Monday Extra: getting into the musical spirit

I can't help myself: when I hear Mannheim Steamroller, the Christmas spirit starts creeping in.

I know, it's a little embarrassing.

 And yet, I defy you to listen to this and not get a little smiley, toe-tappy, christmas happiness.
 

Perhaps electronic instruments backed up with a full orchestra aren't your thing. Or maybe you're not ready for Joy To The World just yet. Try this for all your dark and mysterious Advent needs (English Horn and Organ...so gorgeous!)...


Perhaps singer-songwriter is more your speed:


Or maybe you're looking for something a little more multi-cultural (I have requested this for my last day in my current church, so we'll be doing this on Advent 3...it's so great!):



SO: What music helps you get into the Advent and/or Christmas spirit? What's your Advent playlist like?

And as a bonus: in worship, will you sing Christmas carols during Advent? why or why not?

Musical Musings: March of Days, Days of March...

We're now seriously into the season of Lent with its promise of the surprise (still!) of resurrection from the dead at the end of 40 days of wilderness wandering, praying and fasting. For this month's music I've chosen orchestral performances and familiar hymns. I have ready access only to the UCC's New Century Hymnal (NCH), the ELCA's Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) and the PC(USA)'s Presbyterian Hymnal (PH), so I've referenced hymn numbers in those books.

I'll start out with a bow to everyone in the southern hemisphere as they anticipate autumn and winter. Frances Wile wrote "All Beautiful the March of Days" in the year 1912 at the request of William Gannett, who wanted a winter hymn. It's usually set to "Forest Green" that you may know as an alternate to St. Louis for "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Ralph Vaughan Williams made a wonderful arrangement of the traditional English tune and I found it on a recording on Cyberhymnal: All Beautiful...

All beautiful the march of days, as seasons come and go;
The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought the crystal of the snow;
Hath sent the hoary frost of heav'n, the flowing waters sealed,
And laid a silent loveliness on hill and wood and field.

And I just had to do it, in order to include autumn for the southern hemisphere and spring for the northern! Joshua Bell along with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields plays Antonio Vivaldi's suite of Concerti Grossi, The Four Seasons.

Robert Schumann's Spring Symphony No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 38, is another seasonal romantic era classic; the CD I linked to is a fabulous (no surprise there) performance of all four Schumann symphonies by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi.

Some of us very recently sprung forward with our clocks and this is the musical musings for welcoming spring, so how better than with Igor Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps/Rite of Spring that was revolutionary and truly seminal when it debuted? I've opted for this one featuring Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

I've long loved the John D. Edward's lilting tune Rhosymedre for Samuel Crossman's "My Song is Love Unknown," but surprisingly of the 3 current hymnals I'm referencing, only NCH 222 uses that particular tune for those words.

My song is love unknown,
My Savior's love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for my sake
My Lord should take frail flesh and die?

On YouTube I found a fine interpretation of Ralph Vaughn Williams organ setting of Rhosymedre.

"Oh, Love, How Deep" by Thomas à Kempis (ELW 322, NCH 209, PH 83) is often sung to the tune "Agincourt Hymn," also called "Deo Gracias." How incredibly fitting for this liturgical season of Lent is the recurring for us:

For us baptized, for us he bore...For us he prayed, for us he taught...for us he gave his dying breath; For us he rose from earth again...for us he sent his Spirit here...

I love the intense brilliance of the reeds on the Agincourt Hymn played as a solo on the Reuter organ at St. Joseph Cathedral, Baton Rouge, LA.

Scored for rich, resonant double string orchestra, his Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis is another Vaughn Williams piece related to this season. Amazon listed more than a dozen CDs, and I chose this one because I have a copy and also particularly love The Lark Ascending, the piece in the CD title. The tune is variously called "Third mode melody"" or "Tallis third mode"; as in many past hymnals, ELW 332 uses it for a Lenten perennial, "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say," while NCH 509 features it in "How Deep the Silence of the Soul" (also apropos of Lent) and under the Season of Epiphany heading, Thomas Troeger's "We Have the Strength to Lift and Bear," NCH 178.

Often sung as a round, William Billings' "When Jesus Wept" is NCH 192 and PH 312 and American composer William Schuman made "When Jesus Wept" the basis of the second movement of his New England Triptych. A recording of the entire Triptych and some music by Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Alan Hovhaness, Charles Ives and Walter Piston can be found on the CD An American Tapestry.

Wendell Berry strongly advises us to "practice resurrection" in his Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, and how better to do it than by singing a couple of still-current songs from what's now a generation ago!

Steve Winwood's Arc of a Diver is the album; "While You See a Chance" is the song...

Stand up in a clear blue morning until you see what can be
Alone in a cold day dawning, are you still free? Can you be?
When some cold tomorrow finds you, when some sad old dream reminds you
How the endless road unwinds you...

Stand up in a clear blue morning until you see what can be
Alone in a cold day dawning, are you still free? Can you be?
And that old gray wind is blowing and there's nothing left worth knowing
And it's time you should be going...

Christine McVie wrote "Don't Stop" that inaugurated Bill Clinton's first administration and the upbeat, energetic song made it into Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits

If you wake up and don't want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes and look at the day,
You'll see things in a different way.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don't stop, it'll soon be here,
It'll be, better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.

Why not think about times to come,
And not about the things that you've done,
If your life was bad to you,
Just think what tomorrow will do.

Don't you look back,
Don't you look back...

Keep on practicing resurrection, everyone--and God still will surprise us with Easter!!!

Monday Musical Musings

It's the sweetheart edition of Musical Musings today, as we are in the week where Valentine's Day is upon us. Though we may not officially observe it in the church, many do with their loved ones. So....

Do you have a favorite song that you listen to with your sweetheart or loved ones? Which one comes to mind?
Here's one that is a favorite here at our house:


Do you remember a song your parents loved??

Share with us your songs in the comments -- bet we can come up with an Itunes list here!

Monday Musical Musings: Baptism

Today's Musical Musings in inspired by yesterday's Gospel reading of Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist--for liturgical churches, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

First up is an old video of Dolly Parton singing "Shall We Gather at the River?" My parish sang this yesterday as a new baby, its parents, and the clergy processed to the font.




The hymn was written by Robert Lowry (March 12, 1826 - November 25, 1899) was an American professor of literature, a Baptist minister and composer of gospel hymns.

Next up is a very Catholic video of St. Louis Jesuit John Foley's "Come to the Water." It's based on the beautiful text from Isaiah and frequently sung at Catholic baptisms. We sang this reflectively at my eldest daughter's baptism (while she was being dried and dressed in her white garment after being immersed) but here Matt Maher rocks it out. You'll need to click on the link above as embedding wouldn't cooperate.

Mainline Protestant congregations often sing "Borning Cry" at baptisms and other life transition rituals. (Which means some folks in that setting are sick to death of it, but I rather like it).



Finally, it's back to the evangelical world with a very different "Come to the Water," by Marsha Stevens-Pino. We used to sing this at campfires in college. She was part of the 70s Jesus movement and a very popular composer until she came out as a lesbian; now a major focus of her ministry is letting other Christian gays and lesbians know that God loves them just as they are. This video combines modern and vintage footage of the song with a little bit of her story.



What songs do you and your congregation love to sing at baptisms?

Monday Musical Musings

I am sure you all have heard plenty of Christmas music throughout the stores, television, church, you name it. Some of the music is quite nice and puts us in the spirit. Some of your fellow bloggers want to share the ones that they have watched (as in the DVD) or listened to during the season. I think there is a little bit for every one here, from Renaissance to classical, to the popular music of today.

Quotidian Grace shares this DVD with us:
Rejoice & Be Merry with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the King's Singers, this DVD has what was shown on PBS for the 2007 year, plus another hour and a half of extra music. Quotidian Grace highly recommends it!
*****************************************************

Michelle from Quantum Theology shares this:
I'm listening to Avro Part's Magnificat. It's ethereal, and makes a lovely backdrop for my meditations without being so forceful I end up where the composer had in mind, rather than God!

For the entire CD you can find it here: Pärt: Da pacem
For the Magnificat only: Pärt: Magnificat
Youtube video: Magnificat (Arvo Pärt)

***********************************************************

Leah Sophia contributes her preferences for the season.

First, lyrical beauty from Amy Grant, "I Need a Silent Night" from Grant's album The Christmas Collection

Youtube video here.

With our frequent multitasking and sensory overload, still we realize we need the kind of deep peace only the Son of Peace can bring us, yet at times we imagine we can buy it rather than awaiting it as gracious gift; nonetheless, the Savior's birth arrives again and brings along with it an end of fear and the song of the angels, messengers of gospeled good news, and we receive a silent night conclusion to this particular choatically noisy crazy day (and to tomorrow's craziness, too).

I first really discovered "Valley Winter Song" by Fountains of Wayne on the current LL Bean commercial and found a very fitting, sepia-toned winter in New England video
on Youtube.

This song evokes the New England winters I've experienced and endured, with their gray, salted, slushy snow, wind chill temps below zero, trying to write papers, anticipating final exams, lessons and carols at Harvard's Memorial Church, house parties with eggnog and hot spicey glögg along with the assurance "summer's coming soon" because the winter solstice is finally here, coming "to those who wait"...what else to do but to bring to you a creative gift, a valley winter song?

"You know the summer's coming soon
Though the interstate is choking under salt and dirty sand
And it seems the sun is hiding from the moon

"And the snow is coming down
On our New England town
And it's been falling all day long
What else is new
What could I do
I wrote a valley winter song
To play for you
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

During the course of the season, I do try to limit myself to two albums a year for Christmas music. I mean, one can only listen to so much during a season, right??? Well, I exceeded the amount I intended to limit myself to, but no regrets, as the ones I selected have been what I would terms "keepers".

Enya came out with a lovely album And Winter Came. As typical, her music soothes the savage beast after a long day at work. What I call good "night night" music too! Listen to one of her selections here on a music video of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Mannheim Steamroller usually has good Christmas albums and I found one that was released ten years ago that caught my attention this year. Renaissance Holiday offers the best of Christmas music played so it keeps the beauty of the music from the early music era, but does enough nuking to make it enjoyable for the common listener.

So... what are you listening to this season? Have you found some "you need to have this"!!
Share it in the comments with us. I want to know what you are listening to as this season of Advent comes to a close and brings in the season of Christmas. Bring it on!

Musical Musings - Labyrinth Music

The other day, I blogged about praying the Daily Office, and trying to find ways which helped to make it work for me. I received a comment from someone who mentioned that another RGBP blogger had blogged about something similar on the same day. In addition, she recommended a web site in which she used at work to pray the Divine Hours.

However, it led me to another place on the web site (and that is what surfing is all about, right?), which caught my interest and landed me here. They had a labyrinth link, so I followed the link. I'll be honest, I have only walked a labyrinth a few times. However, the times that I did, I felt like I needed music to accompany me on my journey. On this particular page, I heard some peaceful, calm music which caused me to relax and feel a sense of tranquility. I needed to find out where to hear more of this music. A link on that page landed me here. Martin Gregory offers meditative music to calm the soul, to reflect, pray, or walk.

There are a few resources for music specifically for walking the labyrinth. Music to Walk the Labyrinth offers 47 minutes of calm synthesized music to accompany you on your walk, or quiet time.

I found this labyrinth walk on Youtube and thought I would share it with you.


Is there a labyrinth in your area? If so, do you use music to accompany on your walk? Share with us your labyrinth experience(s). Share with us the music you find gives you that sense of calm, peace, and tranquility.

musical musings: season of creation edition

I'm loosely grounding this month's musical musings in the Season of Creation, a recent emphasis for liturgical observation as late summer cycles into fall in the northern hemisphere, winter into spring in the southern. The site explains

What Is the Season of Creation?

For four Sundays in September, prior to St Francis of Assisi Day, we join in celebrating with Christ the wonders of creation. In the liturgy, we follow the lead of the psalm writers and celebrate with creation — with the forests, the rivers and the fields, which praise the Creator in their own way. Bible readings focus especially on the story of Earth, which complements the story of God and the story of humanity in the Scriptures. We commit ourselves to a ministry of healing Earth, with Christ and creation as our partners.

On this page Norman Habel gives us part of the history; here's an excerpt:

The season of Creation begins as an Australian story. I, like many in our Lutheran Church in Australia, grew up in the bush. I climbed every tree within miles. I felt close to creation: the soil, the streams and the sounds of the bush. Celebrating the creation I love has long been one of my dreams.

The Sundays of the first year in the three-year cycle of Creation are called Forest Sunday, Land Sunday, Outback/Wilderness Sunday and River Sunday. Congregations can turn the sanctuary into a vibrant part of creation as they celebrate with creation.

Check out these liturgies, too--this especially interests me as a theologian with particular interests in liturgical and ecological theology. As in the rest of the liturgical calendar, the Season of Creation pericopes place us in year A; here are links to Textweek's resources:

September 7 - 1A:Forest Sunday

September 14 - 2A: Land Sunday

September 21 - 3A: Outback/ Wilderness Sunday

September 28 - 4A: River Sunday

On this second Monday of September, I'm offering a potpourri of mostly vocal and choral music and I'm looking forward to instrumental and orchestral suggestions and from those of you who direct or sing in choirs, a few anthems to add to the list. A lot of this music is familiar, but nonetheless, I'm including some text from the music I've cited.

For our entrance song, most of us know William Monk's tune "Ellacombe" to Isaac Watts' hymn,

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.

I love the gorgeous singing and visuals in this performance of "I Sing the Mighty Power..."

By the Team Strike Force from Mars Hill Church I Sing the Mighty Power of God; and here a great slideshow accompanies the hymn.

In the scriptures, land and the created environment are inalienable gifts to be carefully and faithfully stewarded; land is an aspect of common-wealth; land grows the stuff of sacraments! In a special way during the Season of Creation we recognize and celebrate the natural, physical backdrop, the living, breathing stage of God's self-revelation in history and in Jesus Christ.

The Mennonite Youth Chorus sings Let All things now Living

As we know from scripture and from our own experiences, the desert, wilderness and the outback that lack most civilized urban amenities especially form a fertile backdrop and habitat for identity-formation. A garden well-tended grows into a city and the city becomes a place of multicultural encounters, a place for the fine arts to flourish and for a middle-class to evolve; the city is a crossroads of exchange and often a seat of government. But in the city religion and spirituality tend to become static, codified institutions..."Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness!"

The images strike me as a bit overdone, but the lively singing does real justice to Marty Haugen's Canticle of the Sun...

Praise for the sun, the bringer of day,
he carries the light of the Lord in his rays;
the moon and the stars who light up the way
unto your throne.

Praise for the wind that blows through the trees,
the seas mighty storms, the gentlest breeze;
they blow where they will, they blow where they please
to please the Lord.

Praise for the rain that waters our fields,
and blesses our crops so all the earth yields;
from death unto life her mystery revealed
springs forth in joy.

Praise for the fire who gives us his light,
the warmth of the sun to brighten our night;
he dances with joy, his spirit so bright,
he sings of you.

Praise for the earth who makes life to grow,
the creatures you made to let your life show;
the flowers and trees that help us to know
the heart of love.

Praise for our death that makes our life real,
the knowledge of loss that helps us to feel;
the gift of your self, you presence revealed
to bring us home.

Chorus

The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy.
Come dance in the forest, come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord.

© 1983 GIA Publications

In a parallel mood, The River is Here by Andy Park and what a lovely solo voice on this a cappella version of The River is Here!

Down the mountain the river flows
And it brings refreshing wherever it goes
Through the valleys and over the fields
The river is rushing and the river is here

The river of God is teeming with life
And all who touch it can be revived
And those who linger on this river's shore
Will come back thirsting for more of the Lord

Up to the mountain we love to go
To find the presence of the Lord
Along the banks of the river we run
We dance with laughter
Giving praise to the Son

Hebrew Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann insists theologians have concentrated far too much on covenant to the often near-exclusion of The Land. Listen to the cadence of the deuteronomic historian's relentless refrain, "into the land, into the land, into the land!" In the writings of the exilic 2nd Isaiah we discover a persistent theme of redemption and hope and humanity's salvation physically located in the midst of natural creation's redemption--the Reformers' theology of God's descent and infilling of everything created recapture these and other biblical passages and Martin Luther's theology of the ubiquity of the Risen and Ascended Christ is right in line with this!

Hillsongs gives a reflective interpretation of Did You Hear the Mountains Tremble and I especially like this joy-filled, energetic performance: Did You Hear the Mountains Tremble...

Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring your hope
Songs that bring your peace
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Did you feel the darkness tremble
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokenness

And we can see that God you're moving
A time of Jubilee is coming
When young and old will turn to Jesus
Fling wide your heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Fitting in with the mood of hope and expectation is Send Your Rain by Kelly Carpenter

Send Your rain oh Lord
Send Your rain to Your people
Send Your rain oh Lord
Send Your rain bring Your kingdom

Soften our hearts and pour out Your Spirit
Fill us anew, let Your rain come

May Your kingdom come
And Your will be done
On the earth, bring Your kingdom

© 1996 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing

I've long loved the vernacular music of the North American continent's prairies and plains; "The Lone, Wild Bird," set to the tune Prospect, from Walker's Southern Harmony (1835), is exquisitely rung by the St. Olaf College Handbells

1. The lone, wild bird in lofty flight is still with you, nor leaves your sight.
   And I am yours! I rest in you, Great Spirit, come, rest in me, too.


2. The ends of earth are in your hand, the sea's dark deep and far off land.
   And I am yours! I rest in you, Great Spirit, come, rest in me, too.


3. Each secret thought is known to you, the path I walk my whole life through;
   my days, my deeds, my hopes, my fears, my deepest joys, my silent tears.

Milk and honey is a visible, tangible sacramental sign of the fullness of God's sovereignty and of distributive justice accomplished on earth. Flowing honey and surging milk begin with rich land and rivers of clean water. Ample milk results from bees pollinating fruits, flowers and other crops so that cattle graze on luxuriant grass, produce healthy calves and as a result fertilize grains and gardens; clean air and smog-free sunshine are a given! Hearty vineyards, healthy fields and sufficient water result in Israel's symbolic olives, grape and figs and for us (I'm thinking very locally) in citrus, tomatoes, avocados, berries, grapes and grains. Dairy and beef, honey and harvest lead to nourishment for the farmers, their families and the community, with overflowing abundance to sell, to barter and trade in order to get whatever essentials you cannot produce on your own. Likely I've left out a lot of probable connections, but my intent is clear: heaven's blessings aplenty on earth!

From Trinity Church on Wall Street, this CD includes Leo Sowerby's setting of one of the alternate canticles for Matins, the Benedicite, with its incessant celebratory refrain "Sing his praise and exalt him for ever" (or a close variant). As Walter Brueggemann essentially says, "of course the trees sing and clap their hands--no more clear-cutting! Of course the seas roar and everything in them rejoices--no more toxic waste and pollution!" Here's an excerpt from the Benedicite, found in the non-canonical Song of the Three Holy Children in Daniel 3:52-88:

Bless the Lord all you works of the Lord: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord you heavens: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Bless the Lord you angels of the Lord: bless the Lord all you his hosts;
bless the Lord you waters above the heavens: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Bless the Lord sun and moon: bless the Lord you stars of heaven;
bless the Lord all rain and dew: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Bless the Lord dews and falling snows: bless the Lord you nights and days;
bless the Lord light and darkness: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Bless the Lord frost and cold: bless the Lord you ice and snow;
bless the Lord lightnings and clouds: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

O let the earth bless the Lord: bless the Lord you mountains and hills;
bless the Lord all that grows in the ground: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Bless the Lord you springs: bless the Lord you seas and rivers;
bless the Lord you whales and all the swim in the waters: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Bless the Lord all birds of the air: bless the Lord you beasts and cattle;
bless the Lord all people on earth: sing his praise and exalt him for ever.

Paradise by John Prine could not relate better to loving stewardship of creation and the devastating loss that often follows rapacious treatment:"Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River, where Paradise lay?"--"I'm sorry, my son, you're too late in asking; Mr. Peabody's coal train has hauled it away."

But Israel became the prototypical people of God not in the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey but in the desert of the trek toward that promised-landed freedom. In the desert's sparse economy, with surprising gifts like water from the rock and manna from the sky, Israel and Yahweh encountered each other into the kind of relationship that later would enable God's people to recognize God's paradoxical self-revelation in Word and Sacraments as they recall and evoke and as by grace we recognize and celebrate God's paradoxical self-revelation sustaining presence in, with and under creation's commonest stuff: the utmost essentials for life produced from the heart of the earth.

Avalon sings "Psalm 151"--Testify to Love; as pleasing as the photographs in the other videos are, I like the clean white sans-serif type against black (I know, a couple of typos), allowing the words and music to speak by themselves.

All the colors of the rainbow
All the voices of the wind
Every dream that reaches out
Reaches out to find where love begins
Every word of every story
Every star in every sky
Every corner of creation lives to testify...

Didn't Paul insist we discern the body, recognizing and acknowledging the Risen Christ's hidden presence in the church and in the world—discerning the body particularly as we participate in the eschatological feast of the Eucharist? The person presiding at Holy Communion holds the entirety and completeness of the redeemed and restored cosmos in her or his hands as the risen, ascended One also is now descended, once again "incarnate," among and within the gathered and transformed Eucharistic community.

Morningside is a primarily Asian-American ministry of the Korean United Methodist Church that's based in New York City; along with all creation Morningside Ministry Praise celebrates with Make a Joyful Noise by David Crowder:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord
All the earth
Make a joyful noise to the Lord
All the earth

The flowers of the field
Are cry'n to be heard
The trees of the forest
Are singing
And all of the mountains
With one voice
Are joining the chorus of this world

And I will not be silent
I will not be quiet anymore

Running through the forest
Dive into the lake
Bare feet on beaches white
Standing in the canyon
Painted hills around
The wind against my skin
Every ocean
Every sea
Every river
Every stream
Every mountain
Every tree
Every blade of grass will sing

Here's an exceedingly rare live performance that features pianist Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour on guitar: Mountain Dance!

Mountain Dance on CD

As the Amazon reviewer says, the CD Sticks and Stones by brothers Don and Dave Grusin is OP, "out of print" but pre-owned copies are quite readily available. Happily I own the CD and highly recommend "River Song."

To conclude today's worship, a pair of North American classics, as Manfred Mann's Earth Band sings Bob Dylan's Father of Night, Father of Day by Bob Dylan, and I could not leave out the late, truly great Rich Mullins' "Calling Out Your Name!" Among many other options, it's on The Best of Rich Mullins: Platinum Series CD; and on YouTube, Calling Out Your Name

Well the moon moved past Nebraska
And spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs; Yeah, they danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer; The whisper of a prayer

And the single hawk bursts into flight
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames
I feel thunder in the sky; I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I can feel the earth tremble
Beneath the rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings; And there's fury in a pheasant's wings
It tells me the Lord is in His temple
And there is still a faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring; And I've seen love make heaven ring

Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains
I feel thunder in the sky; I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name
And I know this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain
I feel thunder in the sky; I see the sky about to rain
And with the prairies I am calling out Your name

Psalm 19:1-6, Psalm 65:5-13

A Not so Musical Musings Post

One of the pleasures I have with working behind the scenes for Revgalblogpals is to get to see what books and other items have been purchased by those who use the search box on the sidebar or click on the links of items mentioned in posts, in which we connect to Amazon's web site. Of course some of the books and music are items mentioned on the site, where others are personal choices you have made.

Well, there are some out there that seem to be gems which should be shared with the entire group. No need to have them traveling under the radar screen.

Since June 1, there have been over 50 different books purchased, along with music and other items. So, here are a few to browse.

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (Christ the Lord)
Review from Publishers Weekly:

Starred Review. In the New Testament, the miracle at the wedding at Cana-where Jesus turned water into wine-marks the commencement of his tumultuous three-year ministry. In Rice's beautifully observed novel, a sequel to 2005's Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, however, the wedding miracle is in fact the culmination of an intimate family saga of love, sorrow and misunderstanding. As the novel opens, Yeshua (Jesus) struggles with a sense of restlessness of purpose and a deep love for a comely kinswoman. Waves of isolation sweep over him as he comes to understand that serving the Lord's will takes precedence over the desires of his own heart. Whereas the first novel in this series hewed so closely to Scripture and to the author's meticulous research as to be somewhat arid as fiction, this book, imagining the "lost" young adulthood of Jesus, offers wise and haunting speculation where the Bible is silent. And the final chapters, which pick up the story with the New Testament's accounts of Jesus' baptism, temptation and early miracles, manage to be soulfully insightful even while faithfully tracking the Gospels. Rice undertakes a delicate balance: if it is possible to create a character that is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, as ancient Christian creeds assert, then Rice succeeds. (Mar.)

*********************************************************************
This one I have seen on several RGBP blogs as a must read:

I Refuse to Lead a Dying Church! by Paul Nixon

There were no official reviews on this, but there WERE reviews by people who had read the book who sure did give it a thumbs up as a must read. Should it be put in the monthly book discussion lineup?

By the way, I did find a review on a blog. (not an RGBP'er, but a review, none the less.)
*******************************************************************
One of the reviewers on this book, chose to read this book because of the recommendation of Bill Moyers, which was on the back of the book. Looking Around for God: The Oddly Reverent Observations of an Unconventional Christian by James Autry. Here is Amazon's product description:

James Autry, author of Looking Around for God, thinks that the true message of the old spiritual is not just that God has an eye on the sparrow-it's that God is demonstrating that if these details are worth God's attention they are certainly worth ours. It may be that we will more readily find God in the details of this world-and of our own lives- than anywhere else. Looking Around for God, Autry's tenth book, is in many ways his most personal, as he considers his unique life of faith and belief in a God often clouded by church convention. In assembling these personal essays, stories and poems, Autry strives to share how God has been revealed in many different circumstances of his life, while at the same time offering a few ideas for how the Christian church might better serve in making God's love and presence manifest in the world.

******************************************************************
There has been music ordered - this seems quite lovely and has excellent reviews:
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone
Listening to it is convincing enough to want a copy of it. It can also be downloaded MP3 style!

******************************************************************

In two weeks, we will be discussing this 112 page book The Friendship of Women: The Hidden Tradition of the Bible by Joan Chittister examines different women in the Bible and their personality traits and reflects on how each of the personalities fit into our lives in regards to friendship. Here you can find an interview with Chittister on this book.

I look forward to hearing what others think of the book. The introduction itself is well worth the investment of this book! You still have time to order this book and read it. Please chime in the comments if you have read the book already and encourage others to join in the discussion.


****************************************************************************
Ok, the "winner" of the most unusual item ordered since June 1:

Black & Decker 18-Volt Cordless Electric Chain Saw
See, you can find most anything!

***************************************************************************
So what books are on your bedside table? What CD are you listening to?

A Little Wedding Music

Many of you have been in the capacity of choosing music for a wedding, either from the perspective as being part of the wedding party, or from the perspective of being clergy who guides those choosing the music to create the perfect wedding.

Well, it's something that has been on the minds of my daughter and me as we plan for her upcoming wedding. She either knew one of two things - she really trusted me in choosing music or she thought I might be a force to be reckoned with if I didn't get to have some say. I hope it is the former, and I think it is, since she told someone I knew what I was doing. Perhaps I have us all fooled.

Before I begin, it's not that the groom had no say. He left it up to us. I think he got his say on the choice of the china.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of the choices which we found.

Benedetto Marcello's Psalm 19 can be found on the CD Michael Murray At The Cathedral Of St. John The Divine: Works By Franck, Widor, Dupré, Bach and Others - this album is a power house of organ works and of course at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine shows off each piece to its fullest. Want to hear Marcello's Psalm 19? You can hear an excerpt on the link above or on Youtube here.

In exploring the recommendations, I found that there was music and composers I sort of knew in a vague sort of way, but didn't know. John Stanley, a friend and contemporary of Handel, composed a number of organ voluntaries with one of the movements you can listen to here. However, if you are a big fan of his music, go here and listen to John Stanley: Organ Voluntaries.

This is one of my favorite hymns along with one of my daughter's favorites also. Praise my Soul the King of heaven will be one of our congregational hymns with the descant on the fourth verse. You can hear an excerpt from this album Songs Of Praise.

The King of Love My Shepherd is will be sung as a solo by a musician friend of mine. I always told her I wanted her to sing at one of my children's weddings, and it is lovely it is going to happen! You can hear one arrangement of it here on Youtube. A choral arrangement can be found on this CD Sing Ye Heavens - Hymns for All Time with the Cambridge Singers and John Rutter. One just can't go wrong with this choral group and conductor.

Our organ is a small Baroque organ, built for our small Carpenter Gothic church. Though Widor's Toccata for Organ from Symphony #5 w(MP3 download)was composed for a much bigger organ in mind, we will have an arrangement of this piece for the postlude. Here is a performance of it, played on two organs by Diane Bish and Simon Preston.

The music doesn't stop here. We move on to the reception and let's say I got a surprise. The daughter who once listened to some music that let's just say was disconcerting and made me wonder if she was raised by her mother, announced to me, "Mom, I have a list of music I want for the reception." The list was music to her mother's ears. Finally, we have come around full circle and now... she wants... music from Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Louis Armstrong. We can do this. I'm now excited.

I'll share with you this Youtube playlist. Once you get to this link, click on play all videos.

So... I ask you, what memories of music do you have from your wedding? Or... what can you share from weddings you have attended or presided? I am sure there are stories to tell. Share with us your story in the comments.

The wedding here??? June 28.

Musical Musings: Fire & Freedom edition

Yesterday the Church celebrated the Day of Pentecost and for this year's festivities I have a roundup of music that expresses the Spirit of resurrection, renewal, restoration and reconciliation; I'm especially excited to hear about your particular Pentecostal Favorites in the comments!

It has been called "the apotheosis of the dance!"--Beethoven, Symphony No. 7; this Leonard Bernstein recording includes another of my Beethoven favorites, Symphony #2. Herbert von Karajan's classic version with the Berlin Philharmonic is complete on YouTube.

In the Acts 2 scriptures for Pentecost we hear Jesus promise, "John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." In the book of Joel we find another Divine promise, "I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions," remembered so clearly by Peter and quoted in Acts 2. John reveals to the world in Revelation 21, "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God..." Aligned with that same Spirit of newness, Carly Simon sings "Let the River Run--Come, the New Jerusalem" from the 1988 film Working Girl:

We're coming to the edge, running on the water, coming through the fog, your sons and daughters. Let the river run, let all the dreamers wake the nation. Come, the New Jerusalem.

here's the sequence from the film.

Written and originally recorded long ago by The Youngbloods, "Get Together" reminds us "the Dove is on the wing," and Wilson Phillips has a recent version on their CD, California.

I had to include Bob Dylan's literally iconic Blowin' in the Wind, with its recurring response "The answer is blowin' in the wind" to the persistent question, "How many...". His own recording can be found in his album The Best of...

From J.S. Bach's 18 great chorales for organ, a splash of splendor for you organists to play or for anyone to listen to, his fantasy on «Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott» - "Come, Holy Ghost, Lord God," BWV 651; Walter Kraft has made a recording.

Also by The Fifth Evangelist, J.S. Bach, a sparkling bright motet for vocal soloists, chorus and continuo, BWV 226, «Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf» - "The Spirit Also Helps us in our Weakness..." I'm especially partial to this because I played organ continuo for a performance of this piece on a famous organ with a locally well-known chorus. I like this affordable 2-CD set that includes all ten motets performed by Helmuth Rilling with the Stuttgart Bach Collegium.

A hymn that may be less-familiar to those who haven't hung out in Lutheran circles is O Day Full of Grace, "Den signede Dag" written by N.F.S. Grundtvig, 1826, with tune composed in the same year by C.E.F. Weyse. The text includes, "God came to us then at Pentecost, his Spirit new life revealing, that we might no more from him be lost, all darkness for us dispelling. This flame will the mark of sin efface and bring to us all his healing." The hymn is #161 in the Lutheran Book of Worship and #627 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

Revelation Song by Kari Jobe is a Spirit-filled contemporary song in the contemporary praise genre.

Likely almost everyone knows and probably loves Ralph Vaughn Williams' elegant tune Down Ampney, "Come Down, O Love divine"; Bianco of Siena prayed the original...

Come down, O love divine, seek Thou this soul of mine, and visit it with Thine own ardor glowing...O let it freely burn, 'til earthly passions turn to dust and ashes in its heat consuming...

I've enjoyed playing Jan Bender's organ partita, "Four Variations on Down Ampney," published by Augsburg in 1971, but apparently it's currently out of print.

For a concluding taste of fire and freedom, I'll recommend Charles W. Ore's festive prelude on «Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott» - "Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord," published by Concordia; Charles Ore has recorded this piece along with more than a dozen others on From My Perspective; on the same site you can listen to an MP3.

May this season of Pentecost be a green and growing one for all of you...

Alleluia! The Spirit of Life fills the World! Alleluia, Alleluia!

Musical Musings: Healing Love

During this fourth week of Easter, when many of heard the Good Shepherd Gospel on Sunday, I offer a Musical Musings with some songs opening us to the tender, healing love of God.

A big thank-you to Rainbow Pastor for recalling my attention to Bobby McFerrin's wonderful expansive setting of the Psalm 23 , dedicated to his mother. RP is facing a biopsy on Tuesday so please drop by her place and assure her of your support and prayers...



Next is David Haas's "You Are Mine," which we sang at Katie's baptism on Transfiguration Sunday. I sang it to Matt as we brainstormed the music for the liturgy in a middle of the night nursing session when she was very tiny.



The next two songs are not explicitly religious, but many of us find their expression of unconditional love to be a connection with God's compassion as experienced in nurturing relationships with others and our own inner selves.

"How Could Anyone," by Libby Roderick, has been mentioned by both Mary Beth and Songbird. I learned of it in Shaina Noll's version, on her wonderful album, Songs for the Inner Child (link).



Another powerful song found on Shaina Noll's album is Fred Small's Everything Possible. (Unfortunately, she removes the explicitly LGBT affirming lines--the plethora of healing songs and lullabies means that the album is still worth getting, though, for yourself, your child, and leading retreats or workshops). A longtime folksinger, Small is now a UU minister. A good friend bought his album No Limit my senior year of college, and bequeathed it to me when he entered the Jesuits; this song was the first thing he played when I returned from my college graduation. I sing it often to my kids, and sang it on the boat from which we scattered my Grandma Pat's ashes into the Pacific as well.



Coming full circle, I offer Carey Landry's Isaiah 49/I Will Not Forget You My People,. This is a very simple song and reflects its roots in the 70s, but it made a big impact on me in college and is still one of the few to explicitly engage the scriptural images of God as Mother. Like the others, it is a beloved bedtime song for my kids, and Katie brought it to mind by requesting it tonight.



What are your favorite songs for experiencing God's love?

Musical Musings: Passion, Death and Resurrection

Long ago one of my theology professors told us that if we were ever stumped on an exam, take a hint, the answer was always the Paschal Mystery. Ultimately our faith all comes down to this – Christ lived, suffered, died and rose for us. As we reach deeply into the celebration of that mystery over the next few weeks, alone and with our communities, music can often find spaces in our souls that our preaching cannot. To accompany you on this journey through Passiontide to the Triduum and into Easter, I offer the following.




Now we are going up to Jersusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over...
Mk. 10:33

1. Allegri’s Miserere. The soaring soprano part on this is thought not to be original to Allegri, but irregardless, for me that embellishment evokes the hope of resurrection even in the face of death. This was traditionally sung in the Sistine Chapel on Good Friday. The composition was forbidden to circulate, under pain of excommunication.

2. Miserere Nobis, Domine. From Margaret Rizza. Contemplative in tone and sustaining with two verses to meditate on.

3. Drop, Drop, Slow Tears. I’ll quote Kathyrn on this one: sheer heaven!

4. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. The male voices which open this recording, with a very sparing and slightly atonal organ accompaniment are conducive to meditation. Though it closes with a series of alleluias, it never loses it’s Lenten tone.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Stay here while I pray.”
Mk. 14:32

5. Christ on the Mount of Olives. While I tend to think of Bach and his Passions of St. John and St. Matthew when I think of “classical” Lenten music, Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives is also beautiful. Try the introduction, which captures both the intensity and the depth of Christ’s prayer in the garden.

6. Stay With Me. A Taize chant. It strikes me as very Benedictine, it tends to run through your head (as a good ostinato refrain should), nudging you to ruminate on the garden in the midst of the rest of your day.

They led him out to crucify him.
Mk 15: 20

7. St. Matthew’s Passion. You can’t have a Lent playlist without this one. This chorale, Ich Will Hier, is for me the iconic piece. There’s a reason they call Bach the Fifth Evangelist.

8. Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ. A arrangement for strings. Try Into your hands...

9. Avro Pärt’s Passio. Pärt is a contemporary Estonian composer. He calls his approach to composition tintinnabulation – it sounds very much like bells ringing. Though clearly modern, Pärt’s deep and longstanding engagement with medieval polyphony and plainchant infuses his music. If you have not heard Pärt before – listen to a snatch. The third and fourth movements are marvelous.

You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen…
Mk. 16: 6

10. Christ Rising Again. William Byrd. A gentle movement into the joy of the resurrection.

11. Cantate Domino. Avro Pärt’s setting of this psalm (95). You can hear the bells ringing in both accompaniment and the voices.

12. Caedmon's Hymn/Christ is Risen. St. Bede had this to say of Caedmon: "there was …a certain brother particularly remarkable for the Grace of God, who was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture, he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in English…” The legend is that Caedmon was a shepherd who learned to compose literally overnight, in a dream.

13. Christ the Lord Hath Risen Today. Trumpets, for sure!

What music might accompany you on the road to Jerusalem and beyond?

---

I posted a playlist of most of the music here on iTunes.

Musical Musings: Pescador de Hombres

Pescador de Hombres, a love song to Jesus from one of the fisher-disciples who answered his call, is one of the most popular songs at Spanish masses, is definitely a personal favorite. It will be sung at many parishes especially as we move into this brief burst of Sundays after Epiphany/Ordinary Time and reflect on our own call to discipleship. I was delighted to find not one, but two YouTube music videos of the song. The first, with conventional but moving graphics, is a very traditional reflective version of the song.



I can't wait to show my kids (who love this song during bedtime prayers) the second, which is a rocked-out version as I have never heard it done before.



OCP, which has a plethora of excellent Spanish and bilingual resources at its website, has a cd of music from Spain which includes this title track, as well as an accompanying songbook. As with all of its offerings, you can click to listen to a brief sample of each song on the cd, making purchasing a low-risk option.

OCP also offers an MP3 download and sheet music for a bilingual version of the song.

You can spend a lot of time choosing your own favorites from their alphabetically arranged bilingual section, but I will highlight a few more to get you started. All have songbooks available along with the cds.

For Anglo communities wishing to branch out a bit, an excellent starter cd and songbook is the thoroughly bilingual Cantemos Unidos/United in Song. It contains bilingual versions of both Spanish classics like Alabaré, Entre tus Manos, and El Viñador and as well as English traditional and contemporary ones (Amazing Grace side by side with Here I Am, Lord and I am the Bread of Life).

Another very accessible and ecumenical collection is the bilingual collection of psalm settings, Cantaré Eternamente/For Ever I Will Sing. Volume I contains psalms for Advent, Christmas, and Ordinary Time, so you might want to start with Volume 2 which covers Lent, Triduum, and Easter.

Well, that's only the C's so I will stop lest I overwhelm you--or be here happily listening all night....Happy hunting!

Last Minute Potpourri of Music

In case you need last minute inspiration, Cathy and Michelle bring you...

Michelle: Whenever I finish a new book that's deeply engaged me, there is always a moment of sadness. As my youngest is fond of saying when a book is done, "It's empty, Mom!" Music never empties itself out in quite the same way for me. Listening to Handel's Messiah the other day, I realized I was still making new discoveries after 45 years! Here is some music I'm still enjoying discovering:

For hope in all seasons, listen to Esperanto (on Kaleidoscope by Sean Jones) I love the litany of Holies at the end of this song. Holy vision, holy mission....

Tripp at Conjectural Navel Gazing led me to discover Gaelic Storm this year. Their modern take on Celtic music has given me the energy to drive many miles this fall! Try Herding Cats or Special Reserve. My favorite, with songs in Gaelic, is How Are We Getting Home?

Relaxing with a mug of cocoa between the children's Christmas Eve service and the 9 pm service? All caroled out? Listen to the Mediaeval Baebes' Mistletoe & Wine - seasonal, relaxing but still sounds like Christmas.

For classical buffs, consider Jennifer Higdon's Piano Trio, Voices and Impressions. The pieces Grace and Quiet Art are soft, gentle but carefully layered. Lay on the floor and listen with your eyes closed! Higdon began as a flutist, but moved into composing, and I can hear this in some of her sparer compositions. Her compositions, though modern in their sound, are not atonal, but keep to the traditional tonalities. A chemistry colleague who organizes a chamber music society on my campus pointed me to these contemporaries of Brahms and Mahler: Walter Rabl and Josef Labor. Rabl composed in the style of Brahms and Schumann, and though considered by Brahms to be a talented composer, early on moved onto choral directing and ceased to compose. Hear Rabl's prize winning chamber composition for clarinet, cello, violin and piano on Twilight of the Romantics. Ecuadorian composer Diego Luzuriaga brings Central American rythyms to classical music. The vocals on El Munda da Vueltas are haunting. (Full disclosure, the composer is a fellow parent soccer player!).

For the younger set, try Rhinoceros Tap - with lyrics by children's book author Sandra Boynton. I have a fond spot in my heart for Boynton; when I was writing my doctoral thesis, one of her cards was a perfect illustration - and when I wrote to ask to use it, she kindly granted me permission. If you haven't discovered Trout Fishing in America, now might be the moment. My family's favorite song is Six - where even the math phobic can get it right. The answer's always six, no matter how hard the problem. Six is on My World.

Cathy: One of the investments I made this year is an inexpensive docking station for my Ipod and oh my goodness, it has opened up the possibilities for me and making my music more available. I can put all my music in one place and hit the shuffle button and be along my merry way!
This download is an easy listening CD of Celtic Harp music - the beauty of it to me is the diversity of their origin - music throughout the world and ages all played on a harp. Light a candle, sit by the fire and chill, Celtic Christmas Harp will offer you the opportunity to relax.

Many of you know and share my love for the sounds of Anonymous 4 - how come I missed this one? Christmas Music From Medieval Hungary If you like Christmas music you can play all year round and no one knows it is Christmas music, then this may be right up your alley. As for me, the mere fact it is Anonymous 4 makes it a winner for me.

And Christmas With The Rat Pack will offer a nostalgic blast for those of us who remember them on television. Nothing but the classic standards with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, and Frank Sinatra. I'll be Home for Christmas brings tears to my eyes every time.

I don't know how many of you have used Pandora to listen to an assortment of music from specific genres, but this is the way I have found many a CD in which I may have not been familiar - this particular CD kept up coming on my list and every time I heard the music I would want to know what is this? I like it! If I mention Seeger, it might pique your interest if you are a fan of Pete Seeger - and I believe these are family members who are featured on this Cd of American Folk Songs for Christmas. , this 2 CD set (again MP3 downloadable) has MANY American Christmas songs in which I was not familiar, but its simplicity brings a certain peace. Think of yourself on the porch with harmonica, banjo, concertina, dulcimer and jaw harp singing plain song - not a thing fancy or commercial sounding with this one.

What music accompanies your Christmas Eve - what's the background music? Are you making your own music around the piano? Share with us how music plays a part in your life during this most glorious time. You may share with us in the comments or post a direct link to your blog entry in your comment using the following formulation: <a href="the url of your blog post goes here">what you want the link to say goes here</a> For a complete how-to, click here


From our homes to yours, have a a most Blessed Holiday.

For those of you who have not finished their shopping, please consider an Amazon Gift Certificate using the link on the sidebar. Revgalblogpals benefit from your purchases when you use the links both in the postings and the sidebar.