Burning the candle at four ends

If anybody sees the second half of October lying around, be sure to let me know.  I think I misplaced it!

The fall season has been flying by, and while I've stayed on top of planning for Christmas and managed to prepare music for every service, the blog fell by the wayside for a bit.  I hope you missed it - maybe even enough to help out with content and comments sometime.

My blog post today refers to something I used to say when I was an undergrad.  My grandma would warn me against buring the candle at both ends, and I would reply that I had cut the candle in half so that I could burn it at four ends.  Of course, that was right before I was diagnosed with mono...but that's another story.

This is a busy time of year for everyone.  We've celebrated Halloween and Reformation.  We try to savor the nice days by getting outside - though too often lately it's to rake leaves or prepare for winter.  We're planning ahead for the holidays and trying to finish up school projects before the deadlines loom too close.  But rather than abandon the quiet moments of reflection (like blogging), it's important to reclaim that time for ourselves.  The burning of a candle is not the raging inferno of a wildfire; it connotes calmness and quiet.  For me, that means finding more time to listen to and create music and church music and sharing thoughts on both.  What will you do to help find calm this season?

Popes on the pipe organ

A few months ago, The American Organist magazine included some quotes about the pipe organ.  I'll be sharing snippets from those quotes this week.

"Although the proper music of the Church is purely vocal, nevertheless, the accompaniment of an organ is allowed...Since the singing must always have the chief place, the organ and other instruments should merely sustain it and never smother it." ~St. Pius X (1903)

Through its range of pitch, timbre, and sounds, the pipe organ can express a range of moods.  By incorporating well-known hymn tunes, the music can inspire particular words and thoughts for meditation.  But the organ is at its best when joined with a choir and congregation.

Reformation Sunday is approaching, and it is one of my favorite celebratory holidays of the church year.  There will be great hymns and guest brass players and beautiful music.  I want to invite everyone to consider joining the choir for one Sunday only to swell our ranks in singing some of the great hymns of the church.  Give us a try; we sing at both services that day, but you're welcome at either.

I'll be holding a special rehearsal on Sunday, October 17th, after the late service.  We'll spend 20 - 30 minutes introducing the music for Reformation Sunday.  You're also invited to rehearse with us on Wednesday, Oct. 27th at 7:00 pm to help be ready for Reformation.  If you've enjoyed the choir's music this fall, show your support by joining us in this special festival chorus!

Reformation wrap up

On Reformation, the choir participated in a little experiment with the proper Gospel acclamation. That's the verse that comes in the middle of the Alleluia. The "generic" version is the one we all know from other settings of the liturgy: "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." However, there is a rubric that provides an appropriate (or proper) verse for every Sunday to line up with the Gospel. Just like the prayer of the day, the hymns, and the sermon, everything revolves around the lectionary cycle and the scripture. It helps create and reinforce a cohesive message.

With all the special music that came along with Reformation and the choir singing at both services, it seemed like a good opportunity to try out the proper verse. You might have noticed that the verse that we sang included words from the Gospel lesson ("The truth will make you free"). We're going to sing the proper verse for All Saints' Day this coming week as well. Listen closely during the Alleluia, and please share your thoughts - Can you understand the text? Would you like it printed in the bulletin? Or would you prefer just to sing the "generic" verse?

To wrap up Reformation, I want to thank Carolyn (our guest trumpet player), the Rainbow Ringer (kids bell choir, who played at second service), and the choir, who generously gave up their morning to sing at both services. I heard from many people that the meditative prelude ("Berceuse" by Godard) was familiar from piano lessons in years past. I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane, if you knew the piece. In general, I heard many positive comments about the music, which is always great. Your feedback and participation of any kind is always welcomed and encouraged!

Grace is a way of life

I drove by a church with that quote on its sign the other day: "Grace is a way of life." I think it sums up Reformation Sunday and Lutheranism pretty well. Of all the church holidays, this is the most artificial; it isn't based on Gospel events. Sometimes, though, I like to think of it as a fall celebration that echoes the themes of Easter. Plus, it's a favorite of mine as a musical highlight of the fall.

This Sunday's prelude will be my personal favorite arrangement of "Ein Feste Burg" (before I put the tune away for a few months, I promise). It's by David Johnson, a great modern composer and organist, and it features a pedal cadenza in the middle of a bombastic arrangement that I just love to play. It's a big piece for a prelude, but I think it will get the morning off to a great start and have us all humming and smiling as worship begins.

The meditative prelude, on the other hand, will be a lyrical piano piece titled "Berceuse" (French for lullaby) by the French composer Godard. I'll also be playing the piano during communion - a great piano arrangement of "The Church's One Foundation." For those of you who prefer modern sounds from the piano, I think you'll really enjoy both.

The choir will be joined by a guest trumpet player to enhance several parts of the service: a descant on the opening hymn, the Psalm antiphon, and of course the anthem, which this week will be "Upon the Rock of Faith." On Wednesday night, Lisa commented that Reformation is "all about the rock," which is a great way to summarize the music and the hymns this week. Remember to wear red and come ready to sing and celebrate!

Continuing our Reformation theme this Sunday

I wonder what Martin Luther would think about our unofficial, month-long recognition of the theme of Reformation (both in Pastor's sermons and in the music). I suppose in some ways the existence of our church is a perpetual notice of Reformation and its themes, the "solas."

At any rate, the Reformation theme will continue in this week's postlude. I'll be playing an arrangement of "Ein Feste Burg" by Pachelbel. As I play multiple versions of the piece this month, I hope it's a fun challenge for you to listen to the melody as it transfers between the voices - from soprano to the bass pedal line. The various composers will also invert the tune, add ornamentation, and insert their own interludes or episodes. I'll be playing the piece in many different styles, but all of them are meant to evoke the text of Psalm 46 and the foundations of our faith.

The choir will be singing at the late service this week, a piece by the 18th century British composer William Crotch. The anthem repeats the same brief prayer several times as its text:

Comfort, O Lord, the soul of Thy servant
For unto Thee do I lift up my soul.

I hope, as always, that all the music lifts up your soul and aids your prayers and worship at the beginning of a new week.

Reformation hymns

This Sunday we'll continue our build-up to Reformation Sunday at the end of the month. Pastor's sermon series is providing the perfect reason to play variations on "A Mighty Fortress" at various points in the service each week, including this week's meditative prelude. Ever since Luther first wrote the hymn, composers have found inspiration in the hymn and have written countless arrangements and interpretations of the tune.

The process of building upon past tunes and musical ideas is part of the total experience of music. Music is about patterns, and our ears learn to hear and even expect certain chord progressions and melodies. I've heard it suggested that the reason we sometimes dislike music (even to extreme cases like the riot that occurred at the premiere of "Rite of Spring") is because we cannot recognize the patterns within the music.

From that point of view, some of the best church music is endowed with its meaning and structure from its incorporation of meaningful motifs. Like a Wagnerian opera where each character has its own leitmotif, a prelude that incorporates "Ein Feste Burg" inevitably provokes thoughts of Luther while "Lasst Uns Erfreuen" conjures up Easter memories. This October, I hope your prayers and meditations consistently include that confident phrase from Psalm 46 that God is our refuge and strength, a truly "mighty fortress."

This week we'll also be singing the great hymn "Thy Strong Word," and the choir will change gears from the classical sound of Bach to a romantic melody by Brahms. We hope you enjoy listening and joining in with us in worship and praise.