Pageant Music

We finally did it. It is official. Just got word from our Singapore offices – Pageant Music is now on Facebook! Come join our Pageant Music page here. See you there!

Also, PM just started work on an exciting new project. Are you fans of Katie Becker? I thought so. There is a great collection of her new music coming, hopefully soon. Updates will happen as the recording unfolds.

Here is Psalm 29 with a sung refrain that works well for a call to worship…

Psalm 29 response

This is a setting of George Herbert’s versification of Psalm 23 that works well as a congregational song…

Psalm 23

And an alternate accompaniment creating a different mood…

Psalm 23 append

And finally Psalm 136 with a choral response that could be sung alternating with the congregation or leader reading…

Psalm 136 response

Here are several new arrangements that we’ve used in recent weeks at Second City Church. Most are general statements of praise and work well as responses or in expressing praise and adoration of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Gloria Patri is known as the lesser doxology and is often sung to the tune Greatorex (written by Henry Greatorex in the 19th C.). Below is a new music setting. Also included is a refrain I wrote for the hymn Glory Be to God and an additional “alleluia” that can be used as a refrain for any hymn or song in 3/4 (6/8). The hymn Glory be to God is sung to the tune Regent Square written by Henry T. Smart in the 19th C.. What I did was altered the melody slightly and added a refrain based on the first line of the text. The following week after introducing this arrangement and singing the hymn in its entirety, we just sang the refrain section as a doxology. Here is the Wiki entry on Doxology, it’s history and use in the Christian Church. I hope this can be a valuable resource for your church’s praises!

Glory Be to God the Father CHORDS

Glory Be to God the Father SHORT

Glory Be to God the Father

Gloria Patri chords

Gloria Patri

Alleluia interlude

Jesus, Once for Our Salvation was Crucified

Christus factus est pro nobis obediens      Christ made was for us obedient
usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.   even unto death, death on cross
Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum          because of this and God raised him
et dedit illi nomen,       and bestowed on him name
quod est  super omne nomen.    which is above all names

This text, drawn from Philipians 2:8-9, is part of the mass that can be sung on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. The choir at Wheatland Church in Lancaster, PA sang this in a concert on Good Friday in 2008. There have been many composers who have set this text; Arenio’s setting is particularly stirring. Because it is brief it can be tackled by the average church choir.

Attached is an arrangement for chamber ensemble. Also attached is a choral score from the Choral Public Domain Library which is a great resource for choral music.

Christus_Factus_Est_Anerio

bass cl

vln

vc

ob

horn

fl

Christus factus est

bass

Today we had the great pleasure of having my friend Anne Nye’s fantastic woodwind quintet provide music for our service at Second City Church. We did two beautiful choruses from the Taize Community In the Lord I’ll Be Ever Thankful and Sing Praise and Bless the Lord. We also sang the song from the previous post Sing our Maker’s Praises. The score and parts to the quintet arrangement I made are posted below. Pastor Jed Slaboda was preaching on the Beatitudes, and though I am not yet prepared to reveal our sacred musical collaboration Code of Life for the Kingdom, based on the sermon on the mount, I can post the response we sung to the Gospel reading of Matthew 5:3-12 today (Beatitudes response). The accompaniment can be just a washy Eb mixolydian – wash away! PEACE.

Sing our Maker’s Praises FULL

Sing our Maker’s Praises quintet fl ob

Sing our Maker’s Praises quintet f hrn

Sing our Maker’s Praises quintet cl

Sing our Maker’s Praises quintet bsn

This past Sunday I was thrilled to realize a sound for sacred music circulating in my cerebellum for sometime via the synapses therein. In addition to piano, bass and percussion, including several unique percussion instruments, we also used glockenspiel, marimba, vibraphone, and toy piano. We also invited children to come to the front and play percussion (shakers, triangles, small tambourines and bells) along with our songs of adoration and praise (this is a time after confession and absolution and passing the peace, so it’s often a time of jubilant, thankful singing and praising). The songs were standard praise choruses and we did them with a upbeat latin feel. It was very energetic and contributed to a festive and joyful mood. Later in the service, before communion I had all the barred instruments play the melody in unison with the rhythm section accompanying on I Will Sing My Maker’s Praises which is a new tune I wrote to text by Paul Gerhardt. The mixture of sounds was really beautiful and unique. My goal is to have this be the basis of a sacred percussion ensemble, and even a children’s percussion ensemble that would participate regularly in the services. Two sounds/cultures I envisioned were Gamelan orchestras and west African xylophone music (OK, and John Cage prepared piano music of course – Oh, yes and Steve Reich, who is also heavily influenced by African music).

some references:

Steve Reich

Amazing history and music from Burkina Faso, West Africa

John Cage, prepared piano

Gamelan example

Good friend and musical collaborator Hiram Ring was back in town for the holidays. Tomorrow he heads back to Singapore to continue his doctoral studies in linguistics. We had fun leading worship together at Second City Church with our friend John Hickey on drums. I have been very grateful for his friendship and partnering in music and business; he has been a important co-pilot for Pageant Music productions over the years. We look forward to continued (and for now, overseas and long-distance) music making. He is working on a collection of worship songs as he studies in Singapore, and also continues to work on his original songs. One of my goals this year is to start working through the many demo files of the 12 Pearls album – 12 worship songs that follow up 12 Gates, released in 2010.

Here is a song of his songs that we arranged for the 12 Gates album – Even So Lord Jesus Come. The other is an arrangement I made of Hallelujah Praise Jehovah which is related in its musical meter; both are in 5/4 which is not typical for congregational singing (at least in the western European tradition) but can add real energy and exuberance to singing (i.e. groove!). Enjoy.

If you’re like me, one of your least favorite traditions of January and February is being depressed. Perhaps is a result of living in the northeast; not far enough north to be surrounded by the winter beauty of New England, rather surrounded by the slush of Philadelphia (which actually does have it’s charm). As I strive to make a steady post of songs in 2011 on the Pageant Music site, the words “Are you weary?” came to mind. So I thought it would be fitting to post a setting of this beautiful text of St. Stephen the Sabaite. The translation is by J.M. Neale with some altering I made to the text. The second song Come Unto Me Ye Weary is thematically linked, drawing on Jesus’s words in Matthew 11:28. We find ultimate rest and peace through Christ, despite our mood swings and seasonal depression. PEACE in HIM.

Are You Weary

I am very much enjoying Advent in my new post as music director at Second City Church in Harrisburg. I feel like I’m just starting to catch up, and therefore am posting some new songs arrangements for Advent with only 2 weeks left until Christmas. Rejoice, All Ye Believers is a beautiful text with references to the parable of the ten virgins Matthew 25 and also Luke 12:35. We sang the hymn today, the third week of Advent coupled with O Lord How Shall I Meet You, sung to the tune of St. Theodulph, also with references to Matthew 25, and Isaiah 9:2, together with a folky strumming in the guitars. I put the Rejoice text to the Finnish tune Nyland and then altered the melody to fit more with this folky rhythmic pulse. We also sang Prepare the Way of the Lord as a response to the new Testament and Gospel readings, and then again during the Lords Supper. Peace to you, and Maranatha!

Rejoice, All Ye Believers with chords

Prepare the Way with chords and interlude

Hark! A thrilling Voice is Sounding copy

Wait for the Lord with chords

The following pdfs are parts for O Christ Our Hope. The arrangement is for two violins, two cellos and oboe. Percussion can be added; the video in the previous post uses brushes on snare, floor tom, congas, and various shakers and cabasa. The entrance of the percussion begins at the fermata in measure 8. Then the ensemble is cued for the anacrusis to measure 9. This version was in three sharps, however I also included a lead sheet in one flat, as that key may be better suited for voices. Please let me know if you would like more information about the arrangement  – pageantmusic@verizon.net

O Christ our Hope – FINAL original key

O Christ our Hope – FINAL lower key

cello2

cello1

violin2

violin1

oboe

score