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.
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.
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.
In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” we find Juliet in a conundrum. The problem? Romeo, the love of her life, is a Montague — the family that is warring with her family, the Capulets. Juliet determines (in a soliloquy no less) that the name Montague is the issue, not Romeo himself.
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;
In other words, the name is not important as the underlying object.
So how does this relate to church musicians? Here’s your test: How many different names can you find for “church musician?” Think about it — I’ll wait.
I remember the first time I heard of Paul Manz. My organ mentor was passing the torch, so to speak, and she passed along her sheet music to me. Included in that collection were my introductions to Burkhardt, Behnke, and of course Paul Manz. Of all the books, the several Concordia Manz editions were the most ragged with detached covers from frequent use. She said, something like “get to know these, you will love them.” And so the rest is history. Like many organists, Manz has become a staple of my core repertoire.
This morning with wide eyes I read the e-mail from MorningStar Music that Paul Manz had entered into eternal glory on October 28, 2009 (MorningStar has more detailed information and Manz resources). While I had never met Manz or ever heard him in person, he had, through his music on the organ rack and CDs, become a sort of close friend (and at times an irritating one at that!). It was a friendship that I had to “grow into”. There are still plenty of pieces awaiting further practice.
His organ works, primarily on hymn tunes, shows the careful interaction between text and tune. Many of Manz’s works were composed to introduce hymns and reflect on the text — a very practical purpose. Frank Senn, in an essay in the Manz biography, notes that “when Manz played a solo on a stanza, giving the congregation a rest especially on hymns with many stanzas, what he performed was practically an improvised poem” (158). He was a leader of the people’s song.
Senn ends his essay with these words:
The responsibilities of the cantor as the leader of the people’s song has been seldom greater than it is today. Paul Manz has shown the generations following him how to do this job. May their tribe increase. (164)
In closing, I will let Manz speak for himself:
Thank you for the grace of singing with me across the years in good times and in bad, when our words have stuck in our throats and when our eyes have overflowed with joy. It has ever been a Song of Grace: ‘Love to the loveless shown that we might lovely be.’ I have just been the organist. Thank you for letting me play. (Noted in obituary by Scott Hyslop)
