Tuesday, June 30, 2009

W&M Tuesday

This morning in Global Music with Mark Sedio we worked on "Come all you people" (Uyai mose) paired with "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty." New for me was taking the African song in 6/8 instead of 4/4. But that made pairing it with Lobe Den Herren in 6/4 AWESOME. What that does is make it possible to set up a drumming accompaniment on the African song, and carry it over to the old German tune. We'll be doing it this way at our services very soon!

Later I listened in on the Bible Study with Paul Huh. He dealt with passages from Romans and ended with a 10 minute cello (and piano) piece.

David Eicher introduced us to hymns incorporating NT water images today. One of the coolest was a text by Leith Fisher, with music by Timothy Redman. It was a very sparse text, almost haiku-like in its imagery and meter. The music was tuneful, with a crush of seconds that leant a modern, soulful sound. It was reminiscent of music from Taize. I found myself wishing that the tune ended on the dominant instead of the tonic though. We also read through a hymn written by Eliabeth Stilborn, "By the well a thirsty woman." We sang it to the author's original choice for tune, Ebenezer, and then to a tune by Diane Wilcox which, according to Eicher, the author never heard before it went to print. It, the second, newer tune, was the preferred choice by our modest crowd. It had a nice contemporary sound without sounding trite. This paired with a powerful text makes for quite hymn.

Morning worship included Orff accompaniment (plus recorder) for BEACH SPRING. The preacher used as her text the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. She had a powerful word of challenge to the youth in attendance, that the woman at the well attends their school, figuratively, and that every student who participates in shunning that ostracized student is wrong. The preacher followed that with a powerful word of grace targeted directly to any youth who sensed that maybe they were the woman at the well at their school, figuratively: that Jesus meets them with life-giving water also. It was an incredibly powerful preaching moment; one could hear one thousand worshipers not breathe nor twitch for those few moments. We sang a very pretty setting of the Lord's Prayer using a Philippine melody. Some of the folk-iness of the melody was subsumed in the rather contemporary-sounding accompaniment, the sort of cross-over I can really appreciate. It was a neat, new setting I'll be trying to incorporate soon.

After lunch we listened to a few more composers of worship music in contemporary jazz idioms, Chuck Mahronic and Joe Utterback specifically. We then took off on a long list of "creative" ways to interpret hymns. I was most satisfied to hear a word of "open invitation" regarding WONDROUS LOVE. The presenter noted that the melody is such that truly any accompaniment can mesh effectively. Recently I did this myself, using open fifths that moved all over the place harmonically. I think I hit at one point a chord that was nothing but a stack of tritones!

Bob Hobby spoke about tempo in the organ/hymns session today. What we alluded to over and again but never said outright was that the tempo of the hymn is always contingent upon context: the place in the liturgy, the mood of the liturgy at that moment, the season of the year etc. A good example proved to be DUKE STREET. In some circumstances this needs to be a very stately tune; at other times it can easily bear proceeding at a quicker pace. The context will determine what's right. And the congregation, when they know and trust their leader-musicians, will follow. That was a nice pastoral word from Hobby; a word we do well to dwell on constantly. We also began to discuss playing the various musical styles for different hymns, something near and dear to my heart. More on that tomorrow.

Monday, June 29, 2009

W&M Monday

This was the first full day of the conference, with all the classes/seminars in place. I sat in on the tail end of Mark Sedio's global music session. They were working on an African song which our choir has sung, Nimemona bwana. He had a helpful word to say about long whole notes that I'll need to remember: they don't matter!

I got waylaid by my buddy Kathy Toole and so was late to choir and just listened. Paul Head seems to be off to a good start.

I sat in David Eicher's hymnal lecture. Today it was a survey of hymns that include Old Testament water images. There are more than one might think, especially newer texts. There was one that used the tune of "The Bells of St. Mary's." The music was so trite, I have a hard time remembering what the text was like!

The worship service included a healing/anointing rite. FotG dramatized the Great Flood story and managed to include chanting "we will rock you." Oh, and the organ blew up during the introduction to the first hymn. That was about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After lunch I sat in on a seminar on "piano in worship." I can't remember when this sort of class has been offered before. Today was a romp through some fundamental repertoire classics to contemporary. There will be more about playing-style as the week moves along.

I have been looking forward to Bob Hobby's class on service-playing at the organ. He didn't disappoint. Today he spoke about using the notion of "pulse" to keep momentum in congregational singing. I think I do that fairly well, but it was nice to be reminded. (The organ was working as least in part for this session; the tech people are supposed to work on it overnight).

Sunday, June 28, 2009

W&M Sunday evening

This is the first in a irregularly-paced set of posts from the Worship and Music conference at Montreat, sponsored by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. It began tonight and will run through Friday evening.

One word: Lutherans.

Several of the leaders at the conference are Lutheran, including one of the preacher/presider people and the organist. Much of the music and liturgy from tonight's opening service was taken from Lutheran resources.

Of course the PC(USA) and the ELCA have an on-going ecumenical relationship. Maybe this was decided to be the year that we manifest that tangibly at this conference. The Lutherans also have the coolest, newest hymnal. Might we be getting a taste of what a new Presbyterian hymnal could look like?

I liked singing "Halle, halle, halleluja" at the gospel reading. I wished we had used other of the verses ("I am the bread of life...") in other parts of the liturgy.

I liked Bobby Hobby's (sorry, I just had to do that, Bob; you started it yourself in Richmond, VA!) hymn introductions and playing. Sadly, no matter how hard one blows, an un-amplified flute is never, ever going to work in Anderson Auditorium. Call me, you can borrow BMPCNC's flute mic.

Singing with 1000 other folks is great. We all need to remember, however, that we can't hold the last note of the phrase its full value and keep things moving along; make them a little shorter so we can keep up the tempo.

I loved hearing three Bible readings plus a psalm. It's the way it ought to be. Of course that can lead to 90-minute services if you're not careful. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's late, so I'm not going to build in a bunch of links tonight. Check back, and I'll try to include them later on.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Music for 062809

FirstLight

Gathering Song
Shout to the Lord

Opening Song
Lord, I lift your name on high

Confession
Halle, halle, hallelujah

Scripture/Proclamation
Thy Word

Offertory
Made me glad

Doxology
Give thanks

Prayers
We sing of your glory

Closing Song
What a mighty God we serve

11 AM
Hymns
487, When morning guilds the skies (LAUDES DOMINI)
274, O God of earth and space (LEONI)
265, Great God we sing that mighty hand (WAREHAM)

Introit
Matsikenyiri, Jesus, We are here

Confession
Caribbean, Halle, halle, halleluja

Anthem
Arr. Hopson, Come thou fount of every blessing

Doxology
Old Hundredth

Benediction
Dauermann, The Trees of the field

Instrumental/Organ Music
Prelude: Arr. Barker, Variations on Nettleton
Offertory: Bach, Siciliano, from Pastorale in F
Postlude: JS Bach, Little Prelude and Fugue in G

Thursday, June 18, 2009

New (Presbyterian) Organs

I was struck recently by the number of Presbyterian churches that have recently completed organ projects. Thanks to surveys that appear monthly in a couple of journals that I read, I can stay aware of where new instruments are being installed. I put together the following list of four in very short order indeed. There are numerous other churches of different denominational affiliation that are enjoying new organs. These struck me because they were so substantial in scope, and are sited in congregations which are all part of our broader Presbyterian tradition. I hope you enjoy poking around and seeing the information about these instruments, but also hope you'll nose around the various sites and see what other congregations are doing in their music and worships arts ministries in general, and with their web-presence.

The first new installation I'll share is at Covenant Presbyterian (PCA) in Nashville. The new instrument of 50+ ranks stands 48 feet tall in the sanctuary and weighs 20 tons! It was built by the Fisk firm of Gloucester, MA.

A new instrument built by the Dobson (Lake City, IA) firm was recently installed in Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. The instrument is sited in the church's chapel, which in actuality is used more frequently than the sanctuary! The new instrument includes some 24 stops and about 1400 pipes.

First Presbyterian Church in New York City recently saw completion of their sanctuary organ by the Sebastian Gluck firm of New York. It includes a whopping 93 ranks of pipes.

Finally Second Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, IL is now enjoying a new organ in their newly-built worship space. The new instrument of 43 stops derived from 56 ranks of pipes was built by the Buzard firm. Of note is the configuration of the facade (the parts of the organ and pipes that are readily seen): they form a very large Celtic cross.

Truth be told, these projects were in the works long before there was any mention of the current "economic meltdown." So we can't be too amazed that the respective churches took on these projects when they did. It would, however be quite daunting for a church to contemplate taking on projects of this scale in the current financial scenario. And yet, I am sure, plenty are.

I am, of course, quite content with our instrument at BMPCNC (Reuter 2/21, opus 1980). But if anyone wonders, I don't think there is an organist anywhere who would turn down an offer of additional pipes for the instrument they play!

In Kenya

Lisle G. (who sings with Prophets when she is home from school at Davidson College) is on a two-week mission with folks from Davidson College Presbyterian Church. The group has an on-going blog which currently is featuring posts from the smaller mission team on the ground in Kenya. You can see what they are doing here.

New Blog

I found this blog today:

http://thechorister.blogspot.com/

She is a chorister in New Zealand. In her most recent post she takes on a piece by Herbert Howells with which I am not familiar, but about which she quickly has developed strong opinions.

She's serious, humorous, a little irreverent, smart and knowledgeable about choral music and the singing art, and timely. I think you will find interesting reading here.

Everything seems to be on the up-and-up, so I feel fairly confident in recommending that you take a look a this blog.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Musical Soiree Photos

Here are some photos from the Soiree. Everyone did a really nice job. Thanks to all the performers who juggled schedules to be present. And thanks to everyone who attended! And special thanks to K. Haak for taking these photos. They also are scrolling in right right column.

Choir Music Weekend

There will be a choir music event at Lake Junaluska October 23-25. I am intending that most of our Chancel Choir singers will participate, and that this will serve as our fall retreat. We'll be working on a wide range of music. The setting and fellowship time with other church musicians promises to be a highlight of the weekend.

You can read about the event here. From here you can click through and see the event leadership (Ginger Wyrick is one) and see the schedule for the event.

Please download a registration form here. Fill it out and return it to me.


Spouses are welcome; add their name to your registration. There is no cost to them (aside from housing/meals).

Registration for the event is $40 which covers costs of the program. Housing and meals are additional. The two primary locations are Terrace and Lambuth, these are most like a motel/hotel setting and have dining rooms within the facility. Of the two, I suspect that Terrace will be the preference because I suspect it will be closest to reeharsal spaces. I havea wee bit of money available for those who could use a hand with expenses. I can cover registration fees for 3-4 individuals. Please ask me about that.

I am waiting on details about where on the grounds rehearsals will be held. Once I have that information I will be able to make a strong reccommendation regarding where we should book our rooms.

I think most of us will stay one night only, and not participate in any of the Sunday activities. that means for us the weekend event will end with a rehearsal on Saturday night at 8PM.

Rooms most convenient to the rehearsal space will go fast (persons who have attended before will have a head start on us). So please complete your registration and get it to me, so I can move quickly on making revervations.

Please contact me with any questions.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A proper bit of congregational singing

It's a staged congregation, and "made for television," but the singing is quite good as is the accompaniment (organ plus brass and timpani). It's all helped by a nicely reverberant hall too. Enjoy!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Music planning

Adam Copeland over at A Wee Blether has a perceptive post on hymn selection during his seminary days. Adam gives cogent positive and negative factors that could possibly account for the seeming popularity of the hymn Guide my feet in chapel services at Columbia Seminary. It's a fine spiritual, but yeah, I could get real tired of real quick. So I don't think that the song's inherent positive attributes that can really account for its (over-)use at the chapel. Adam wonders if maybe the worship planners are not at their strongest when it comes to selecting music for worship. Finally he wonders if maybe the simplicity of the song makes it a popular choice.

I think Adam closest to the truth with a remark related to the second of his three possible reasons. Picking worship music is a daunting task. And when one has to select liturgical elements and music, it's easy to resort to a known quantity, like a well-worn hymn to conclude the worship.

Myself, it very often takes a long time to connect the worship dots. The right liturgical element may not spring to mind on first reading the appointed scripture for worship. The connection may come two or three weeks after first reading through the lections. My brain needs time to percolate with the readings and the wealth of material available for possible inclusion in worship. A word or phrase in a Bible reading or in one liturgical element may make me think of a similar or related word in another resource, but that doesn't happen right away. Just as a preacher really wants to live with a text for a while before actually preaching on it, so to with the musician at worship. I for one need some time with the scripture and a homiletic direction before I can connect music to it.

This past week was a good example. Trinity Sunday. Choosing Holy, holy, holy (NICEA) was an easy call. The spoken opening sentences were full of "creation" imagery, so God of the sparrow seemed a good call for the close of worship. (You know how each stanza ends with a single word, "awe," "praise," "woe;" those all reminded me of feelings Isaiah might have had that day in temple in the year that King Uzziah died.) The Old Testament reading from Isaiah brought to mind pretty quickly Dan Schutte's Here I Am, Lord. But we've used that song quite a bit of late. It took some time, and a little digging, but I ultimately suggested Together We Serve by Dan Damon. The text meshed well with the sentiments the preacher conveyed in conversation. And it made explicit mention of Jesus and the Spirit, which pinged off the day (Trinity Sunday) well. It was a new text for us, with a sturdy tune. It probably won't make anyone's top twenty-five, but it served us well in that service. Much better than the gut-reaction hymn I might have opted for.

So Adam, the frequency with which Guide my feet is used at Columbia has do probably with a mish-mash of reasons including musical awareness, sing-ability, and the pace with which worship probably has to get planned in the seminary setting. I mean no disrespect to the folks who plan worship at the school; I don't know a single one of them. But having been to seminary, I know what the pace is like, and for that matter what life is like in the parish setting. I hope here simply to suggest more of the dynamics at play that cause a certain song to crop up more than one might expect.

Worship planning and music planning are daunting tasks indeed. The more distance I can put between planning and execution, the better off this worship planner is. It allows more time for the Spirit to work her magic and help me make connections that I miss when I am rushing about.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Music for 060709

FirstLight

Gathering Song(s)
Father I adore you

Opening Song
We fall down
Holy, holy, holy (NICEA)

Confession
Shalom Chaverim

Offertory
Take my life

Doxology
Give thanks

Closing Song
You are holy (Prince of Peace)


11 AM
Hymns
138, Holy, holy, holy (NICEA)
2175, Together we serve (SAN ANSELMO)
272, God of the Sparrow (ROEDER)

Introit
Ralph Vaughan Williams, I bind unto myself today

Confession
O’ Carroll, Celtic Alleluia

Anthem
Schubert, Holy, holy, holy Lord

Doxology
592 Lasst uns erfreuen

Benediction
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Christ before me

Instrumental/Organ Music
Prelude: Pasquet, Variations on a Breton Tune
Offertory: Saint-Saƫns, Poco Adagio, from Symphony #3 in C Minor
Postlude: Stanford, Sonata in C Minor, Celtica, Allegro Maestoso

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

My class at MCC

I had a nice afternoon with 13 folks at Montreat yesterday. We talked about innovative worship. I talked a little to begin and by the time I was finished, most everyone was primed to jump in and engage in some fairly energetic conversation. I used our FirstLight service as a sort of case study in designing a new worship service. (I gave them a two-page synopsis of the whole 6-year development process that led to what is now FirstLight!) I also provided the group with a list of sites that I use in worship and music design and planning, including this blog. So, they may stop by to see what happens here on occasion.

For those in the class, I forgot to issue a forthright, overt invitation, so here it is: if you are in town over the weekend, you are cordially invited to attend FirstLight, or our 11AM service, this week. As luck would have it, all of our musicians are scheduled to be present, so we should have a nice sound. I've got a pretty good music list put together (check back here at the end of the week to see that).

We hope you, and any other readers, can join us! And thanks for a nice afternoon talking about worship and church.