Receiving the gifts God gives through Word and Sacrament

Walter Buszin on the Lutheran Masters

Earlier this week the Concordia Publishing House music department celebrated the 60th anniversary of hiring its first full-time head of the music department – Edward Klammer.  That hiring happened at the recommendation of Walter Buszin.  During the 1940’s, Buszin, in the midst of his other teaching responsibilities,  organized the music department catalog, served as an editorial consultant, and finally recommended that CPH appoint Klammer as head of the department. (For more information on Buszin, get the biography published by The Good Shepherd Institute).

In 1948 CPH published an “Anthology of Sacred Music – Chorale Preludes by Masters of the XVII and XVIII Centuries” selected and edited by Buszin.  It is the Foreword of this volume that I’d like to share with you.  First, it provides insight into what CPH was publishing at that time.  Second, it gives some guidance for parish musicians today.  Third, it will provide a segue into another piece I’ll be posting in a few days.

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The music world today is making wide use of the chorale preludes written by the Lutheran masters of the 17th and 18th centuries. We are convinced that this is not merely a passing fad, but rather an indication of the rapid rise of musical standards in America and a recognition of the superiority of this music for worship purposes. From a purely musical point of view one may rightfully refer to the chorale preludes of the Lutheran masters as tone poems in miniature; from a liturgical and ecclesiastical point of view, however, they are more than tone poems, for their real purpose, as intended by their composers, was to incite people to worship and to create an atmosphere of worship in services of worship.

On the whole, a more uplifting atmosphere has been maintained in the services of worship conducted by church bodies which recognize the values of a well-ordered and dignified liturgical service of worship. Nevertheless, while the music used in these churches may have been churchly, it was often not the best worship music available. Thus in the Lutheran Church it was soon discovered that not the compositions of the great Lutheran masters, but the works of the rather inferior nineteenth and twentieth century composers were used. This music did not militate at all times against good taste; it was, on the whole, churchly, but it was at the same time quite uninspiring; it was not written by composers who possessed the genius, skill, talents, and spirit of men like Walther, Pachelbel, Buxtehude, Zachow, various members of the Bach family, and others. In fact, the music of the really great Lutheran masters was quite unknown to Lutheran church musicians until recent times, and there are still many serving as organists who are not acquainted with their real great heritage.

The present collection has been prepared and published not only to acquaint organists with works by the Lutheran masters, but also to encourage organists to use music of this type in services of worship. Since it is the intention of the editor to prepare for this series a volume which will include only works by Johann Sebastian Bach, compositions by this great master have not been included in the present volume. It is hopes that thereby attention will be called to the undeniable and important fact that the musical heritage of the Lutheran Church in particular, and of the Christian Church in general, is great even without the works of the greatest composer of organ music the world has ever known.

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It is important, of course, that these preludes be played in the spirit in which they were written and in the spirit of a beautiful and dignified service of worship. This spirit, however, I am unable to communicate to others through the medium of words, numbers, or other signs. The spirit of music is intangible and will come to those who wholeheartedly dedicate themselves, their ability, and their musical talent to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. From Him will come the spirit of consecration and genuine musical understanding.

– Walter E. Buszin

Worship Treasures: Past and Present

Each week as I prepare for the upcoming worship services, I’m continually reminded of the rich worship and musical heritage we have in Christendom and Lutheranism.  At any given service we hear the timeless Word speaking to us in readings and sermon.  The psalms, whether spoken, chanted, or sung, still resonate with us as they did with Israel.  We sing first century New Testament canticles and historic liturgical texts set to musical settings spanning hundreds of years.  Our hymn texts are gems collected from the early years of Christianity to the present and set to tunes ancient and modern.  Our prayers and collects have been prayed by the great cloud of witnesses before us and added to judiciously by the present.  The instrumental and choral music is chosen from a rich treasury that our musical forebears have passed down and is supplemented by composers of today.

And this is all in one worship service.  Yet, do we appreciate and understand this treasure?  “Traditional” worship can be done simply for the sake of tradition and nostalgia.  “Contemporary” worship’s horizon (specifically referencing music) spans a few short years (sometimes a decade or so) and often charts a path forward without turning around to see the mountains left behind.

Kantor Richard Resch from Concordia Theological Seminary has these rich thoughts:

You either treasure something, you live with and tolerate it, or you abandon it.  A significant part of Missouri Synod Lutheranism lived with something for decades without an understanding of what they had, and it was not treasured, except perhaps as an icon of stability. The result, then, was that they often went looking for ways other than Creeds, liturgies, and hymns for worship.

The solution to this situation comes through catechesis. It comes from leaders who know how to teach a subject that they understand and love. It comes from holding high the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all of the church’s catholic forms. Our church year, lectionary, liturgy, hymnody along with our doctrine require this kind of careful catechesis. (The Music of the Divine Service: Propers and Proclamation. 2001 Journal of The Good Shepherd Institute, pg 55.)

It saddens me to see both Traditional toleration and Contemporary abandonment of our worship heritage.  To go from toleration and abandonment to treasuring, as Kantor Resch wrote, requires catechesis.  That starts with leaders – pastors and kantors.  Last week Pastor Peters of Pastoral Meanderings wrote a very fine article (Wise Words) on teaching by your practice and piety.  It is well worth your time to read.  And lest I forget, take a look at Singing the Faith produced by the Good Shepherd Institute – another gift to the Church.  Treasures shouldn’t be forced upon people, but over time their value can be made apparent.

Since I certainly don’t have all the answers here, please share your thoughts and ideas.

A Bach Gem From YouTube

As many of you know, you can find virtually anything on YouTube — some of excellent quality and some that is mediocre.  One particular organist that I enjoy listening to (and watching) is Rob Stefanussen.  His most recent video is of Bach’s Wachet Auf — an obligatory favorite of organists and non-organists alike.  Take a few minutes and enjoy this great piece.  The videography is detailed and covers the finger and pedal work.

Organists take note: you might be envious of this practice organ.  He’s playing a 4 manual digital organ running Hauptwerk (a robust software program that “runs” the virtual pipe organ) with touch screen stop jams.  A very versatile instrument.   I’ll remain content with my 2-manual Allen practice organ.

Bach and Japan

Over at Cyberbrethren, Paul McCain is featuring a fascinating article by Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto on Bach’s music as a servant of the Gospel in Japan.  It’s a great read worthy of your consideration.

I found it thought provoking to read of a Japanese woman, who probably like many others, found what God’s love means to Christians, but has resisted the leap of faith.   Yet people still flock to listen to Bach.  Why?  Masaki Suzuki, founder and conductor of the Bach Collegium Japan, suggests that the Japanese want to know what “hope” means for Christians in this time of spiritual poverty.

Choir/musical directors take note: Masaaki Suzuki teaches the Scripture during rehearsals.  That’s a good thing to do even in a musical group composed of Christians — especially if we are rehearsing sacred music.  Our hope is in the Word and what Christ has done.

LSB Resources: Additional Indexes

For a number of years I’ve had lofty goals to catalog my music library — not just the books, but also the individual pieces within the book, associated hymn tunes, composers, when I used a piece, etc.  While I haven’t made much progress on the cataloging, awhile back I did create the underlying structure that would link everything back to Lutheran Service Book and the associated hymn tunes.  Through that project I had the data to create several indexes that had more detail than those provided in the back of the LSB editions — primarily around the hymn tunes used in LSB.
All of the information in these indexes is already in LSB — these indexes will just minimize some page flipping going back and forth to cross reference hymn numbers.  They answer two primary questions: What tune does a hymn use? What hymns use this tune?  Who knows, some of you might find these useful.  If you do, I’d be interested to know – please leave a comment.

1. LSB Hymn Names, Number, and Tune sorted by Hymn Name
2. LSB Hymn Names, Number, and Tune sorted by Hymn Number
3. LSB Hymn Names, Number, and Tune sorted by Hymn Tune

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