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Church Congregational Songs Psalms

2013 Spring Cleaning: Lead Me to the Rock

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

In preparation for the Cry Out to God! CD, The Choral Scholars and I read through hundreds of Psalms. Literally, hundreds. We’d read through 40 songs in an evening, making quick recordings as we went, and after many of these mammoth sight-reading sessions we eventually winnowed it down to the 22 songs that appeared on the final CD.

One of the songs that didn’t make the CD was “Lead Me to the Rock,” my setting of Psalm 61. It’s just a first read through, so go easy on us. If you want the leadsheet, piano accompaniment, or a different demo, see the link above. If you want the MP3, click on the word “MP3.” (That’s how the Internet works, you know.)

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Choir Church Congregational Songs Psalms

2013 Spring Cleaning: As the Deer

I can’t believe I’ve never uploaded my setting of Psalm 42/43, “As the Deer,” to this blog. It’s kind of my big hit, appearing on the Greg Scheer Songbook CD, as a choral anthem in Augsburg Fortress’s GladSong Choirbook, on the Choral Scholar CD Cry Out to God, and even available in Chinese translation.

Sorry for the oversight. Here’s an MP3 to make it up to you.

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Arrangement Choir Church Finale demo Global

Abana – SATB & Piano

Like “Kwake Yesu,” the Arabic Lord’s Prayer is something I’m really proud of. It just seems to capture people’s spiritual imagination. This is especially satisfying, given the fact that a hymn expert (who shall remain unnamed) declared that congregations would never sing it. A half dozen hymnals and recordings later, I think we can safely say that hymn experts don’t always predict what congregations will and won’t do!

But enough gloating. The version that appears in hymnals is an arrangement by me that makes heavy use of a drone in a hymn texture. That’s lovely, but not like the recordings I’ve heard of the song from Egypt. This SATB and Piano arrangement is more along those lines: almost Klezmer-like use of the harmonic scale, a rhythmic accompaniment with lots of rubato, and vocal harmonies that tend to move in thirds.

It’s stale Finale playback, but it’s the best I’ve got for now: MP3

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Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Finale demo Global

Kwake Yesu for SATB/piano

My dad tells me that there’s a Spanish proverb that says something to the effect of, “Write a book. Have a son. Plant a tree.” I’ve done the first two and figure I’m covered on the third, because I have two of the second.

When I take stock of things I’ve done that I’m proud of and that are likely to outlive me, the song “Kwake Yesu Nasimama” is pretty high up on the list. I didn’t write the song–just translated it–but there’s no better feeling than finding a great song from Kenya (or elsewhere) and making it available to the larger Church. This Kenyan heartsong has already become the heartsong of lots of people in the English-speaking world.

In any case, the next step was to make choral arrangement of the song. And that’s just what I did. I’m not going to upload the score, because it’s under consideration by a publisher. And though this publisher rarely answers my email, I want to give them first crack at rejecting it before I blog it. But I’m sure I could be convinced to send you the PDF score if you ask me nicely via email…

For now take a listen to this sterile Finale playback, and imagine a heartfelt performance: MP3

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Arrangement Church Congregational Songs

A Hymn of Glory (AGINCOURT/DEO GRACIAS)

Looking for that perfect Mother’s Day gift? I don’t have any advice on that. But if you’re looking for the perfect Ascension song, I can hook you up.

“A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing” is the quintessential Ascension hymn, telling the story of Jesus’ ascent with the same kind of narrative arc you often find in Easter songs. Lots of tunes go with this long meter (8.8.8.8) text, but my favorite is DEO GRACIAS (sometimes called AGINCOURT). Its weighty minor melody is offset by a dancing rhythm.

It’s usually accompanied by organ, but I wanted to make this Medieval melody available to folk bands, worship teams, and early music consorts, so I wrote a new arrangement of it. Here’s the PDF leadsheet, and here’s an MP3 of the Guitarchestra playing the song.

 

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Art Music Live

2013 Spring Cleaning: Elegie, for bass and piano

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)

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Quirky

2013 Spring Cleaning: Phone Message Rap

This will not go down in history as great art. But at the time, I thought it was a pretty cool answering machine message: MP3

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Rock and/or Roll

2013 Spring Cleaning: Louie Laughing at Me

When I lived in Salzburg, there was a street person named Louie who would often stop by to hear me play my guitar in the city square. He must have made quite an impression on me because he made it into two of my songs.

The first is a sympathetic–maybe even patronizing–description of Louie’s life on the street. In this second song, the roles are reversed. Instead of me pitying his life from my place of power and ease, in this one he presides over my trial to gain entrance into the after life. I await his verdict, but he can only laugh. The song is pretty much a transcription of a dream I had a few years after I returned from Salzburg.

I’m not sure why this has never made it onto any of my projects. It’s got all the hallmarks of great rock and roll: driving rhythm, a catchy chorus, shadowy figures gatekeeping the underworld, and whole tone scales. What do you think–will this ever be more than a B side?

MP3

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Choir Church Congregational Songs Contests Live

We Are the Children of God, new recording

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!

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Colin

What Did You Mean? new recording

Five years ago, I wrote a song with Colin Gordon-Farleigh called “What Did You Mean?” Now that little musical seed that we planted is bearing fruit. It was recorded at Song City Studios in Nashville with a whip crack group of musicians who seemed to enjoy digging with their tastiest jazz chops. Colin told them to give it the Norah Jones treatment, and they responded in spades: MP3