Lutheran Kantor » Hymnody

J.S. Bach: The Music Lives On

Chris — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:12:53 +0000

Each year on July 28, the church commemorates Kantor J.S. Bach. It was on this date in 1750 that Bach — musician, composer, and servant of the church — entered into eternal rest.

When I think of Bach and his death, the first thing that comes to mind is the closing chorale to his St. John Passion. He closes this Passion with the final stanza of Martin Schalling’s hymn text “Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart.” (Starts at 8:58 in the YouTube video).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5N0Ubpvns

Lord, let at last Thine angels come,
To Abr’hams bosom bear me home,
That I may die unfearing;
And in its narrow chamber keep
My body safe in peaceful sleep
Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me,
That these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face,
My Savior and my fount of grace.
Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend,
my prayer attend,
And I will praise Thee without end. (LSB 708, st. 3)

Bach’s setting has endeared me more and more to this hymn. It is a hymn of trust, of hope, of comfort, and of joy for the Christian who looks to the gracious face and work of Christ in the midst of their own death and eventual resurrection. For good reason, this hymn has accompanied many on the journey to their Savior. At nearly every funeral I’m the organist for, I’ll play either the Walther or Krebs (usually both) organ settings of this hymn as pre-service music (along with pieces by Bach).

So today I thank God for the work and faith of Bach and the treasures he left behind that have enriched us (for me particularly the organ chorales and sacred choral music). Here are several posts from the archive vault on Bach and a few of my favorite musical pieces. Soli Deo Gloria.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=md5lDmPbX8Y

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlb0cr-k8PY

Soundtrack of Life

Chris — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:47:23 +0000

Imagine watching Star Wars or some other favorite movie with one big change: no music. The plot and characters would still be there, but we would miss that familiar music that moves the story forward.

Movie soundtracks are not random bits of music to cover dialogue or video sequences, but are often composed specifically to complement the action on the silver screen. John Williams, the movie composer, (not John Williams, the classical guitarist) is a master of this, weaving themes and variations throughout the two or so odd hours of film and then providing the continuity between the prequels and sequels. Who can forget the opening to Star Wars or the menacing Darth Vader theme? (Side note: If you happen to be a fan of movie soundtracks, the classical radio station in Portland, OR has a weekly program devoted to the music behind the movies — The Score.)

And yet, do Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader even know that there is a soundtrack backing up their lives? In the case of Darth Vader, it was a soundtrack that accompanied his entire life from birth to death. What is your soundtrack?

If you read Pastor Peters’ blog Pastoral Meanderings, you may remember his post from last week on the Liturgical Life in Leipzig and Clarksville. If you don’t read his blog, you should. Pastor Peters briefly compared the time of Bach when the music of the church was literally their accompaniment to daily life to today when “Lutheran” music (if even used) could be limited to an hour or so on Sunday morning. While Pastor Peters didn’t specifically state the question like this, I think he would concur with asking, “What is your soundtrack the rest of the week?”

Why does it matter, you ask? (That kind of sounds like Yoda, don’t you think?) It’s not an academic question. It turns out to be very practical. What we hear, just like what we read and see, influence and teach us. Does what we listen to help to sustain us in our journey from birth to death or does it conflict, muddle, or provide little value? In “Hymnody as Teacher of the Faith” Kantor Richard Resch emphasizes that music is not harmless or innocent or just entertainment. It is a powerful teacher for both good and bad, especially theology in the church. This article is particularly interesting as it discusses children and music and teaching the faith through the use and teaching of our hymnals.

I think there is merit in centering our daily soundtracks with our hymnals. As a church musician and Lutheran, next to the Bible and catechism, Lutheran Service Book is a constant companion. Whether it be singing hymns, reading hymns, humming hymns, playing hymns, playing pieces based on hymns, or listening to choral or instrumental hymn based recordings — most of it all comes back to the hymnal. The words and tunes become hardwired to the soul so that even when I don’t have a hymnal, iPod, CD, or computer, my soundtrack still works. The words of comfort, the words of reproof, the words of joy are always there. And I hope they remain fixed in my life as long as I live.

I understand that musicians may have an unfair advantage in this respect since we can read the notes on the page and create/play our own music. Yet, whether or not we are musically inclined, there are a number of edifying gifts that we have in both hymn and non-hymn based choral and instrumental recordings.

If you’re looking for some suggestions to build (or supplement) your soundtrack, here are a few suggestions. Pastor Peters alluded to some of his favorite recordings: the Paul Manz CDs and collection of Bach. Nathan at Southern Lutheran Kantor compiled a list of recommended church music recordings (with a few of my suggestions). While I can’t say my CD collection is the definitive or even complete collection for a Lutheran soundtrack, it might be of interest to those wanting to start one. If you’re interested, you can find my list here. You can also find a list of several online streaming sacred music programs here.

I’d like to end with one last thought: My intent isn’t to be legalistic and demand that we only listen to sacred music. I also listen to and support my local classical radio station and I enjoy classical, folk, Celtic, and Nordic music. What I would encourage, though, is an intentional choice in what we listen to and a recommendation to have sacred music at its core.

What is your soundtrack?

LSB Resources: Additional Indexes

Chris — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:00:46 +0000

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.

On Texts and Tunes

Chris — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:25:38 +0000

One of my Sunday afternoon rituals is to listen to Sing for Joy produced by St. Olaf College. It is a half hour weekly program of sacred music based on the three-year Revised Common Lectionary which usually, though not always, meshes with the Lutheran Service Book 3-year lectionary.

I was caught off guard when “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” was introduced on the program. At church this morning we sang this hymn (LSB 398) with the usual tune (FREUT EUCH, IHR LIEBEN) that has been used in at least 4 generations of LCMS hymnals. The setting on Sing for Joy was set to ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVOGELEING (the tune used for the Gloria in Excelsis, LSB Setting 4). And it was the Gloria that came to my mind when the hymn began.

Hymn texts and tunes are often intimately connected in a worshiping community. The tune helps to carry and reinforce the text and make the text more memorable. Moreover, singing helps us to inwardly digest the hymn text.

Unfortunately, sometimes a tune is deemed “too hard” so a worthy text is disliked or not sung at all. Conversely, a lacking text might be overused because the tune is appealing. Consider Luther’s “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee.” While it does not have an easy hymn tune, the tune superbly supports and interprets the text. I can’t imagine singing that text to a different tune. When possible, a choir or small ensemble can introduce and assist in difficult hymns. And yes, it is OK sometimes to choose an alternate tune if needed, but please don’t pick another tune with the same meter before checking it out. The lilting tune ALLEIN GOTT IN DER HOH (tune for All Glory Be to God on High) has the same meter as AUS TIEFER NOT (tune for From Depths of Woe), but doesn’t fit the spirit of the text.

One particular good tune reassignment in Lutheran Service Book comes to mind: Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding (LSB 345). In both Lutheran Worship and Lutheran Book of Worship the tune was FREUEN WIR UNS ALL IN EIN. I like this tune in a minor key, but I suspect it wasn’t used much. Most other hymnals and now LSB have used MERTON as the hymn tune. With the new tune in LSB my congregations now willingly sing this text.

An added benefit of the close connection between text and tune is for the parish musician, particularly the organist. The organ can “sing” a hymn tune as a prelude or postlude. The congregation, if familiar with the tune, may associate the appropriate text and use it as an opportunity to meditate on the words. If the text or tune is not familiar, with some forethought the hymn information could be inserted into the service folder for reference.

Back full circle to where I began: While I didn’t expect to hear “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” today with a different tune, the alternate tune provided a fresh and satisfying opportunity to sing the text.

A Blessed Epiphany

Chris — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:00:12 +0000

Blessings to you on this feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord when we commemorate “God in man made manifest.” Lutherans usually associate Phillip Nicolai’s “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” (LSB 395) — the queen of the chorales — with this day.

It is a hymn full of comfort and devotional thought. Jesus the bright Morning Star. God’s blessings in the midst of life’s difficulties. Those blessings being the gifts God gives us in His means of grace that sustain us. Then strengthened and nourished, we go forth and proclaim the story as we wait for the feast to come.

O Morning Star, how fair and bright!

You shine with God’s own truth and light, (st. 1)

. . .

Now, though daily

Earth’s deep sadness

May perplex us

And distress us,

Yet with heav’nly joy You bless us. (st. 2)

. . .

Your Word and Spirit, flesh and blood

Refresh our souls with heav’nly food.

You are our dearest treasure! (st. 3)

. . .

Your Son has ransomed us in love

To live in Him here and above:

This is Your great salvation. (st. 4)

. . .

Tell the story!

Great is He, the King of glory! (st. 5)

. . .

Come, Lord Jesus!

Crown of gladness!

We are yearning

For the day of Your returning! (st. 6)

This Epiphany, “Tell the story!” (rather than how much you love to tell the story — that’s a different song). Tell the story of Christ — the God man who lived, died, and rose for us. Sing and treasure this hymn of the faith!

Here is an organ setting of the hymn by Pachelbel.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhEwowQWEHI

The Church’s Song Goes On

Chris — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:35:30 +0000

Some organists have a habit of writing in their sheet music the date the piece was used in a worship service. I am not one of those organists.

As I practiced for Sunday worship today (Saturday) I was sight reading some Advent preludes by Michael Burkhardt. The book was familiar and well worn from my yearly use and prior to that of my organ mentor. What struck me, though, had never occurred until today. I was playing Burkhardt’s prelude on “Once He Came in Blessing” and then I noticed the date when my mentor last played it — 10 years ago today.

Most dates wouldn’t mean too much to me. This one did. It was the day my dad suffered from cardiac arrest and medical complications which led to his passing a few days later. This Burkhardt piece reminded me that the church’s song goes on in our communities and congregations around the world — even when we individually are absent from worship. The prayers and songs of the faithful continually ascend to God and each other.

As night turns to day this Saturday night and Sunday morning, the faithful awake and make their way to their place of worship and sing the church’s songs. As one song ends in one place, another is started or overlaps with the first. A massed choir, though separated geographically, united in a common message. If you’re in an LCMS church on the 4th Sunday of Advent it’s likely we might all be singing the Hymn of the Day “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” There is comfort in the unity of a common hymnody and song. It is fitting, then, to close with the final stanza of this fine hymn.

O Come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel! (LSB 357 st. 7)

A Case for Hymnody

Chris — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:58:46 +0000

Pastor Peters at Pastoral Meanderings makes a compelling case for the use of the church’s vast wealth of hymnody: This treasury helps teach the faith to each generation. In many cases hymns (or what we sing) are remembered far longer by the people in the pews than the pastor’s sermon (and I don’t mean any disrespect to pastors – I highly value the sermon).

Here’s a brief selection from Pastor Peter’s post.

We ARE heirs of an astonishingly rich heritage. But what we receive from those who have gone before is not some museum piece but a living faith and a living heritage. From them we learn, to them we add the best of what we have, and through these both we pass on the grand legacy to those whose voices have not yet been added to theirs and ours . . .

Diving into Hymnody

Chris — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:52:22 +0000

If you like hymnody, and Lutheran hymnody in particular, there are several blogs you should visit.

I recently discovered Southern Lutheran Kantor who has some thoughtful and extensive commentaries on a number of hymnic treasures – Including “Lord, Thee Will I Love With All My Heart.” This is a wonderful hymn to be sung at a funeral (particularly stanza 3). At most any funeral I will without doubt play an organ chorale prelude on it even if it is not sung.

Another blogger I follow is Vicar Josh Osbun at Holy Holy Hymnody. He has reviewed a number of Stephen Starke hymns. Josh has also tackled the questionable, bad, and ugly of hymnody — past and present. By the looks of it, he has an extensive hymnal collection.

If your church uses Lutheran Service Book or Hymnal Supplement 98, it’s likely you have become acquainted with some of the hymn texts of Stephen Starke. He has his own blog starke Kirchenlieder where he provides occasional brief commentaries, but generally just posts of some great hymn texts by himself and others.

CPH Goes MP3

Chris — Thu, 07 May 2009 03:00:35 +0000

Just a quick note — it looks like CPH has finally got into the 21st century with selling some of their CD’s as MP3′s. According to a CPH press release (no longer available), you can now buy selected CPH audio products from Amazon and iTunes. Both “Heirs of the Reformation” and “Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, and Chants” are available for download. The interesting thing is that the price on Amazon is $17.98 and $15.98 respectively, but the iTunes prices are $24.99 and $34.99. Hmm . . .

Both are excellent CD compilations of some of the finest Lutheran hymnody and a worthy addition to your audio library.

The LCMS 100 “Song” Study: Part 1

Chris — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:39:46 +0000

Back in June 2008 I commented on the LCMS Reporter article that 100 “worship and praise songs” had successfully made their way through the Synod’s doctrinal review process (13 of them appear in LSB or earlier publications). I’ve wondered about the delay to release the list, but it has recently been posted on the Commission on Worship’s website — go here to read their article and get the list.

This study has been motivated by a trend in parts of the LCMS to embrace the “praise and worship” genre of music. The Commission was directed by convention resolution to provide “guidance and direction in the use of diverse/contemporary worship resources.” Given the plethora of “diverse/contemporary worship resources” [there are over 200,000 songs available for use via the CCLI church copyright license], some guidance seems appropriate to steer professional church workers and laity toward resources that are in harmony with the Lutheran faith and confessions.

Before looking at the list of the songs, I’d like to to consider several points that the Commission makes in the article prefacing the study.

The commission’s publication Text, Music, Context: A Resource for Reviewing Worship Materials was used to determine that each song would be considered in light of the Holy Scriptures, the church year, the lectionary, the Sacraments, law/gospel balance, confessional/doctrinal thought, redemption and forgiveness in Christ, and the use of Trinitarian language.

I have a copy of Text, Music, Context: A Resource for Reviewing Worship Materials and appreciate the diagnostic questions included to review any type of worship music (hymns, choral pieces, or “songs”). The questions consider the text, music, and the “big picture.” It would have been helpful if the study documents included these questions somewhere in the study or website since they were apparently one of the fundamental diagnostic tools. As a courtesy, I have scanned the questions and have them available here as a PDF (the Commission on Worship notated on each of these sheets that “Permission is granted to reproduce this page.”).

The songs listed in the chart have not been subjected to the same in-depth process that selected hymns receive before being included in a synodically approved hymnal. The rapidly changing scene of Christian contemporary music requires constant attention to evaluate emerging songs in a timely manner.

I was surprised (and disappointed) to read that the contents of this study did not undergo the same doctrinal review process as the hymns for a hymnal – in part because the Synod’s June 2008 Reporter article said the songs were “subsequently approved over the past six months through the church body’s doctrinal review process.” I found their reasoning to be less than adequate — timeliness essentially trumps the standard process. What would have happened if they had gone through the same in-depth process as a hymn — would the song be obsolete before a recommendation was made? It would be interesting to know how the review processes differs between a hymn and a “song”.

It is imperative to note that songs are not hymns.

. . .

The words of songs frequently convey simple scriptural thoughts that are wedded to stirring rhythmic melodies.

. . .

Hymn texts, in their role in Lutheran worship provide sequences of poetic stanzas that expound on the life of Christ and the life of the Church. The life cycle of a hymn potentially spans centuries. The life cycle of a song spans weeks, months, perhaps years.

I was a bit startled at the unexpected frankness of the difference between hymns and songs – particularly the life cycles of a hymn and a song. Perhaps I’m a bit naive, but if asked to choose between a hymn that might be a gift to current and future generations for centuries or a song that might be around until next year or a few years later, I would hands down go for the hymn.

Granted, I have no idea how a “current” hymn by say Stephen Starke or Herman Stuempfle will be received decades or centuries from now, but I do know that they will be available in LSB for years to come. I don’t doubt that some of them will be treasures that future generations will sing.

I suppose the deeper question I have is why the life cycles are so different? Yes, I know this too, not every hymn will have a long life cycle and it is possible that a song could live for quite some time. Any thoughts?

In a future post I’ll take look at the actual list of songs.