HIS VOICE

The Good Shepherd Institute has recently published the bi-annual edition of their newsletter “His Voice” that focus on resources for pastoral theology and sacred music.  In it you’ll find information on the next GSI conference (and the creative way they came up with the topic), book/article recommendations from John Pless, choral recommendations from Kantor Kevin Hildebrand, and music/article recommendations from Daniel Zager.

For those of you who enjoy the writings of Bo Giertz (e.g., Hammer of God and To Live With Christ), John Pless recommends The Knights of Rhodes, a novel by Giertz recently translated into English by Bror Erickson.  If you are interested in it, just a hint — buy directly from the publisher (Wipf and Stock) and the price is $21.60 + shipping rather than $27.00 + shipping.

GATHERED GUESTS

CPH is having a 60% off sale on selected items and Gathered Guests (2nd Edition) by Timothy Maschke is on sale for $10.00 (normally $24.99).  The subtitle to the book is “A Guide to Worship in the Lutheran Church.”  It is a revision of the 1st Edition to reflect updated practices and reference the services in Lutheran Service Book.  At 600 pages, the book provides an overview of Lutheran worship and the church year, the liturgy and the services in LSB, the arts — vestments, music, and architecture, and planning resources.

The commentary on the LSB services (Divine Services, Daily Office, and the Occasional Services) are especially useful for the pastor and musician in worship planning.  One resource that I have found particularly helpful is Appendix B – Seasonal Suggestions for the Divine Service.  It is an expansion of a table in the Manual on the Liturgy for LBW (which is also a useful resource for service planning and the “how” of the service).  For each season of the church year there are suggestions of when and/or what “options” to use in the service like the Kyrie, Hymn of Praise, and Post-Communion Canticle and Collect.  This appendix provides an intentional usage of the options throughout the settings of the Divine Service.

Enjoy the exploration.  If you happen to come across any worship and/or music related resources that you find useful or would recommend, feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for reading March Resources.

Up until recently I was puzzled why Concordia Publishing House had published so much of Paul Manz’s organ music in the 1960′s, 70′s and 80′s and now MorningStar Music publishes all of the organ volumes (re-edited in topical editions). What would cause the transition of publishers? Especially given the quality of Manz’s music.

I learned the answer, or at least someone else’s explanation, after reading “The Journey was Chosen: The Life and Work of Paul Manz ” by Scott Hyslop and published by MorningStar Music. Hyslop writes,

“For reasons seemingly bizarre and politically motivated, Concordia Publishing House came to a decision that they would no longer print music written by Manz and then started to systematically put much of what he had written out of print. . . In the end the Manzes were able to purchase back all of the copyrights to Paul’s music and move those titles to Morningstar.” (Hyslop, 71)

Reading this biography provided a historical background to the theological and political issues in the American Lutheran churches during the 1960′s-1980′s. And Paul Manz was in the midst of this as he served as a composer, teacher, and performer. Since I was born in the tail end of the 70′s, this is all “history” to me.

I enjoyed this biography because it provided a glimpse into the challenging and creative life of one of the great organists of the 20th century. It adds a dimension of understanding as I practice and listen to his compositions.

When Paul Manz was asked to give one piece of advice to someone venturing into church music, he said, “Love the people you have been called to serve.” These are good words for any church musician.

Thanks for reading Paul Manz – A Life Revealed.