2011 AND LITURGY SOLUTIONS

2011 was a busy year for many of us - which unfortunately meant a light year for Liturgy Solutions, Inc. I realize that some promised projects are still yet to be posted, such as woodwind arrangements by Terry Herald, and my own setting of the Divine Service. We also have several new settings of verses, psalms, hymn stanzas, and graduals in the queue. So don't give up on us: we WILL be putting up new content in 2012.

This does not mean that 2011 did not see any activity. We did put several new pieces up, including some pieces that expanded the range of our offerings - such as a classic anthem by Paul F. Liljestrand (composer of the tune CONRAD, LSB #339) on "When Peace Like a River", several hymns by Steve Starke with fresh tunes by Stephen R. Johnson, and also a rather popular Venite that uses CANTAD AL SEÑOR for the refrain, with through-composed verses. 2011 also welcomed award-winner composer Terry Herald to our team, and the launch of our Facebook page. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook so that you can see updates from us whenever new content is loaded.

This coming year, I will have less on my plate and thus more time to devote to editing and posting new content on the site. This past year had many demands on my time - opportunities for service that led me to Montréal, Ontario, Springfield, Minnesota, St. Louis, Nebraska, Florida, Alabama, Colorado, Texas.....and Congo. Some of these places multiple times! While certainly the consulting services we offer that contributed to this hectic schedule will continue next year, there are other things I'm letting go for now that will allow me to refocus on Liturgy Solutions and also a recording project of some of my piano work planned for this summer.

So if you have a particular need that we might meet for you, don't hesitate to contact me. We have many pots that are cooking here at Liturgy Solutions, and often a little encouragement from our clients is all that it takes to move something to the "front burner". Whether you are looking for a setting for a liturgical text, need to commission a composer for a special occasion, or would like to retain one of our experienced liturgical musicians for consulting or for a workshop, Liturgy Solutions is here to connect you with many of today's top Lutheran composers.

So here's to 2012 - may it be a banner year for the Lord's song in your congregation!

In Christ,

Phillip Magness

WOW!

Leaving now from St. Peter to go back home - energized and renewed in my vocation as a "storyteller" in the church. This is the calling of all who lead the Lord's song, to lead and to teach the family song, the song which tells the family story. (Ps. 89:1 - "I will story of Your love, O God, and proclaim Your faithfulness forever.")

The sermon at Morning Prayer today was focused on the eternal worship we get a glimpse of in Revelation 7:9-17. We certainly had a foretaste of that feast to come in our worship together this week, and the pastor joked that we might feel like we don't want to leave here today because we just don't want it to end! Of course, we are ready to come off the mountaintop and return to our homes now, but the point is made: in heaven we really will be home, and so then we will never have to "go home" from worship.

Speaking of going home, I've got an 8-hour drive ahead of me and would like to be home before it is tomorrow, so I will have to continue this later. For now, let me highlight a couple of things that made this a heavenly experience, and also give thanks to a new friend I had the pleasure of making this week. First, some highlights - or why you really want to be at the next WELS National Worship Conference:

*Singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" with 900 other singers and an orchestra. The ultimate, "sing-it-yourself Messiah" experience!

*Singing Paul Tate's Venite at Morning Prayer this morning. I'll have to introduce this one to Bethany!

*Experiencing the catholicity of the church's song with such a vibrant assembly as we sang chorales, a contemporary song by the Gettys, contemporary psalmody, new hymn tunes for old texts, and new texts for old tunes. Led by a rich variety of organ, piano, brass, winds, strings, and percussion, this conference was indeed a model for what parishes should strive for in involving the whole talent of the congregation and embracing both the depth of our rich heritage and the breadth of our communion.

*Concluding, as all WELS National Conferences do, with "Jerusalem the Golden", sung to THAXTED. (Many in LCMS know this as "And There's Another Country") Led by the orchestra in a subtle, sensitive, and moving arrangement that really let the congregation sing, this cantor was one of many who had to pause for tears as the assembly carried us along with this powerful picture of heaven.

A blessed antepast, indeed. And one person among many who contributed to this wonderful conference was Dr. Kayme Henkel, piano professor at the International School of Bethesda, MD (outside of Washington, DC) and a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison. She played piano most excellently for this morning's service and did a fantastic job. I want to extend my thanks publicly to her particularly for her performance of the work the WELS commissioned from me for this conference, my piano solo on "Lamb of God." It is a musically challenging composition, and she played it with convincing sincerity and passion. Thanks, Kayme!

PASSING THE TORCH

Today at the WELS National Worship Conference we are off to New Ulm, MN, where we will have classes and worship at Martin Luther College. An institution of the WELS, they will showcase the fabulous new chapel they have built there. We will enjoy the day there, and then return to St. Peter this evening. (The conference is hosted at Gustavus Adolphus College because there is not room to accommodate 1000 people in the dorms at Martin Luther College)

Yesterday, the keynote address, "Passing the Torch" highlighted the role of the church musician as the one who hands down a tradition. This reminds me of my work in Africa, where Lutherans there eagerly desire to learn the hymns of our faith, and so treat me as some sort of esteemed elder who teaches them the family story. Whether born into a family or adopted into a family, someone who is truly part of a family wants to know the family traditions. Musicians serve the Lord's ministry by teaching and celebrating the family song, that they may also tell "the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done." (Ps. 78)

Rev. Aaron Christie, who is a musician as well as a pastor, encouraged us with five principles to help us "pass it on":

* Strive for a life-long pursuit of excellence.

* Proclaim the Gospel always in our music and our art.

* Be students of art and culture, and carefully apply your learning to the art of church music.

* Develop along with your art. Make the best of the various styles your own.

* Teach your craft to young musicians, and inspire them to be the next generation of leaders.

Seeing all the young people here at the conference, I think the WELS is definitely passing the torch. May all Christian churches learn from their example.

The Best-Kept Secret in Church Music

Once again I am totally impressed by the quality, organization, and spirit of the WELS national worship conference. I have been to many such gatherings of other organizations, many of them fine in their own right. But every time I spend a week with the WELS, I am reminded of Proverbs 31:29 ("Many have done excellently, but you have surpassed them all!"). That such excellence proceeds from a church body of but 400,000 souls is truly noteworthy. Clearly, these saints love the Lord's song, and, as we prayed in chapel this AM, desire "to worship in excellent, noble, and lovely ways."

There is so much that merits these accolades that I will not be able to squeeze them all in here between morning chapel and the upcoming keynote address to be delivered by Rev. Aaron Christie. But one highlight that must be mentioned is the outstanding opening concert last night given by the Festival Choir and Orchestra. Volunteer groups gathered from WELS congregations around the country, these ensembles performed magnificently under the inspiring direction of Dr. Kermit Moldernhauer and Katherine Tiefel. Especially memorable moments included a beautiful setting of "When You Pass Through the Waters" (Is. 43:1-3) by Paul D. Weber (published by Morning Star Music), Evelyen R. Larter's arrangement of "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel (Augsburg Fortress), Mendelssohn's "There Shall a Star", the Crucifixus from Bach's B Minor Mass, and Manz' "Even So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come." Liturgy Solutions composers Kevin Hildebrand and Jeffrey Blersch also had works performed: Kevin's setting of Jaroslav Vajda's incredibly moving text, "In Hopelessness and Near Despair," and Jeff's concertato on "Crown Him with Many Crowns" (CPH). Both of these works were excellently performed, as was John Rutter's Psalm 146. Above all, this reviewer was particularly moved by Brad Holmes "Star in the East". This should not surprise my friends who know my love for Sacred Harp music! :)

More to come. It is now time for the keynote address, "Passing the Torch." The hymn festival last night was loosely themed on "passing the joy of our Lutheran heritage to the next generation." It'll be good to discuss this, and we need strategies and motivation for training up all those who are new in the faith in the Lord's song - whether young or old. But it'll be great after discussing this to get back to enacting it, both here at this conference and back home in our congregations. And with 1000+ participants here at this conference, there will be a lot of places after this conference where the Lord's song will be sung with greater nobility, excellence, beauty, and joy!

GREETINGS FROM THE WELS NATIONAL WORSHIP CONFERENCE

It is a great day here in St. Peter, Minnesota, as musicians and pastors are gathering for the triennial WELS National Music Conference. Phillip Magness and Stephen Johnson are both here to make presentations, and also have set up a display booth in the vendor's area. We are so happy to be here, as the Commission on Worship for the WELS always does such a fantastic job.

If you are here, come by, say hello, and sign up for a free Liturgy Solutions download of your choice!

RAGTIME PRAISE

Some things never change - like Cantors' struggles to nurture the Lord's song in this strange land. Here's a short article from a 1904 Lutheran Observer:

"Music In the Sunday School" by H. W. Siegrist (of Lebanon, PA)

It should be a well-known fact that our Church is rich in its musical history. From the time of Luther down to the present day, composers have not been wanting, and it should be equally well known that the productions of the best composers of all other denominations are ever at our disposal. It is, however, a well-known but lamentable fact, that a large proportion of our churches have failed to avail themselves of their magnificent opportunities. For instance, in how many of our infant schools are the little ones taught anything but the most senseless and unmusical ditties, which pervert their taste for the fine hymns of the Church - hymns written especially for children, and with the distinct purpose of fostering in their minds and hearts a desire and love for Christ, through the beautiful in poetry and music. This method the children find carried on when they reach the intermediate and more advanced grades, until their idea of Sunday-school music is utterly perverted and abnormal. Many of these same Sunday-schools exercise the most unusual, and sometimes unaccountable, vigilance in selected books for their libraries, yet when it comes to the selection of hymns and hymnals, a decidedly mediocre selection will be agreed upon. The care taken in regard to the former is commendable, but why should it not be taken, also, in regard to the latter?

From many churches comes up the cry, "We have such poor congregational singing, and we cannot account for it!" It can, unquestionably, be traced back to the infant and intermediate departments of the Sunday-School, where, if proper care had been taken to teach the children to sing the hymns of the Church they would have learned to know and love them, and they would now sing heartily in the services of the Church as a matter of course. This is not a theory, but the result of an experience of more than twenty years in choir and Sunday-school work in the Lutheran Church.

This need finds expression, too, in the music of the services published by the different Boards of Church for their special Sunday-school exercises. We are furnished services several times a year, the music of which, generally, is of the most ordinary character, and in schools where proper discretion is used, they are as often rejected. If the General Synod will not furnish a hymnal of standard quality for its Sunday-schools, and the Church Boards, services of the same grade, no mere matter of sentiment should stand in the way of securing hymns and services from other sources. We owe it to our children, to our Church and to our God - who, in all reverence I cannot believe is well pleased with some uncertain words of praise sung to "rag time" tunes...

My plea is for the very best possible hymns for the children. Nothing can be too good for them. It is our duty to inculcate a love for the beautiful in church music along with the Christian training in the development of the minds and characters of our youth.

Dr. Waldo Seldon Pratt, Professor of Music and Hymnology at Hartford Theological Seminary, in his "Musical Ministries in the Church" says: "Educational effort should be brought to bear where it will do the most good. It surely should not be confined simply to the older people. Children and young people have quick appreciation and few prejudices. Other things being equal, the Sunday-school is generally the most promising place to work out progressive hymnodic ideas, especially on the musical side. The full sense of some hymns will be caught only vaguely, no doubt, but many of the richest tunes are more readily learned by young people than adults. In the long run, the general grade of a church's hymn-singing will be found to be fixed by the Sunday-school. Hence here there should be special care taken. Here at least we cannot afford to have less than the best available book or less than the best available musical leadership. Here the Pastor and the Superintendent and the Teachers have a distinct opportunity to build for the future, hymnodically as in other ways."

Singing is the Main Thing

My daughters attend a small parochial school. On the first Friday of every month they have a Mass. Today, one of my younger daughter's class "hosted" the Mass. This means the the kiddies do some readings and help with the prayers, and then hold a little reception in their classroom for the parents who attend. You all are probably familiar with this practice.

The hymnody was typical Catholic fare. "Here I Am Lord," "One Bread, One Body," "Lord of the Dance." This post is not going to critique these pieces. The purpose of my post here is to note the very strong singing in the Mass -- by ALL those in attendance -- students and parents alike. Very strong singing. But here's the catch. The singing was done a cappella! No instrumental accompaniment (unless you count the kid playing melody only on a keyboard).

Now, I found this rather notable. Roman Catholic congregations are not exactly renowned for their singing in the first place, but these folks really did sing, and without instruments to boot. I looked around and noticed the participation of the adults with whom I was sitting. Parents of students and many rather elderly people who just decided to attend this Mass. There was a small group of students in the back of the church that were taught the songs and sang as a sort of "choir" as well.

In previous years, there was a teacher who played the guitar for these Masses. He is no longer at this school. So, here are my observations:

1. After the guitar playing teacher left, I was told by the singer who prepares the choir that the singing was at first a little tentative, but soon improved.

2. This shows that congregations can indeed adapt to a cappella singing, but it requires some getting used to and some stronger, more prepared singers guiding them.

3. This shows that instrumental accompaniment, where very pleasant and often glorious, is by no means a necessity and we should not elevate the use of any instrument in the service (e.g. the organ)as utterly indispensable.

4. Do we really need electronic resources (without a real live person playing) to "help" the congregational singing? Or can we rely on our own live flesh and blood parishioners to guide the singing for the congregation by simply singing themselves?

5. Some congregations may have to sing without any instruments, if they do not have anyone to play them. Or they may have to use a flute/trumpet/violin to play the melody, much like the student who plunked it out on the piano this morning. But, if our congregations can do it the way this little Catholic school did, with the lovely voices of the whole congregation singing so nicely, I'd consider it a great success.

The Lutheran Church has always been known as the singing church. We should not shirk in our attempts to continue to be just that even when the instruments we tend to treasure are not available to us. Just sing. That is the main thing!