Tag Archives: organ

Organ Music: Chorale Preludes

Church musicians are often in a quandary when selecting sheet music to add to their libraries: a finite budget and seemingly infinite choices from music publishers.  The musician needs a discerning eye to determine what will be useful at their skill level and worship context.  Random selection might yield a few gems, but also result in a bloated collection.  A quality library doesn’t necessarily have to be large.  It does, however, have to be well chosen. (I previously wrote about The Other Essential Lutheran Library – Musician Edition which included some of my “core” organ books.)

So where does a musician find resources to sift through all the choices?  I have usually received the best advice from my mentors and friends who are Lutheran musicians.  (Organists and Choir Directors: The Good Shepherd Institute’s bi-annual newsletter His Voice normally has music recommendations from Kantor Kevin Hildebrand).

To that end, I would like to share with you a recent acquisition to my organ music library which I think will be quite valuable: the six volume series “Choralvorspiele Zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch.”  The journey to this collection began in the summer of 2007 while I was at an Organist Workshop at Concordia Theological Seminary with Kantor Resch.  He had a volume of this series on the organ console and this gave me a hint to consider adding it to the library.  I recently inquired with Kantor Resch about the series and he highly recommended it.

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Pipe Organs: Q&A with Grime and Hildebrand

So how does the pipe organ work? Paul Grime, Kevin Hildebrand, and the multimedia crew at Concordia Theological Seminary have put together an introductory YouTube video on the pipe organ and answer 5 or so common questions. The content is geared for both organists and non-organists. Listen closely and you can hear the nice reverberation in Kramer Chapel.

So what did I learn from the video? That I should pull out the ladder to the organ chamber and go blow on some pipes! (The video did not explicitly suggest this, but I extrapolated it as a reasonable experience to get to know my organ better.)

New Music from CPH

This is just a heads up that CPH recently released their new choral, handbell, and organ books/pieces for 2009. As always, CPH has MP3s and PDF samples of the pieces to view before purchasing. On the organ side, at least, there were a few items that got my attention early on and I have since purchased.

CPH is continuing its series “Musica Sacra” with Volume 7 by Donald Busarow. The Musica Sacra series is a great way to get some easier and quick pieces to prepare that are interesting. I have all 7 volumes and I consistently use all of them, but especially the volumes by Hildebrand, Kosche, and Culli. Just to be aware, I’d guess that roughly half of the compositions in Volume 7 are reprints of previously published pieces. I’m thinking that by the copyright date they are from the Concordia Hymn Prelude series which CPH is now slowly retiring.

The other selection I ordered was Kevin Hildebrand’s “Five Easy Easter Hymn Settings for Organ” . I know Easter is over and I won’t be able to use this set for another year — BUT it has a lovely setting of Duke Street which is appropriate for funerals throughout the year.

If you’re in the market for some sacred music, give the folks at CPH a try. They have an abundance of resources — especially for the Lutheran musician. But if you want Paul Manz, Michael Burkhardt, or some of Robert Hobby’s pieces, you’ll need to head over to MorningStar Music.

Children and the Organ

This past Sunday as I was playing the organ postlude, I saw in my peripheral vision someone standing off to the side.  I lost my focus for a beat as I wondered who it was and what he wanted.  To my surprise it was a father with his 3 or 4-year old son.  The little guy wanted to see the “thing” that made all the noise.

As this was happening, someone walked by and jokingly said, “Chris, it looks like you might have some competition on the organ bench.”  Those words have been with me the last few days.  Not the competition part, but the part of nurturing our young people to consider pursuing church music vocations.

Several young girls have become “regulars” at the organ bench after the services to watch and ask questions about how the organ works.  You should see the thrill of one young girl when she played “Joy to the World” on the manuals for me after the service one Sunday.  Who knows, I may have a few budding organists in my midst.

I think children are drawn to the uniqueness of the sound, the physical dexterity to play it, and all the buttons, keys, and pedals.  Much like the Divine Service and its liturgies, the organ is foreign to popular culture.  But at the same time people, especially younger adults, are increasingly drawn toward worship opportunities not typically associated with popular and contemporary culture.

Watch out for those young organ enthusiasts.  Embrace and encourage their interest.  You might be helping to nurture a gift to the church at large.

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.