) and follow along with the ears of your eyeballs (PDF). (It comes just before Tremble before the Lord if you’d like to hear it in sequence.)

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Church Congregational Songs Hallel Psalms Psalms

Psalm 115: For the Glory of Your Name

This is my second attempt at Psalm 115. (The first is here.) It’s interesting to see the two different directions one Psalm can go musically. The first version was prettier and more compact, but I like the earthiness of this one better and it will fit into my Hallel Psalm collection better. All that’s left from my Hallel project is a song for Psalm 118 and some instrumental connective tissue!

MP3, PDF

 

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Art Music Church Hallel Psalms Psalms

Hallel Prelude

Now that I’ve got most of the Hallel Psalm songs done, I can begin working on the instrumental parts of the piece. This “Hallel Prelude” (also known as “Hallel? Ooh Yah!”) is the lead off piece and will segue directly into the previously written “From the Rising of the Sun.”

All of the instrumental movements will be played by friends: alto recorder, flute, 2 violins, and a continuo of guitar/bass. The ensemble’s name is tentatively “The Grand Rapids Greg Scheer Consort of Old-Sounding New Music.” I’m open to other suggestions, though…

Sorry about the MP3 demo. I’m using Finale’s “Export to Audio File…” feature, and there’s something funky going on with it. Usually it just sounds robotic. This time it sounds robotic and distorted.

MP3, PDF

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Church Congregational Songs Hallel Psalms Psalms

Psalm 117: All You Nations

This, the shortest of Psalms, is made up of two, diminutive sections. The first is a call to all people of the world to praise God, the second gives the reason for praise: God’s steadfast love. In a process very unlike rocket science, I have dedicated a verse to each of those themes. I was pleased that I was able to get all the lines of the first verse to begin with the word “all” and the second with “great.” It’s not a big deal, but little touches like this help tighten up a song.

 MP3, PDF
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Church Congregational Songs Hallel Psalms Psalms

Psalm 116: Be at Rest, Once More, O My Soul

For the record, I no longer equate lots of notes with good writing. There’s a time to explore the thresholds of complexity.* But there’s also a time to keep pruning until nothing remains but the simplest, most pure form of what you want to say. Nowadays I’m more concerned about pacing than showing off my chops. That is, does the music unfold at the right pace? Does each new moment seem simultaneously inevitable and refreshing? At the end, do you feel both satisfied and left wanting more?

This is one of those heavily pruned pieces. I have 3 or 4 completely different sketches for this one, and this version is the result of 3 or 4 rigorous pruning sessions. A song whose theme is “be at rest” needs to feel restful. But not boring. It’s a fine line.

Walk the line: PDF, MP3

*My first composition professor, Dr. Gibbs, used to get a delighted look on his face if I handed in a lot of music at my lesson. He would take out a pair of reading glasses, look over the music and say, “That’s what I like to see: lots of notes!”

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Church Congregational Songs Hallel Psalms Psalms

Psalm 116: The Land of the Living

My FAWM challenge continues. I’m writing a piece based on the Hallel Psalms (113-118). Nine days in and I’ve got four of the six Psalms done, with sketches for the fifth. Once that foundation is laid, I can begin writing Hallelujahs and interludes.

Psalm 116 is a study in the contrast between death and life. The Psalmist had just about slipped into the pit of death when God restored him to the land of the living. And what better way to portray the depths to which the Psalmist had sunk than an accompaniment of basses?

I took quite a loose approach to the lyrics on this one. As a matter of fact, my goal isn’t to be literal or complete on any of these Hallel settings. There are plenty of metrical settings out there for people who want to sing something that sticks close to the Psalm text. I’m writing these more as musical reflections, meditations or a distillations of the spirit of the text. Is it working?

PDF, MP3