Categories
Art Music

Spring Cleaning: Crying Bone

I was quite the musical entrepreneur, even in my college days. While an undergrad, I decided that I needed to compose something for a large ensemble, so I simply went to the conductor of the URI wind ensemble, Gene Pollart, and asked if he’d program something if I wrote it. He said Yes. Little did I realize what an unusual opportunity this was. (Thank you, Dr. Pollart!) The result was “Crying Bone,” a tone poem loosely based on the story some friends told me about their young daughter, who kept inexplicably bursting into tears. At their wits ends, they enlisted their other daughter in trying to find out what was going on. Eventually, she confided to her sister that “she had a crying bone (pointing to her ribs), and she couldn’t turn it off.”

It starts very quietly, so stick with it and don’t turn up the volume too high, because it will get a lot louder!

Categories
Arrangement Quirky

Spring Cleaning: Camp-of-the-Woods Grace

I told you I was going to air some dirty laundry. Here it is: an early iteration of The Choir of Gregs. In this instance, we’re singing a song that I assume is called “Grace.” We sang it before every meal at Camp-of-the-Woods, where I worked for three summers. At some point, I wrote a barbershop arrangement of it for some of the male waiters to sing, and I later recorded it on my little Fostex four track cassette recorder.

Categories
Rock and/or Roll

Spring Cleaning: Trying to Get Back to You

I’ve already told you about my brush with fame via a big city (Boston) concert promoter, and my complete miscalculation of what he would want to hear. Here’s the other demo I made at that time: Trying to Get Back to You.

Categories
Art Music

Spring Cleaning: The

In 1998, I was at URI, studying with the quirky, yet incredible Dr. Geoffrey Gibbs, when I wrote a two movement string quartet entitled “The.” Why did I give it this title? Because it seemed like a fun idea to make it difficult to catalog.

Categories
Rock and/or Roll

Spring Cleaning: Don’t Go Away

Even though it’s a frigid, blustery evening in Grand Rapids, I hereby declare it Spring. So let the spring cleaning commence! Over the next month I will clean out my musical cupboards–perhaps even air some dirty audio laundry–in order to make room for exciting new projects that are currently in the works. You will hear recordings that span some 25 years, in styles ranging from high brow art music to juvenile rock and roll.

Let’s begin with the juvenile rock and roll. “Don’t Go Away” was written my sophomore year of college, and remained one of my hits for another decade. (By “hit,” I mean I played it multiple times, once or twice at people’s request.) People are often surprised when I tell them that rap has had a huge influence on me, but this is proof positive that it’s in my blood. Then hacks like Jason Mraz come along 2 decades later and act like they invented acoustic rock rap. Listen and weep, Jason.

Categories
Arrangement Congregational Songs Finale demo Global

Soft Rains of Spring (Korea)

I am neck deep in the Holy Week flood of services and feeling pretty overwhelmed. What does Greg do when he’s feeling burned out and cranky? He writes music.

Today I was reading through a packet of Korean songs given to me by Paul Huh, and I came across this beautiful tune written by Paul and Seung Nam Kim. I wasn’t satisfied by the arrangement that accompanied the tune–though it was written by a composer with a far greater reputation than me–and so I wrote a new one. Although my version may not look especially simple on the page, it takes a direct, chordal approach to accompanying the melody, whereas the other one was quite “noodly.” To my ear this clarifies and strengthens the beauty of the melody. Added bonus: it will sound good with guitar, too.

This is part of a project that Paul and I are working on to translate and arrange some of the core repertoire of the Korean church.

Look. Listen.

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 125: All Those Who Trust

Update: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

A while back, I was looking for a musical setting of Psalm 125 to fit with our church’s series on the Psalms of Ascent. Like any good researcher, I went to YouTube. There, I found a video of two Brazilians playing a song called Proteção. I had no context for the music, but I couldn’t get the song out of my mind.

A little poking around brought me to a treasure trove of newly composed songs in Portuguese, written primarily by Rubem Amorese, but often co-written with others, most notably the other man in the video, Toninho Zemuner. Toninho has also recorded many of these songs. The man has golden ears and works with extremely talented musicians! You can hear the studio recording of Proteção at Amorese’s website or at their church’s website.

I wasn’t able to finish a translation in time for the sermon series that first led me to the song, but recently returned to it. A few days ago I completed a translation and piano score, and yesterday recorded a demo.

I hope to work with more of these songs in the future, and have been dropping hints at the CICW that a trip to Brazil would be an appropriate–no, necessary–part of my work. For now I’ll have to settle for this being a long distance collaboration, bringing more of Rubem’s songs to English speakers and making my presence in Brazil felt only through “Povo do senhor,” the Portuguese translation of my song “People of the Lord.”

Categories
Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Road-testing two songs

I usually reserve this blog for premieres, but as you know, a composition’s success is measured by repeat performances. In the case of a congregational song, there’s a big difference between what’s on the page, how it sounds when a congregation sings it, and how well it settles in after repeated singing.

So here are two songs that Church of the Servant has sung a few times each. Deeper than the Sea is published as a choral anthem, but that doesn’t mean that it sings well when given to a congregation. In this recording, it’s led by the Guitarchestra. From the Dust was rejected by the same publisher, but once again, that doesn’t mean much in terms of its worth as a congregational song. In this particular case, the COS choir sings the choral anthem version of the song, but the congregation is invited to join in on the refrains.

What do you think? Do these two have that undefinable it that makes a great congregational song? If there were a musical cage fight between the two songs, which one would win?

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live

WALY WALY: O Blessed Spring

I’ve loved the folk tune WALY WALY for years. I used to sing “The Water Is Wide” with guitar and violin back in my coffeehouse days. I’ve annoyed congregation members by using the tune with the text “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” (It’s a better pairing, but people don’t seem to care about the facts when it comes to church music.) More recently I arranged the tune for piano and used it with the text “As Moses Raised the Serpent Up.”

But my favorite so far is Susa Palo Cherwein’s text “O Blessed Spring.” The wistfulness of WALY WALY brings out the seasons-of-life theme of Cherwein’s text beautifully. The added strings and Erin De Young’s solo are icing on the cake. If you can listen to it without crying, you need a heart transplant.

Categories
Arrangement Choir Church Congregational Songs Live

Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed

This Lent, Church of the Servant is using a different version of Isaac Watts’ text “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed” each Sunday. Kauflin, Benedict, Governor–we’re doing them all. My own humble contribution to the collection is an arrangement of the traditional tune MARTYRDOM. Check it out.