How Does the Room Affect the Music We Make?

Here's an interesting talk by David Byrne relating the architecture of a building to the music that is made there ...

In Memoriam

Two very prominent church musicians died yesterday:

Richard Hillert: March 14, 1923-Feburary 18, 2010

Richard Hillert, who is probably best known in Lutheran circles as the composer of Setting 1 in the Lutheran Book of Worship, died last night in his home following complications from a stroke he suffered last August. His funeral service of Holy Communion will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in River Forest, Illinois on Monday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m. For more information on Hillert's life and work, see the article his daughter has been compiling in Wikipedia.


Richard Proulx: April, 1937-Feburary 18, 2010

Richard Proulx, well-known composer, conductor, organist and music editor, also died yesterday in Chicago. For more information on Proulx's life and work, see the biography on his web site.

December 9 Devotional

We were supposed to have Advent Vespers tonight, but due to an inordinately large amount of snow and very cold temperatures, everyone in Lincoln is advised to stay home! I wanted to share with you the devotion and hymn that we would have used tonight if the weather had cooperated!

This is from "O Come Emmanuel" by Gordon Giles, published by Paraclete Press. This is an excellent devotional book based on the hymns of Advent and Christmas.

December 9: The earth was waiting, spent and restless

"I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." ---Romans 8:18-25

And here is the related hymn ... which can be sung to the same tune as "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence."

Earth was waiting, spent and restless,
with a mingled hope and fear,
faithful men and women praying,
"Surely, Lord, the day is near:
the Desire of all the nations --
it is time he should appear!"

Then the Spirit of the Highest
to a Virgin meek came down,
and he burdened her with blessing,
and he pained her with renown;
for she bore the Lord's Anointed
for his cross and for his crown.

Earth has groaned and labored for him
since the ages first began,
for in him was hid the secret
which through all the ages ran --
Son of Mary, Son of David,
Son of God and Son of Man.

Text: Walter Chalmer Smith (1824-1908)
Music: Picardy. French carol, 1887

O Jesus, Son of Mary, Son of David, bless us when we feel burdened with the cares of the world or pained by the hurts of others, that we may be refreshed by the mystery of your presence among us, and inspired by teh renown of your cross-crowning love, for you are the Son of God, and Son of Man, then, now, and forever. Amen.

Bound Together By Song

Follow the link below to a newspaper article from Kansas City -- the article talks about the power of music to heal and to hold a community together as it tells the story of some amazing young Christians who continue to sing their faith in spite of incredible hardship in their young lives.

http://suntrib.com/200911056880/schools/schools/bound-together-by-song.html

Paul Manz -- In Memorium

Paul Manz, church musician par excellence and composer of the renowned motet "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come” died in St Paul, Minnesota on October 28th at the age of ninety years. What a wonderful example he has been to church musicians throughout his long career -- his influence is far-reaching and has, and will continue to, affect generations of worshipers. The following information is taken from an extensive obituary written by Scott Hyslop, and found on the web page of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (alcm.org)

Manz had a very successful career as a concert organist, playing at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., with the National Symphony; Symphony Center in Chicago, with the Chicago Symphony; and Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, with the Minnesota Orchestra.

His concertizing took him to some of the most glorious cathedrals and concert halls in the world, but he remained always fully rooted in the music of the church. He was a leader of congregational song first and foremost. As a composer, he used the classic forms of Buxtehude and Bach, and reinvented them with a fresh, American voice. His compositions are played throughout this nation, and indeed the world, in worship. Indeed, he set the bar high for church musicians throughout the United States.

His advice to new church musicians was "“Love the people you have been called to serve”.

The only child of Otto Manz and Hulda (nee Jeske) Manz, German-Russian immigrants who had come to America to make a better life for their family, Paul Otto Manz was born on May 10, 1919, in Cleveland Ohio. At age five, Manz began piano lessons. He went on to study organ with Henry J. Markworth, Edwin Eigenschenk, Albert Riemenschneider, Arthur B. Jennings, Flor Peeters at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Antwerp, Belgium, and Helmut Walcha at the Dreikönigskirche in Frankfurt, Germany. Manz would subsequently return to Belgium for three more summers to study with Peeters.

In 1943, Manz married Ruth Mueller. They had four children: David, who died at birth; Michael, John, and Peter, and also took in the four orphaned children of Ruth's brother and sister-in-law: Mary, Anne, Sara, and John. Ruth died in July of 2008. Throughout their marriage, she was his partner and support, and a great influence on his work.

In 1946, Manz became the full-time director of Christian education and music at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. The congregation was happy to share Manz's gifts with the wider church, and so his job description changed many times in his 37 years at Mt. Olive.

He served on the faculties at the University of Minnesota and Macalester College in St. Paul before he became professor and chair of the Division of Fine Arts at Concordia College in St. Paul in 1957.

Eventually, Manz found himself leaving the Missouri Synod as it struggled with many issues in the 1970s. He went back to full-time church work at Mt. Olive, which gave him a specific mandate to use his talents to serve the church catholic. In 1983, he accepted a call to serve as Christ Seminex Professor of Church Music and Artist in Residence at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and as Cantor at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Luke. Manz retired from LSTC in September of 1992, but continued to do workshops and master classes all around the nation.

The Paul Manz Institute of Church Music, based at the Church of St. Luke in Chicago, the Institute enabled him to continue to serve the wider church. At age 80, he retired from the Paul Manz Institute of Church Music and St. Luke Church.

Paul Manz’s organ and choral works are internationally known and are used extensively in worship services, recitals, and teaching, and by church and college choirs. His motet “E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come”, having sold over one million copies, is regarded as a classic and has been performed and recorded in the United States and abroad.

Through the example of his life, through the legacy of his family, and ultimately through the legacy of music that he graced us with to stir our souls, to excite our imaginations, and to enable our prayer and proclamation, we hear Paul Manz say,

Thank you for the grace of singing with me across the years in good times and in bad, when our words have stuck in our throats and when our eyes have overflowed with joy. It has ever been a Song of Grace: ‘Love to the loveless shown that we might lovely be.’ I have just been the organist. Thank you for letting me play.

All Around the World

This past Sunday we celebrated Mission Festival at Grace. What a fun service to plan and participate in. The music for the day highlighted the fact that God is present with people all over the world! We had hymns from Tanzania, Cameroon, Liberia, Argentina, Sweden, Great Britain, the U.S. (Muskogee Indian, Early American and contemporary American), the Latin Mass, Finland ...

And with these varied hymns came varied ways of singing and accompanying. Piano, percussion, organ, and a capella, even Native American flute. Lots of people said they enjoyed the music for the day, and that's good.

But more importantly, the music emphasized the unity of Christians around the world. We may not look alike, or think alike, or live in the same ways, but we all have been called to follow Christ and to serve others.

A few people have said to me that they don't like global hymnody because it is repetitive and simplistic. Well, sometimes it is. But I find a beauty in the simplicity of this music. Often the music is from a strictly oral tradition, which means that it will be repeptitive, but also means that it is easy to learn. Some of these pieces have been taught to our Sunday School students in a matter of minutes!

One of the best things about global music is its honesty. It was written for people to use in worship, with no intent to make the writer any money or garner any fame. It is simply praise or prayer to God. Most of the church's hymnody, even the more complex hymntunes of Western tradition, were written for the same purpose. Texts written perhaps by a pastor with a tune composed by the organist for a specific worshiping congregation ... that's really different than someone trying to crank out a "top 10" type of Christian praise song these days.

This all begs the question of what's to become of church music in an age of copyright and royalties. Of course we want musicians to be fairly compensated, but how do we do that while respecting the integrity of music in the church? How much does our materialistic, entertainment-oriented culture influence what we do in worship? How much should it influence worship? How does the idea of profit affect church music?

Those are just a couple of questions that church musicians, pastors, worship committees and others wrestle with. There are no easy answers, and the debate isn't going away. In another post (maybe next week!), I'll address some of the basic principles that I follow when choosing music for the choirs and the congregation of GLC!

Go, My Children, With My Blessing

Our sending hymn this coming Sunday is "Go, My Children, With My Blessing." Let me say, I LOVE to play this hymn when you all are singing ... it is absolutely wonderful to hear how musical a large group of people can be. You treat the text and tune with such tenderness -- as a congregation, you actually do this kind of thing quite frequently, and that makes me one happy organist. :)

Cross Accent (Vol. 14, no. 1), which is the Journal of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, contained an interview with Jaroslav Vajda (1919-2008), who wrote the text that we will sing to this old Welsh tune today. It is very interesting to hear the hymnwriter's take on his work:

When I was working at Concordia Publishing House (CPH) as a book editor back in the early 1980s, . . . (I was) asked to write a text for the beautiful Welsh melody associated the 'All Through the Night.' Because evening or nighttime texts have limited use, the idea was for me to develop a ‘day-time text’ so the familiarity with and use of (this) lovely melody could be widened.

The original text, 'All Through the Night,' was a description of a mother singing a comforting song to her child at bedtime. One popular variation of the original Welsh text read in verse one;


Sleep my child, and peace attend thee
All through the night;
Guardian angels God will send thee,
All through the night;
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and vale in slumber sleeping,
I my loving vigil keeping,
All Through the night.


Most of the texts I have written have come abut through inspiration. I don’t remember struggling to put something original together in this instance . . . As I sat down to begin work on this assignment, instead of envisioning a mother singing to her child, I pictured our Heavenly Father singing to his children. The melody is so powerful and the parental image of the original is so appropriate a human metaphor of God’s love that it didn’t take me long to complete the text.

'Go My Children' personalizes the Benediction. I pictured the liturgy as a get-together, to which God has invited us, and incorporated the events that take place in the service. I placed the words of this hymn into the mouth of the blessing triune God. It occurred to me that when we sing this hymn, what we’re really doing is quoting God, just as we often quote the Word of God from Scripture . . . In the concluding stanza it is as if God is saying ‘I’ve enjoyed this get-together so much I can hardly wait for us to meet again. Go in peace. This is what you came for. This is what I am sending you home with.”

Go, My children, with My blessing, Never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you; You are My own.
In My love's baptismal river I have made you Mine forever.
Go, My children, with My blessing, You are My own.

Go, My children, sins forgiven, At peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you, What I can cure.
Here you heard My dear Son's story; Here you touched Him, saw His glory.
Go, My children, sins forgiven, At peace and pure.

Go, My children, fed and nourished, Closer to Me;
Grow in love and love by serving, Joyful and free.
Here My Spirit's power filled you; Here His tender comfort stilled you.
Go, My children, fed and nourished, Joyful and free.