Tag Archives: Hymnody

A Case for Hymnody

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 . . .

The Concordia Organist

I received an e-mail today from CPH that startled me even though I “knew” their new product would be coming eventually.

Wanted: One Outstanding Church Organist.
Music adds much to our worship, but musicians can be hard to find. Well, look no further.

The reality is that many churches have a difficult time finding an organist or even someone who can play the piano for worship services. Enter CPH. They have created Concordia Organist, a 31-CD set of all the hymns in LSB which can be used to accompany hymn singing. CPH is having an “essay” contest (though the Official Rules say it will be a random drawing) to give away a free copy of the Concordia Organist (retail value: $699 with an introductory price of $499) to a LCMS or LCC congregation.

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Diving into Hymnody

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

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.

Joy to the Heart

On today’s Issues, Etc program Todd Wilken had Pastor Will Weedon on the show to discuss a great Easter hymn – Joy to the Heart (link to the MP3 of the show).  It is well worth the listen.

If you’ve never heard the hymn, here is a video of a setting written by K. Lee Scott.  The setting is available from CPH and performance scores are available for the optional instrumentation.  Enjoy!