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

Thanks for reading CPH Goes MP3.

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.”

Thanks for reading Compline – Prayer at the Close of the Day.

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.

As 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.

Thanks for reading O Sing of Christ.

Thanks for reading Advent Devotions.

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!”?

Thanks for reading Heirs of the Reformation CD Set.

Starke’s paraphrase of this early hymn of praise, with its rich language, and coupled with Gustav Holst’s tune Thaxted is a joy to sing. Granted, Thaxted is best known as the theme from Jupiter in The Planets. However, now when I hear Jupiter on KBPS 89.9, I start singing the Te Deum — I dare say not necessarily a negative association.

If you have never heard (or even if you have) Starke’s paraphrase, I have two audio recommendations for your listening enjoyment:

• Concordia Publishing House has released a festival setting for choir and organ (with optional orchestra) by Mark Bender. CPH has a complete performance with orchestra for listening on their product page. Even if your choir does not sing this setting, I would recommend your organist have a copy of the choral score since the opening organ introduction is alone worth the $1.75 and would be a fitting hymn introduction.
• The Kantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary concludes their CD titled “Te Deum” with a mostly a capella (last verse with organ and brass) setting by Thomas Lock. Full length audio is available for streaming at the Kantorei site. While the Bender setting pulls out all the stops, I would characterize the Kantorei’s performance of the Lock setting as “reverently triumphant”.

Now don’t get me wrong; I’m still fond of the Anglican chant setting of the Te Deum from TLH and will continue to sing it. Yet, Starke’s Te Deum is a worthy inclusion in Lutheran Service Book and I hope congregation’s will take the opportunity to learn and use it.

06/04/09 Update

Another choral setting of Starke’s paraphrase is by Charles Ore.  It is set for SATB, organ, and brass.  You can listen to it at the CPH website.

Thanks for reading Te Deum at Kramer Chapel.

Sing for Joy – created by St Olaf College in Northfield, MN. It is a weekly 30 minute show that highlights choral music based on the scripture readings for Sunday. You can listen to the current program and archives at their website. The scripture lessons, as best as I can determine, are from the 3-year Revised Common Lectionary. What that means is that sometimes the readings for the given Sunday will not match those used in Lutheran Service Book in LCMS congregations. Despite this, you still get to hear some excellent music.

Joy – produced by KFUO in St. Louis, MO is a weekly 60-minute show of sacred choral and orchestral music. The music for Joy is more “seasonal” (e.g., Advent, Christmas) than Sing for Joy (which is produced to reflect the texts for Sunday). The current program is available for streaming on the KFUO website. I normally listen to Joy while I row on my Concept2 Indoor Rower.

And while this next link is not technically sacred music oriented, if you are looking for a classical radio station on the internet, look no further than All Classical 89.9 KBPS out of Portland, OR. They are probably one of the best classical radio stations in the United States, if not the world. This station streams their broadcast live over the web in several formats.

Happy Listening!

Thanks for reading Sacred Music on the Web.

Take for example this last Sunday – The Baptism of Our Lord. The “official” Hymn of the Day from Lutheran Service Book was Luther’s wonderful baptism / catechism hymn “To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord” (LSB 406/407). How many of our Lutheran congregations sang this hymn? My congregation didn’t, but they did get to hear an organ prelude by Zachau.

Lutheran Service Book has made an attempt to make some of these unsung hymns more accessible. In addition to the tune Christ, Unser Herr typically associated with “To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord,” LSB also has a new tune Elvet Banks. This last tune also happens to be paired with another of Luther’s hymns “May God Bestow on Us His Grace” (which happened to be the Office Hymn for Morning Prayer at Concordia Theological Seminary on 1/16/08). There are a number of other hymn texts in LSB that have been paired with “new” tunes in hopes they get sung more frequently.

Here’s my plea:

Dear Choir Directors and Choirs – Take the time to learn unfamiliar hymns and gradually share and teach them to your congregation. See my previous post on The Lutheran Choir.

Dear Organists and Instrumentalists – Take the time to learn chorale preludes on unfamiliar hymn tunes and introduce the tune over several weeks or months in different parts of the service. You are preparing the people.

Dear Pastors – Take the time to talk to your parish musicians about choosing hymns. Don’t shy away from a hymn because it is difficult or unfamiliar. Your musicians are valuable assets in introducing and leading the people’s song.

Dear People in the Pews (and Choir Directors, Choir, Parish Musicians, and Pastors) – Take the time to read and meditate on the hymns in the hymnal – at home and church. Deepen your familiarity with the church’s song by listening to CD’s that focus on this hymnody. For example:

• Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth
• Concordia Theological Seminary Kantorei
• St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Children’s Choir
• Hymns for All Saints
• Paul Manz Hymn Improvisations

All of these resources should be available by contacting the Concordia Theological Seminary Bookstore at CPHBookstore@ctsfw.edu. Many are available by contacting Concordia Publishing House.

Blessings as you grow in your understanding of our rich hymnic heritage.

Thanks for reading Singing Difficult Hymns.