Music for Worship October 28

"What makes a song contemporary?" I posed that question to the Gateways Give Voice kids a couple of weeks ago. They had a hard time nailing it down. We talked, used demonstrations and still had a difficult time putting into words what we believe to be a definition of contemporary song. We thought, “maybe it had to do with the shape or rhythm of a given melody.” Perhaps: plenty of contemporary songs have tricky rhythms though plenty use nothing more than quarter notes and eighth notes. We thought maybe it had to do with the pulse of the song. That was a possibility until the kids listened to me put a backbeat on “Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.” “Maybe a contemporary song is one that is not yet in print in a hymnal somewhere.” Maybe, but some songs have been around long enough to make it into more than a few denominational hymnals, and we still think of them as contemporary. Finally, we had to get to work and left the question hanging. Most of the musicians, though, gave the distinct impression that even if they couldn’t define what constitutes a contemporary song, they knew one when they heard it!

Graham Kendrick’s “Knowing You” has been around for nearly 20 years. Is it contemporary? The shape of the melody is not all that unusual; there are a couple of tricky rhythms, especially in the refrain. But it has a standard verse/refrain structure. Being a ballad, it doesn’t have a strong rhythmic character; the harmonies are no more adventuresome than the tune “St. Anne.” And yet, most folks who hear it know immediately that it’s a new song with a captivating message. The Prophets of Praise will be singing this favorite this Sunday. Congregational song will include “Awesome God,” “Mighty is our God,” “What a mighty God we serve,” and “He has made me glad.” It being Reformation Sunday, we’ll close the service with the emblematic “A mighty fortress is our God.”

Hymns at 11 AM will include “A mighty fortress” (Ein’ Feste Burg), “How clear is our vocation, Lord” (Repton), and “Behold how good and pleasant, Lord” (Ein’ Feste Burg). Our own Cecil Jividen wrote the text “Behold how good and pleasant…” “in great appreciation for the words and work of Dr. J. Randolph Taylor. The hymn was sung at the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1983 at which time Dr. Taylor was elected moderator.” The choir will sing a simple setting of Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise.” Other service music will include “We are God’s people” (music arranged by Fred Bock from a Johannes Brahms symphony), the Irish “Celtic Alleluia,” and “The Spirit sends us forth to serve.” Organ music will include Aaron David Miller’s perky setting of “Ein’ Feste Burg” (with meteres of 4/4, 3/4, 3/8, 6/8 and 7/8, what would you call it!!??), Robert Hobby’s setting of “Repton,” and Leon Boellemann’s “spooky toccata” from the “Suite Gothique.” Boo! Where’s my candy?