• A new volume by John Behnke in his series Five Preludes of Praise.
• Six Hymn Improvisations Set 7 by Kevin Hildebrand. I frequently use his improvisations in worship services. His collections on Christmas and Lent/Easter hymns are also good.
• Introductions, Harmonizations, Accompaniments, Interpretations, Vol. 5 by Jeffrey Blersch.

I suspect CPH is working on their promotional CDs and will soon be providing audio excerpts. But in the meantime they do have PDF excerpts for most of the music books.

And no, I do not receive any kickbacks from the CPH Music Department for writing this.

Thanks for reading Sneak Peak – New Organ Music @ CPH.

Over the last two weeks I have been reading “Music for the Church: The Life and Work of Walter E. Buszin” by Kirby L. Koriath with 10 essays by Walter E. Buszin. As a brief summary, Buszin (1899-1973) was a Lutheran theologian, church musician, music editor, hymnologist, teacher, and liturgical scholar whose scholarly output is quite amazing. In some respects his work was more widely known outside of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) despite being a professor at Concordia Seminary, music editor at Concordia Publishing House, and being on the Synod’s Commission on Worship, Liturgics, and Hymnology for 26 years.

This book presents today’s generation of pastors and church musicians with wise counsel on church music and liturgy. Buszin’s life shows a “mission of restoration and renewal in Lutheran church music and worship” (pg 27). He was deeply concerned that his church, the Lutheran church, had abandoned its fine heritage and replaced it with an unworthy and substandard successor. His life and words are still timely because he dealt with many of the same issues we encounter today – quality of hymnody, liturgy, choral and instrumental music.

As I read the book, I realized how I, as a church musician, have been shaped by Buszin without really knowing it. Buszin promoted the use of the chorale in hymnody, choral music, and organ music and seemed to be instrumental in bringing the sacred works of the “Golden Age of Lutheran Music” (16th – 18th centuries) to light. Besides relying extensively on this era of music for my weekly service playing, I have been shaped by my favorite modern Lutheran composers who write music on the chorales — Benjamin Culli, Kevin Hildebrand, Jeffrey Blersch, Kenneth Kosche, John Behnke, Michael Burkhardt, and Paul Manz. And finally, the Organist Workshops and Good Shepherd Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary introduced me to the thoughts of Buszin and helped me better understand and live my vocation as a church musician.

I hope that I might reflect, if only a glimmer, the passion that Buszin had for Lutheran church music and worship.

Thanks for reading Walter E. Buszin – Wise Counsel for Today.

As I recall, Kantor Resch referred to the hymn introduction as an “Invitation to Sing.” If the introduction is “blah”, the singing will be “blah” as well. The “invitation” by the organist gives a foretaste of what is to come. One of the primary responsibilities of the organist is to engage God’s people in song.

Sometimes the introduction will be playing the entire hymn through once. Sometimes it will be the first and last music phrases. For me this can get a bit repetitive and rather uncreative. More often than not I will either improvise an introduction, use an introduction from one of the organ books in my library, or repurpose a portion of an organ piece from another composer.

The idea for this blog post came after a number of people from church over the last week complimented me on the introductions and accompaniments for a number of the hymns. I was told they were creative, engaging, and reflective of the texts. I can’t take credit for them all — some of them were my own improvisations, but a number of them came from the works of Carl Schalk, Jeffrey Blersch, and Kevin Hildebrand. If any of you organist’s out there do not have Hildebrand’s newest organ collection, Bethlehem’s Rose – 12 Easy Chorale Preludes, get it for the 2008 Christmas season.

P.S. I do not work for or get any commissions from Concordia Publishing House. I just happen to use a lot of the organ music that they publish.

Thanks for reading Invitation to Sing.