Choir Season is upon Us!

So, the choir season is starting up again and we will be back at it with a vengeance.  This is a big year for the choir for two reasons, robes and a Vespers series.

 

You have seen my writing about Vespers being the third Sunday of each month: September 15, October 20, November 17 and December 15.  We certainly hope that you can make it to all of them.

 

Our new robes will be here in September and this will be an exciting new change for us too.

 

What other goals do I have in mind for this choir season?

 

More interesting, intentional, intelligent psalm singing-- this is something that is ignored in too many liturgical churches.  The psalms are the prayer book/hymnal of the Jewish people and we have adopted them as an essential part of our liturgy.  This is a part of the service in which a choir can be very creative and we hope to bring some intentional singing to the psalm this choir season.

 

Singing more Bach chorales-- Chorale (kor-all) is another word for hymn, but it refers to hymns of the German Lutheran tradition.  Bach harmonized hundreds of these suckers and we hope to sing more of his music in this way.  It makes us stronger choir.  It highlights hymns that are often forgotten.  It expands our repertory.

 

Continue expanding repertory-- In the two years that I have been at Good Shepherd, we have expanded our library by about an average of 30 new anthems a year.  This is huge and speaks more to the level of commitment that the choir brings than anything that I do.  I hope to keep expanding our "choral vocabulary" this fall.  It's good for us and keeps us fresh and moving ahead.  Though, I often bring back "staples" to be repeated so that we can further engrain them into our repertory.

 

Things are exciting and I hope that you can join us on Sunday morning in worship, but also on our Vespers Sundays.  Go ahead and mark your calendar!

Bach and Buxtehude and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Dear Friends,

I hope that you will continue to follow our page on Facebook as well as this blog.

Sunday was a wonderful service of worship at both services.  At the later service, we came in to the tune ERHALT UNS HERR, which is closely associated with a chant melody of our buddy Martin's (Luther, that is).  Lectionary readings on prayer allowed our hymnody to be focused on prayer with What a Friend We Have in Jesus, a favorite of many church goers.

With July 28 being the 263rd anniversary of the death of J. S. Bach and it being on a Sunday, the choir put aside what was planned for the day and sang the chorale, Wie Shön leuchtet der Morgenstern, or O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright, as Bach harmonized it in his 1725 cantata by the same name.  Their flexibility and excitement to take on any challenge is refreshing!

Mark your calendars!  September 15 will be upon us before we know it.  Bring all of your friends to our first Choral Vespers featuring the music of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707).  Bach and Buxtehude had a unique relationship that we will discuss on this blog the closer we get to that date.

New Testament Hymns

Today's epistle reading was from the first chapter of Colossians:

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;¹⁶ for in^[a] him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.¹⁷ He himself is before all things, and in^[b] him all things hold together. ¹⁸ He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 

Did you know that this is one of the first hymns of the Church?  A hymn that proclaimed Christ as the head of the Church and his role in the God equation was something that, before there were "theological treatises" or ecumenical councils, there were hymns that defined the theology of the Church.  Christ is God, he the head of the Church and he is all and in all.   

These first hymns were woven seamlessly in the texts of Paul, just like we can assume they may have been woven seamlessly in the lives of the first believers.  

What can the early Church hymns teach us today?  They show us that the song of the Church begins and ends with Christ.  They show us that text should be full and telling; the words of our mouths should be that of confessing Christ as everything.  They show us that hymns aren't just to get us from one "saying" to another, but their very nature is to proclaim good news.  Sing lustily and with great enthusiasm.  You have been rescued from meaninglessness and given a new life of beauty and purpose.

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of information.  Be sure to follow our blog for more tidbits about what is going on at Good Shepherd, as well as what the role of music in worship is all about.

Thanks to St. Paul, we have this hymn today!

Welcome to Music at Good Shepherd

Good morning!

This is a blog especially for the music ministry of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Columbia SC.  In it will include information about upcoming events, hymn profiles, observations and general information.

I encourage you to follow this blog or to follow our Facebook page so that you will know what is going on in the music life of this congregation.  It is truly an exciting place to be!

Our next big event is coming up:

Vespers at Good Shepherd

Starting September 15 at 4:00.

Vespers is an ancient evening service celebrating Christ as the light of the world and our calling to share this light where ever we go.

In the Lutheran tradition, a north German composer by the name Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) started what was called Abendmusiken or "Evening Music" during the Advent season at his church.  Hugo Distler (1908-1942) revived this tradition at the St. Jacob's Church in Lubeck in the early part of the last century.  Now, I am taking it on to bring it to Good Shepherd.

In celebration, we will begin this monthly series by singing a cantata by Buxtehude Alles was Ihr Tut, or "Everything you do" which is a musical setting of the Colossians 3:17 text: Everything you do, in word or deed, do it in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  What an appropriate way to start this special project.

I hope that if you are in the area, that you will make this service a priority!  Be sure to check Facebook for more details the closer we get!