Some of you may have had the opportunity in November 2009 to attend the Good Shepherd Institute’s conference on “Bach in Today’s Parish: Still the Evangelist.” While I wasn’t able to attend, I patiently await the publication of their annual journal of papers presented at the conference (and hoping that they might post MP3s of the presentations). In the meantime, the folks at GSI have posted two of the conference papers on their website (NOTE 11/11: It appears these papers are no longer posted). They are interesting readings for musicians and non-musicians alike.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Gerhard on the Lord’s Supper
A few years ago I “discovered” Johann Gerhard through Meditations on Divine Mercy and got hooked on his writings. This past week I received a new addition for the bookshelf — “An Explanation of the History of the Suffering and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ” (5/3/11: No longer available from Repristination Press) — which I’m reading through this Lenten season. Today’s reading had this to say about the Lord’s Supper.
In this holy body You will find life, for He was given into death for the life of the world. In this holy blood you will find forgiveness of sin, for it was shed for the forgiveness of sin.
Ponder especially here the wisdom of God. The Lord Christ took upon Himself flesh and blood from our nature. He exalted and embellished it in His personal union with divine, incomprehensible attributes. He now gives that back to us again in the Holy Supper so that our nature no longer need be distanced from Him; but, on the contrary, through this eating and drinking of the Supper we again have restored to us that which Adam had lost with his forbidden eating. [40-41]
Organ Music: Chorale Preludes
Church musicians are often in a quandary when selecting sheet music to add to their libraries: a finite budget and seemingly infinite choices from music publishers. The musician needs a discerning eye to determine what will be useful at their skill level and worship context. Random selection might yield a few gems, but also result in a bloated collection. A quality library doesn’t necessarily have to be large. It does, however, have to be well chosen. (I previously wrote about The Other Essential Lutheran Library – Musician Edition which included some of my “core” organ books.)
So where does a musician find resources to sift through all the choices? I have usually received the best advice from my mentors and friends who are Lutheran musicians. (Organists and Choir Directors: The Good Shepherd Institute’s bi-annual newsletter His Voice normally has music recommendations from Kantor Kevin Hildebrand).
To that end, I would like to share with you a recent acquisition to my organ music library which I think will be quite valuable: the six volume series “Choralvorspiele Zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch.” The journey to this collection began in the summer of 2007 while I was at an Organist Workshop at Concordia Theological Seminary with Kantor Resch. He had a volume of this series on the organ console and this gave me a hint to consider adding it to the library. I recently inquired with Kantor Resch about the series and he highly recommended it.
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.
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.