Tag Archives: Organist

Church Music Workshops @ CTSFW

Kramer Chapel OrganChrist is risen!  He is risen indeed!  As the music of Holy Week and Easter Sunday continues to ring in our ears, I’d like you to think about summer.

What’s happening this summer?  The Church Music Workshops at Concordia Theological Seminary – Ft. Wayne, IN.  This year there are opportunities for organists, AND choir directors, AND handbell directors/ringers.  In other words, bring the whole crew.

These workshops are an excellent opportunity for fellowship, refreshment, and growth.  I’ve attended twice over the last few summers and they were great experiences.  See my previous reviews here and here.

  • If you’re a musician, consider attending.
  • If you’re a pastor, ask your musician(s) if they would like to attend.
  • If you’re a lay person, offer to send your musician.

The following information is provided by Kantor Kevin Hildebrand:

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Paul Manz at 90

Paul Manz is turning 90 in May and MorningStar Music is having a 20% off sale during April and May 2009 on ALL Paul Manz items – choral & organ music, CDs, and the recent biography “The Journey Was Chosen”.  This is a great opportunity to fill in the gaps in your sheet music collection.  You can read more by downloading their April newsletter.

If you order, make sure you use the code: MANZB20

In Singing the Faith: Living the Lutheran Music Heritage by the Good Shepherd Institute, the study guide says the following about Manz.

In a way that has not been surpassed in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Manz improvised hymn introductions and accompaniments that underscored the meaning of the hymn texts, thus enlivening the proclamation of the Gospel in hymn singing at both liturgical services and in hymn festivals.  Manz published and recorded many such improvisations for the use of organists and for the listening pleasure of all who love hymns and organ music.  Younger generations of Lutheran composers and organists who have been inspired by Manz include (to name only a few) Jeffrey Blersch, Michael Burkhardt, David Cherwien, John Ferguson, Kevin Hildebrand, and Robert Hobby.

Light of Christ – Organ Music Review

Light of ChristFor the organists out there, I know the Epiphany season is quickly coming to a close and soon we’ll be pulling out the Lenten music.  Before the Epiphany music goes into the filing cabinet, I thought I would pass along a recommendation for some organ sheet music  that I’ve had the joy of playing this Epiphany season.

Ben Culli has composed a series of preludes on six Epiphany hymns entitled Light of Christ (audio and PDF samples available on the CPH website).  I usually find Culli’s compositions challenging, but accessible — meaning I have to spend some quality practice time to reap the musical rewards.

In typical Culli style, his compositions exhibit a rhythmic drive and variety that draws the listener to the music.  The “fanfare” for Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure with its pedal points and relatively simple pedal line is a welcome addition to my other frequently used settings of this tune by Kevin Hildebrand and John Behnke.  The setting of Rise, Shine, You People has several motifs and rhythmic patterns that are repeated/echoed throughout the piece which helped to make preparation easier.

One of my favorite pieces from the collection was From God the Father, Virgin Born.  Culli took the hymn tune and interweaved it with a Sarabande by Jeremiah Clarke.  He has done this before in his other collections — quoting a section from Vivaldi’s Gloria in Excelsis with All Depends on Our Possessing and quoting Marcello’s Psalm XIX with With the Lord Begin Your Task.

I’m still working on How Good, Lord, to Be Here and hoping to have it prepared by Transfiguration Sunday.  The only thing left is that pesky hand, eye, and feet coordination!

Overall, this collection was a good addition to my music library.  It’s never too early to start preparing for Epiphany 2010!

Nurturing Future Church Musicians

A few months back in the Lutheran Witness (official periodical of the LCMS), the issue was centered around the need for pastors and how we can encourage men to consider this vocation.  The August 2008 edition of the Lutheran Witness has an article that explores the need for church musicians and encouraging children to consider the vocation of church musician.  A portion of this article can be found here – “Music to the Ears: Inspiring Children to Enrich Worship“.

The article spread begins with this “teaser” to draw us in:

“I am constantly getting calls from pastors, especially pastors in our smaller parishes, who have no organist,” says Rev. Jon Vieker, assistant director of the LCMS Commission on Worship. “They tell me their organist is 85 and can’t play for services anymore, and there’s no one to take her place. Now what are they going to do?”

Future church musicians are nurtured when the congregation gives children the opportunity to serve.  This means the congregation has to actively support and offer opportunities – children’s choirs, handbells, instrumental music, and possibly even scholarships for lessons.  These can take a lot of time and money, but have far greater rewards.  If your congregation has a budding child or teen that has an inkling for the organ, take a genuine interest and encourage them.  While that child may eventually move away, you are nurturing and giving a gift to the church at large.  Who knows what God may have in store for him.

The Lutheran Witness noted that a DVD caled Children Making Music” produced by the LCMS, WELS, and ELS will be sent to 10,000 churches and schools.  Paul Grime, now Dean of the Chapel at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft Wayne, noted that “If the DVD is shown in just half of our congregations and schools, and if it provides the needed encouragement to only a couple students in each of those institutions, that would ultimately mean several thousand additional musicians who might one day be leading our congregational song.”

I think back to when I first started playing the organ nearly 17 years ago (because the “real” organists either died or moved away and I could play the piano).  That small church was quite gracious as I “learned” to play the organ.  They plodded along as I sometimes dragged (or zipped) through a hymn or hit wrong notes, but they were always forgiving and thanked me for serving.  I’ve grown quite a bit as a church musician since then, but I’m thankful for the opportunities that they gave me.

Hymn Boards and Their Use in Early Lutheranism

“Hymn Boards and Their Use in Early Lutheranism.”  That sounds like the title of a dissertation on an obscure facet of Lutheran history.  While I have no idea if anyone has actually researched the history of the hymn board, I did find a passing reference to it in my latest lunch time reading – a book based on a PhD dissertation – “Worship Wars in Early Lutheranism” by Joseph Herl.

In his book, Herl provides an interesting read with some unexpected conclusions on the worship life of the Lutheran church in Germany during the 16th to 18th centuries.  I was initially surprised to learn, that on the whole, during the time of Luther and for a number of years thereafter, the Lutheran church was not necessarily the “singing church” we may idyllically imagine.  The churches did not spontaneously erupt in congregational song — they had to be coaxed, prodded, and reprimanded to sing — and congregational singing, at least initially, was second fiddle to the choir.

Now to the hymn board.  Herl writes that ”In Lubeck, number boards were hung in 1701 because the hymns could no longer be recognized from the organ prelude.”  Evidently the organist’s hymn introductions had little semblance to the hymn tune.

It seems that hymn boards have become an unnecessary church fixture since bulletins are printed (or yes, even projected via Powerpoint).  But let the hymn board be a visual reminder to the church musician and the congregation:

  • The church musician shall clearly introduce the hymn so as to invite the congregation to sing.
  • The congregation shall kindly accept the invitation and sing vigorously since the hymn number is prominently displayed.
  • If either the church musician or the congregation fails to do the above items, the other party is welcome to remove the hymn board and bring it to the other party as a reminder of the covenant between musician and congregation.