Category: Psalms

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Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Rest in the Lord, at Calvin Chapel

My friend Paul Ryan asked me to lead one of the “Sing a New Song” chapels at Calvin College this Fall. I had originally thought I’d introduce one of the songs from the “Global Songs for Worship” collection I’m editing, but as the date got closer I decided to teach my song based on Psalm 127–“Rest in the Lord, My Soul.” This decision wasn’t based (solely) on shameless self-promotion. It’s just that I realized it would be a good opportunity to lead a group of non-musicians through the process of transplanting a Psalm into a particular musical context. In the allotted 25 minutes we talked about the themes and difficulties of the original text, Michael Morgan’s metrical version of the Psalm, and my musical setting of Morgan’s text.

Don’t believe me? Then watch the video! Go to the Calvin Chapel web page, then choose the November 9, 2009 chapel in the scroll bar on the right. At about 4 minutes and 30 seconds into the video I begin my talk.

Categories
Choir Church Psalms

Psalm 118: This Is the Day!

Yesterday was Easter, and we had a blow out celebration of Christ’s resurrection at Church of the Servant. The service included my new setting of Psalm 118, the day’s lectionary Psalm. Okay, I went a little overboard with this one. It’s more than 7 minutes, includes parts for soprano solo, strings, brass and timpani, and the full score is 40 pages long. And it’s hard. But it was Easter, so a little extravagance seemed entirely appropriate. Listen to the COS choir and strings performing it with Melissa Simon on soprano and Brandan Grinwis on timpani: MP3.

Just cant get enough? Check out the “bouncing ball” version of the score:

Categories
Church Contests Psalms

People of the Lord

“People of the Lord” began it’s life in spring of 2006 when the CRCNA issued a call for songs to usher in its Sesquicentennial celebrations. I wrote a song for each of the three Psalms that shaped that event: “One Generation” (Psalm 145) got an honorable mention in that contest, and was recently included in Faith Alive’s Contemporary Songs for Worship. “Deeper than the Sea” (Psalm 36) was also included in Contemporary Songs for Worship and has recently been released as a choral anthem by GIA on their LeavenSong series (G-7309). “People of the Lord” (Psalm 78) was the runt of the litter.  It’s easy to understand why it didn’t attract much attention: who wants to sing a Genevan-style metrical Psalm in 7/8 meter?

A year later a few friends tipped me off to a song contest that was being held by the Calvin09 organization. They were looking for a song fitting for Calvin’s 500th birthday. It needed to be something with a connection to Calvin’s worship practice that could be sung by modern reformed churches all over the world. I decided to dust off “People of the Lord” and give it one more chance. This time I added a keyboard accompaniment that gave a stronger backbone to the 7/8 rhythm.

I was shocked when I received an email telling me it had won the contest, and I continue to be amazed at the way the song is traveling throughout the world. It has been translated into a half dozen languages. I got an email from Argentina saying “This, we can sing!” A Dutch blogger has translated and promoted the hymn. It will be included in the worship journal of the Church of Scotland. I recently met a woman from Germany who told me her church had sung the song a week before, while a German man emailed some new musical settings of the text he had composed. This is the last song I would have expected to be my “big hit.”

Even though a hymn in 7/8 meter seems a bit esoteric, it is actually quite easy to sing. The rhythm remains consistent throughout, and the echo can be used as a way to teach the song quickly. The song can effectively be sung a cappella accompanied by light percussion (hand drum, tambourine, triangle) or with the keyboard accompaniment. I would jump at the opportunity to arrange it for woodwind quintet.

One of the things I worked the longest on was deciding what to call the hymn’s tune, and one of the things that didn’t occur to me at all until someone pointed it out is that I had just written a setting of Psalm 78 in 7/8 time. But that’s typical of life when you’re a composer–things take on a mysterious life of their own once they leave your pen.

Download the PDF of the song, check out the new organ-friendly version, listen to a recording of the COS choir singing it, or peruse a number of translations here.

Categories
Choir Church Live Psalms

Psalm 114: The Hills and Mountains Tremble

This Sunday at Church of the Servant we sang a brand new song of mine, Psalm 114. I was really pleased with the way it turned out, especially in light of the fact that I had studied the Psalm for quite a while before I really connected with it.

The Psalm tells the story of the exodus in poetic form. Once I latched onto the idea that Israel’s history is not just the events of a long ago people but part of the living story of all of God’s people, I quickly arrived at a way to represent this musically: the first half of each verse tells Israel’s story as it appears in Psalm 114, the second half of each verse reflects on ways in which God continues to work in similar ways today, and the refrain answers with overarching them of the Psalm: “The hills and mountains tremble, the rivers stand in awe, for in this pilgrim people is the presence of the Lord.”

Listen to the recording of the service or email me for the score.

Categories
Church Demos Psalms

Psalm 81: Sing a Psalm of Joy

Psalm 81 starts with a call to worship, then the rest of the Psalm is God recounting Israel’s unfaithfulness and calling them back. Marie J. Post has a good metrical rendering of the Psalm in the Psalter Hymnal. But you know Greg–he can’t leave well enough alone–he just had to compose a new melody for the text. I decided to emphasize the dialog between the people and God. So the people’s call to worship (Post’s verse 1) becomes the refrain, and the rest (Post’s verses 3-7) become cantor verses.

At the same time I was writing this, I was playing around with GarageBand. Lo, and behold, I ended up turning it into an easy listening pop recording. Kind of anachronistic, I know…

In any case, here’s the MP3. Actually, it’s an M4A, which I guess is the newest generation of MP3. Let me know if you have trouble playing it. Oh wait, I figured out how to make an MP3 in GarageBand. Here’s the real MP3.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms Retuned hymn Rock and/or Roll

Psalm 82: Stick it to the Man

Update: For sheet music or to adopt this orphan tune, head over to gregscheer.com.

This Sunday at Church of the Servant we sang the Psalter Hymnal version of Psalm 82, “There Where the Judges Gather.” After the service Ron and Deb Rienstra commented that the tune which accompanied the text was too nice. What it really needed was a tune that got across the “stick it to the man” tone of the Psalm.

How could I resist?

I spent the next few days writing and recording this new version of “There Where the Judges Gather.” The tune, appropriately enough, is called “STICK IT TO THE MAN.” Do punk rock and metrical Psalms go together? You be the judge. Listen to the MP3 here.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 30: Sing to God (live at COS)

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

We sang the new setting of Psalm 30 this Sunday at COS and it went surprisingly well for a new congregational tune. People picked it up quickly and gained momentum each verse. Listen to the recording from the 11am service or download the final version of the PDF file (see link above).

One person remarked that he wouldn’t have known that it was a Psalm if it hadn’t said so in the liturgy. I didn’t know if he meant that as a good thing or a bad thing. Jack, COS’s pastor thought the words were great. He thought he was paying me a compliment until he realized I had only written the music. My wife Amy pronounced the song “okay.”

Even in the face of such ambivalent reactions,  I remain undaunted! My calling in life is to fill up the world with so-so music, and I intend to do it with gusto!

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Finale demo Psalms

Psalm 30: Sing to God That All May Hear You

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

Once again, I’ve turned to Michael Morgan’s 1999 Psalter for Christian Worship as the starting point for a new Psalm setting, this time Psalm 30. I like the way Morgan places the joyous sentiments of the Psalm text in the first half of each verse, and the lament and supplication in the second half. That allows the musical setting to reinforce the meaning of the text in each verse.

Morgan recommends the tune ABBOT’S LEIGH (“God Is Here”) for the text. That’s a beautiful tune, but I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. I wrote a draft of a new tune one afternoon last week, obsessed about it the rest of the evening, revised it the next morning, got some helpful feedback from my friend David that afternoon, then finished it by dinner time.

We’ll sing it at COS as the lectionary Psalm this Sunday. In the meantime, you can download a PDF file of the music (see link above) or listen to a cheesy Finalefied MP3.