Tag Archives: audio

CPH Goes MP3

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.

Compline – Prayer at the Close of the Day

“The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and peace at the last.”

Compline

The Lutheran church has been blessed to have Compline – Prayer at the Close of the Day – included in its service books.  While I don’t know how many congregations gather to pray Compline on a regular basis, it is a salutary practice to consider.  With the recent introduction of Treasury of Daily Prayer, laypeople may be more inclined to pray Compline, if not in a group setting, at least in private prayer before going to bed.

Michael Brown with The Minnesota Compline Choir offers these thoughts from a brief essay on Compline:

Compline is the last in a continuous cycle of daily prayers and worship known as the Divine Office of the Church, to which Matins and Lauds (morning prayers) and the more familiar Vespers (evening prayer) also belong. In the text of the Compline service the act of going to sleep at the end of the day is analogous to the eternal rest that we find in Christ when we die. As we confess our sins, examine our consciences, and offer the actions of the day to God, we are assured that God continually watches over our lives, even as we sleep.

Counter to the current movement in church growth, with trends toward “contemporary” services, the Compline service preserves ancient traditions of simplicity, restfulness and timelessness of text and tune.

Compline is a restful service — whether chanted or spoken — and a fitting conclusion to the end of the day.  It is a service that spans generations and Christian denominations.

If this has piqued your interest in the Compline service, consider listening online to either The Minnesota Compline Choir of St. Paul, MN or The Compline Choir at St Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, WA.

Both of these groups have a weekly Compline service available for on-demand listening, download, or subscription via a RSS feed reader.  The Seattle group also has an option as an iTunes podcast.  You will notice these services are more elaborate than Lutheran Service Book with more “propers”, but you will recognize much of the same “ordinary” text and music.

“Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping that awake we may watch with Christ and asleep we may rest in peace.”

O Sing of Christ

Some of you may be familiar with O Sing of Christ (LSB 362) by Stephen Starke – a wonderful Christmas hymn text that will be new to many, but coupled to the tune Forest Green (sometimes sung to O Little Town of Bethlehem).

While listening to my Christmas iPod playlist, I came across a recording of a delightful hymn setting of O Sing of Christ that I discovered a few years back.  After a little bit of Internet research I found the source of it — Outer Rim Territories.  The setting is by Kevin Hildebrand and is a rehearsal recording of one of the seminary choral groups.  You can even sing along if you like.

Bethlehem's RoseAs a hint to the organists out there, Hildebrand’s instrumental introduction has been set for organ in his volume of Christmas music — Bethlehem’s Rose.  Though, I’m not sure how many “average” organs have a Flute 2′ in the pedal division (unless you couple a 3rd manual with a 2′ stop to the pedal or you are playing the Kramer Chapel organ).

Todd Wilken with Issues Etc interviewed Stephen Starke about this hymn on December 21, 2006.  The interview is archived here — just ignore all the references to supporting Issues Etc. via KFUO and the Reformation Club — to support Issues Etc., go here.

Heirs of the Reformation CD Set

Today the good folks at FedEx delivered one of two long awaited items I’ve had on preorder from CPH.  Hot off the press is a “sequel” (for lack of a better word) to the 4 CD set Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth.  This next 4 CD set – Heirs of the Reformation – focuses on Lutheran hymnody after Luther during the 16th and 17th centuries.  Audio samples are available on the CPH product page.

This evening I copied the CDs over to my iPod and have been listening to them as I walked the dog and did other evening tasks.  The music is glorious – a melding of instrumental and vocal settings – some old and some new – some on period instruments and some on the organ.  This set is truly a feast for the ears; a proclamation of the Word through some great texts and music.

One thing I appreciate about this set, the Martin Luther set, and the Hymns for All Saints series is the clear diction of the singers.  The singing is clear and the listener does not have to strain to listen.  This set and the Martin Luther set come with a booklet with complete hymn texts and also commentaries of each text. Both of these booklets are available on the CPH product page at the above links.

And if you’re a music director, organist, or choir director, the booklet has the CPH item numbers for most of the settings.  You might get some ideas for your own use.  I’ve already rediscovered some organ settings that I use (Kevin Hildebrand’s organ setting of In Thee Is Gladness and Mark Sedio’s organ setting of Jesus Thy Boundless Love).

The Heirs of the Reformation set and Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth would both be excellent resources that complement the Good Shepherd Institute’s Singing the Faith DVD.

Just as the title says, these are “Treasures of the Singing Church.”  We are the heirs of these treasures, just as the composers and poets were the heirs of what came before them.  Moreover, though, we are all heirs of Christ through the gracious gifts God richly gives us through Word and Sacrament.

Now I’m just awaiting the arrival of the Treasury of Daily Prayer.  Can we all say, “CPH, ship that book!”?