VOICE HIS
Volume 9 - Number 1
From Co-Director Arthur
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May 2014
A. Just Jr.
hen Dr. Dean Wenthe became President of Concordia Theological Seminary in April of 1996, one of his first priorities was to establish an institute of pastoral theology and sacred music. Kantor Richard Resch and I were honored to be asked by him and Dr. William Weinrich to begin this institute. The first official act of the institute was my inaugural lecture to the faculty in the third week of Easter 1998 on my appointment as full professor, a custom that Dr. Weinrich began with this appointment. The essay was entitled: “First Things: Teaching Primary Theology in the Next Twenty Years.” It was in that lecture that I shared the vision that Richard and I had for what would become “The Good Shepherd Institute of Pastoral Theology and Sacred Music for the Church.”
The lecture outlined for the faculty what we hoped an institute of pastoral theology and sacred music would do for the seminary and the church: to gather the church together at conferences for conversation on the integration of theology and sacred music into the pastoral life of our church, and to worship together as His saints. We believed that our seminary, with its rich exegetical, theological, liturgical, and musical traditions, was the place for such an institute and for conferences on pastoral theology and sacred music. Our first conference was in the fall of 2000 during the weekend of All Saints Day. We chose All Saints because it embodied what Richard and I wanted The Good Shepherd Institute to be and do: to celebrate our life in Christ, Who is present among us bodily with all the saints as we gather around His gifts. Richard’s hymn “The Gifts Christ Freely Gives” (LSB 602) says it best. For both Richard and me these gifts are clearest when we prepare people for death and celebrate their eternal life in Christ in our liturgical life—heaven on earth. For us there is no greater pastoral theology than the theology of taking care of the sick, the dying, and the grieving, the pastoral theology that is present in our funeral liturgies, hymns, and music. All Saints embodied all of this for us. Fourteen years later we hope that we have left behind a living legacy of pastoral theology and sacred music in our work together as Co-Directors of The Good Shepherd Institute, through the conferences, publications, and musical offerings of the GSI. continued on next page
Dr. Arthur Just Jr. and Kantor Richard Resch
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continued from previous page Before announcing his retirement Richard asked me to visit with him about the future of the GSI without him. Before our meeting I had decided that I would tell him that it was also time for me to “retire” from GSI, that we should both go out together. Thankfully, he agreed with me that it was time for both of us to hand over the GSI to men who could take it into new and fresh directions. We are delighted to announce that our colleagues, Dr. Paul Grime, Dean of the Chapel, and Kantor Kevin Hildebrand, will be taking over as Co-Directors of The Good Shepherd Institute. Both Richard and I believe that they are exactly what the GSI needs at this time. The transition will be seamless, as they will take what is best from the legacy we leave behind and add something new, as Norman Nagel so aptly said of the liturgy in his introduction to Lutheran Worship. We are so pleased that The Good Shepherd Institute continues in their very capable hands. So this is our final contribution to His Voice as Richard and I bid farewell to our service to the seminary and to the church as Co-Directors of The Good Shepherd Institute of Pastoral Theology and Sacred Music for the Church. I know I speak for Richard in saying that these have been the best years of our lives of service to the church.
Dr. Paul Grime and Kantor Kevin Hildebrand
The Good Shepherd Institute 15 @ November 2–4, 2014
Teach Us to Number Our Days
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n reviewing the topics of the fourteen Good Shepherd Institute conferences held thus far from 2000 to 2013, we were a bit surprised by one topic that has yet to be covered: the church year. Given that the liturgical year shapes the work of pastors and musicians week in and week out, it seems like a prime topic for a GSI gathering. Perhaps that’s why this theme never made it to the top of the list. After all, if the church year already governs much of what we do, what more, really, is there to say about it? Actually, there’s quite a bit to be said and many riches yet to be discovered. We’ll begin with a contemplation of time and how the church year beautifully orders our time according to God’s saving purposes. In addition, there will be many practical considerations, both at the larger level of planning out the entire year—from the long green season to the various feasts and festivals—and in the details of how the church year can receive renewed vigor in our congregations. And, of course, what would GSI be without the musical feasts that we have grown so accustomed to hearing in Kramer Chapel? In addition to an organ recital by Faythe Freese, whose thrilling 2008 recital some of you may remember, and the stirring Choral Vespers, the hymn festival this year will serve as a “Festschrift in sound” as we pay tribute to our dear colleague, Kantor Richard Resch, for his lifelong passion of promoting the church’s song. Our 2014 conference promises to be a momentous event, so set aside November 2–4 and make plans to attend!
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Recommended Pastoral Resources by JOHN PLESS
Bernd Janowski, Arguing with God: A Theological Anthropology of the Psalms (Westminster John Knox Press, 2013),
Hermann Sasse, Witness: Erlangen Sermons and Essays for the Church, 1933–1944, trans. Bror Erickson (Magdeburg
Janowski, a leading Old Testament scholar from Tübingen, has long been known for his explicitly theological approach to the Old Testament. This book examines Old Testament anthropology through the lens of the Psalms, especially the psalms of lament and complaint. Engaging contemporary philosophical, psychological, and literary answers to the question, “What does it mean to be human?” Janowski lets the biblical text speak, providing a deeper understanding of the Psalms for Christian theology, liturgy, and pastoral care. __________________________________________
Hermann Sasse (1895–1976) was a courageous confessor in the face of National Socialism as well as ecumenical compromises of the Lutheran confession of the Gospel. Sasse’s sturdy confessionalism gave birth to timely proclamation of the cross in the years leading up to and including the Second World War. These are rich and stirring sermons that will edify readers in our own day. An interpretative essay, “Hermann Sasse the Preacher,” by John T. Pless, introduces the sermons. __________________________________________
454 pp. ISBN 9780664233235. [$70.00]
John T. Pless, Didache (Emmanuel Press, 2013), 71 pp. ISBN 9781934328095. [$12.00]
This is a thoroughly revised edition of a manual for adult catechesis that grew out of the author’s work at University Lutheran Chapel in Minneapolis and was first published in 1992. Built on the assumption that doctrine is drawn from the Holy Scriptures, confessed in the Small Catechism, and expressed in the hymnal, Didache uses the framework of the Catechism to teach the Scriptures, while showing how these texts are reflected in liturgical usage. __________________________________________
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Press, 2013), 332 pp. ISBN 9780982158654. [$34.99]
Hermann Sasse, Letters to Lutheran Pastors, Volume II, 1951–1956, ed.
Matthew Harrison (Concordia Publishing House, 2014), 512 pp. ISBN 9780758641557. [$34.99] These letters, written during Sasse’s early years in Australia, concentrate on pressing questions of ecumenism and Lutheran unity that were current at the time but whose urgency has not lessened even a half century later. Several of the letters engage the Lord’s Supper and liturgy. Others are reflective of Sasse’s controversial work on the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The letter from 1954 on “The Lutheran Church and World Mission” is especially timely. __________________________________________
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Recommended
Pastoral Resources continued
John T. Pless, Martin Luther, Preacher of the Cross: A Study of Luther’s Pastoral Theology (Concordia Publishing House, 2013), 144 pp. ISBN 9780758611130. [$24.99]
This book seeks to examine the catechetical shape of Luther’s pastoral theology filtered through his theology of the cross. Chapters are devoted to specific episodes of pastoral care utilizing materials from the reformer’s sermons and letters so that readers are given glimpses into Luther’s work on behalf of the sick, the dying, the grieving, the anxious and despondent, the doubting, and the needy. Luther’s pastoral care in the context of vocation, especially marriage, is also examined. __________________________________________
Bernd Hamm, The Early Luther: Stages in a Reformation Reorientation (Eerdmans, 2014), 306 pp. ISBN 9780802869241. [$36.00]
This latest addition to the series of Lutheran Quarterly Books is a fine preparatory read as we look forward to the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. This collection of essays by the Erlangen church historian Bernd Hamm demonstrates that Luther’s so-called “evangelical breakthrough” was a gradual process that can be traced in his early writings. Hamm shows how this is the case, for example, in comparing Luther’s instructions for a blessed death with that of the late medieval concept of the Ars Moriendi. __________________________________________
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Wilhelm Löhe: Theologie und Geschichte/Theology and History, ed.
Dietrich Blaufuβ (Freimund-Verlag, 2014), 349 pp. ISBN 9783865401755. [EUR 34,80] This volume contains fifteen essays, most of which were delivered at the 2011 meeting of the International Löhe Society on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary (26–30 July 2011). Among the essays are those concerning Löhe’s missionary approach (Paul Chung, Klaus Detlev Schulz), his liturgical work (Thomas Schattauer), his catechetical methods (Thomas Kothmann), his pastoral theology (John T. Pless, Wolfhart Schlichting), and his influence on American Lutheranism (Craig Nessan, Martin Lohrmann, Cheryl Naumann, Matthias Honold). John Stephenson writes on Löhe as an ecumenical Lutheran, while Jacob Corzine looks at his chiliasm in the context of nineteenth-century eschatology. Dietrich Blaufuβ has a chapter on Löhe’s relationship to the Enlightenment. __________________________________________
The Restoration of Creation in Christ: Essays in Honor of Dean O. Wenthe,
ed. Arthur A. Just Jr. and Paul J. Grime (Concordia Publishing House, 2014), 352 pp. ISBN 9780758639516. [$42.99] Faculty colleagues at CTS as well other coworkers in the church have contributed essays in honor of the president emeritus of Concordia Theological Seminary, Dr. Dean O. Wenthe. These essays reflect a variety of biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical themes that have defined Dr. Wenthe’s rich career of teaching and leadership. __________________________________________
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Recommended
Pastoral Resources continued
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theological Education at Finkenwalde: 1935–1937,
ed. H. Gaylon Barker and Mark S. Brocker, trans. Douglas W. Stott, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, vol. 14 (Fortress Press, 2013), 1,258 pp. ISBN 9780800698393. [$75.00] With this volume the English edition of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s works is brought to completion. The first part of the book (over 300 pages) consists of correspondence and brief reports. Part 2 contains academic lectures, homiletical exercises, and catechetical outlines. Most interesting here are Bonhoeffer’s lectures on pastoral care and catechesis. Part 3 is comprised of sermons, devotional meditations, and Bible studies. Overall this volume provides readers with insights into Bonhoeffer’s own deeply rooted piety and his capacity as a teacher of theology, with the formation of faithful pastors at the Finkenwalde seminary in view. __________________________________________
Irene Dingel, “‘True Faith, Christian Living, and a Blessed Death’: Sixteenth-Century Funeral Sermons as Evangelical Proclamation,” Lutheran Quarterly 27 (Winter 2013): 399–420.
Dingel, a Reformation historian from Mainz, examines the funeral preaching of Johann Spangenberg (1484–1550), Nikolaus Selnecker (1530–1592), and Siegfried Sack (1527–1596), demonstrating how these Lutheran preachers proclaimed the Word of Life in the midst of death in a way that their proclamation was governed by the triad: true faith, Christian living, and a blessed death. __________________________________________
Athina Lexutt, “In Praise of Anfechtung,”
Lutheran Quarterly 27 (Winter 2013): 439–42. Lexutt shows that for Luther Anfechtung was not merely a negative reality to be overcome by spiritual discipline, but a state of being that was a necessary condition for the right study of theology. __________________________________________
Logia: A Journal of Lutheran Theology 23 (Eastertide 2014). The theme of this issue is “Holy Baptism.” Articles by William Cwirla, Charles Cortright, Thomas Lock, Karl Hess, and Jody Rinas, together with a review essay by Armand Boehme, illuminate theological, liturgical, and pastoral aspects of Baptism. Also included is a sermon by Martin Luther on Galatians 3:28. __________________________________________ Concordia Publishing House www.cph.org Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. www.eerdmans.com Emmanuel Press emmanuelpress.us Fortress Press www.fortresspress.com Freimund-Verlag www.freimund-buchhandlung.de Magdeburg Press www.magdeburgpress.com Westminster John Knox Press www.wjkbooks.com
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Psalm Singing
Six Simple Ideas to Enrich Your Parish Practice by KEVIN HILDEBRAND
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ach first-year seminarian at Concordia Theological Seminary spends part of his time in Liturgics I with the Kantor and the Dean of the Chapel in what we call “Liturgics Lab.” We divide the class into groups of six or seven students. Each one of these lab groups spends an hour a week with either Paul Grime or me. Dr. Grime’s students meet in the Teaching Chapel classroom, where the students practice presiding at the altar and reading at the lectern, with attention given to gestures and vocal inflection. My students meet in the music classroom for a part of the course that the men affectionately call “Chanting 101.” The goal of this singing lab time is to help the men be more at ease with their voices, using them to sing the church’s hymns and liturgy, not only in the Divine Service but also in their homes and in pastoral visitations. I am encouraged that in the short time we have been teaching the course in this manner more and more men are coming to the Seminary with at least a casual acquaintance with psalm singing. Psalms are intended to be sung, and singing them according to a simple tone as found in our hymnals is a relatively easy process. How the psalms are used week in and week out (in fact, several times a week at Seminary chapel services) is a useful topic to consider. Options abound for singing psalms with greater or lesser degrees of variety. Here I will explore some simple ideas that can lend variety—within the church’s tradition—to the singing of psalms; Psalm 100 will serve as an example. 1. The most basic approach is simply to sing the psalm according to one of the familiar tones in the hymnal; for example, Lutheran Service Book Tone B. Typically the congregation sings the psalm in alternation with an individual voice or group of voices. This could be the pastor or liturgist himself, but more often would be a liturgical soloist (cantor), choir, or other vocal ensemble. *
L Make a joyful noise to the LORD, | all the earth!* Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with | singing! C Know that the LORD, | he is God!* It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his | pasture. L Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his | courts with praise!* Give thanks to him; | bless his name! C For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for- | ever,* and his faithfulness to all gener- | ations. C Glory be to the Father . . .
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Psalm Singing
Six Simple Ideas continued A common option is to have the leader sing an antiphon before and after the psalm. The antiphon can simply be one of the key verses of the psalm, and the most basic approach is to sing the antiphon to the same psalm tone as the rest of the psalm. For example, one can use verse 3 of Psalm 100 as the antiphon: L Know that the LORD, | he is God!* It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his | pasture. L Make a joyful noise to the LORD, | all the earth!* Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with | singing! C Know that the LORD, | he is God!* It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his | pasture. L Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his | courts with praise!* Give thanks to him; | bless his name! C For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for- | ever,* and his faithfulness to all gener- | ations. C Glory be to the Father . . . L Know that the LORD, | he is God!* It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his | pasture. 2. Another option is to have the choir or leader sing an antiphon from another source, such as a published edition, or an excerpt from a longer piece of music. For example, from a setting of Psalm 100 by Hans Leo Hassler, here is an excerpt that could be used as a psalm antiphon.
Psalm 100:3
Hans Leo Hassler 1564-1612
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Ideas continued Six Simple
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Organ Music Reviews
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Music: Public domain, edited by Kevin Hildebrand. Congregations and choirs have permission to use this example. 3. Published versions of psalms designed for congregations to sing in alternation with a leader or choir abound. We use the following at Concordia Theological Seminary on a regular basis: • Psallite—Psalm Settings for the Church Year, by Henry Gerike, which includes a CD-ROM of reproducible material (CPH 97-6987, $40.00). (www.cph.org/music) • The Acclamation series from CPH is a set of musical propers for each Sunday. Each set can be downloaded and reprinted as desired for $10.00. Both three-year and one-year propers are represented. • Various compositions from Liturgy Solutions, Inc. (www.liturgysolutions.com). Many of these settings include an easily learned antiphon for congregational singing. The following is an example from the CPH Acclamation series:
From the Acclamation series © 2007 CPH. Used with permission. www.cph.org When considering published psalm settings, some discernment regarding translations is necessary. Some editions use biblical translations that may or may not match a congregation’s hymnal. In that case, a reproducible congregational and choir page may be sufficient to resolve the discrepancy.
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Organ Music Reviews
Six Simple Ideas continued Still other editions use paraphrases of the biblical text. Paraphrases are not a problem, provided they are of good quality, e.g., Martin Luther’s paraphrase of Psalm 130, “From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee.” However, paraphrases are sometimes quite weak and can take the text in a direction far from its original biblical meaning. Note to church musicians: Your pastor loves to assist you in judging the worthiness of music choices! 4. Accompaniment can vary in psalm singing. A confident congregation accustomed to psalm singing, in a room that is supportive of corporate singing, can sing a psalm very well even if it is unaccompanied. Most of the time, however, some accompaniment will help to support and encourage the voices. Usually this will be a light organ registration or judicious use of the piano playing a psalm tone accompaniment from the hymnal. A skilled guitar player could pluck or strum a chord as follows (a simple chord only, no rhythmic strumming patterns): FM
CM BbM
FM
*
5. Instead of, or in addition to, keyboard or guitar accompaniment, handbells or tone chimes could add some tonal interest and support to the singing. A very simple example is: *
6. One final idea is a little musical “icing on the cake.” An adequate number of treble voices could add a vocal descant to the Gloria Patri of the psalm. While the congregation sings the regular psalm tone (LSB Tone B), the treble choir could sing the Gloria Patri to the following descant tone. This practice is best reserved for congregations well accustomed to psalm singing. *
May these ideas enliven your singing of the psalms! The 2014 conference of The Good Shepherd Institute will include further exploration of singing proper portions of the liturgy throughout the church year.
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Recommended Reading and Listening by DANIEL ZAGER
Reading Nancy M. Raabe, Carl F. Schalk: A Life in Song (Concordia Publishing House, 2013), 208 pp. ISBN 9780758641540. [$29.99]
Best known for his hymns and choral music for the church, Carl Schalk is also a scholar, author, editor, and teacher who has done much to shape our understanding of Lutheran church music as Gospel proclamation. Nancy Raabe’s book provides insights into Schalk’s career, yet the book is much more than biography. She summarizes very well his thought and reflections on the history and practice of Lutheran church music, as articulated in his essays, articles, and books, thereby inviting us to reengage those seminal writings. Finally, she devotes four chapters to his hymns and choral music, often providing additional insights to Schalk’s musical proclamation of the Gospel. Reading this book is a rewarding experience, as it reminds us how richly Carl Schalk has shaped our understanding and practice of Lutheran church music.
Robert D. Hawkins, Prelude and Fugue on the Life of Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth, 1845–1925, Shaping American Lutheran Church Music, 1 (Lutheran University Press, 2012), 31 pp. ISBN 9781932688818. [$15.00]
Daughter of the notable theologian Charles Porterfield Krauth and his wife Susan Reynolds, Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth was a church musician as well as a hymn writer and translator. She played an important role as music editor “of one of the more significant Lutheran hymnals of the nineteenth century, the Church Book with Music” (p. 13), which was published in Philadelphia in 1872, with a second edition in 1893. In this book Robert Hawkins sheds light on a little known corner in the history of American Lutheran hymnody. __________________________________________
Carl Schalk spent much of his career as professor of music at Concordia Teachers College, River Forest, Illinois (now Concordia University Chicago). In 2010 the University dedicated its Center for Church Music, which from the outset has been distinguished by the presence of 1) the Carl Schalk Hymnody Collection, which includes over five hundred Lutheran hymnals in English, German, Norwegian, and Swedish, as well as 2) the compositional manuscripts and publications of the late Dr. Richard Hillert, like Schalk a longtime member of the Concordia music faculty. One of the purposes of the Center for Church Music is to publish monographs relating to Lutheran church music, the first three of which are noted here. The recently launched website for the Center is: http:// cuchicago.edu/about-concordia/center-for-churchmusic[cuchicago.edu] __________________________________________
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Recommended
Reading and Listening continued Jon D. Vieker, August Crull and the Story of the Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book 1912, Shaping American Lutheran Church Music, 2
Scott M. Hyslop, The Precious Gift: The Hymns, Carols, and Translations of Henry L. Lettermann, Shaping American Lutheran Church Music, 3
Jon Vieker examines the life and hymnological contributions of Pastor August Crull (1845–1923), compiler and editor of the English-language hymnal Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (1889). In so doing, Vieker explores the broader context of Lutheran hymnody in nineteenth-century America, beginning with C. F. W. Walther’s Kirchengesangbuch für Evangelisch-Lutherische Gemeinden ungeänderter Augsburgischer Confession (1847). Vieker’s historical work is well documented, with extensive footnotes presenting transcriptions of German-language primary source documents, particularly of Crull’s correspondence. Vieker notes in his conclusion the enduring importance of Crull’s work: “We can attribute in no small part the Missouri Synod’s ongoing and widespread use of German Lutheran hymnody from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to August Crull and his commitment to preserving and transitioning this great body of the church’s song into Missouri’s English-speaking future” (p. 71). __________________________________________
Henry Lettermann (1932–1996) spent much of his career as a professor of English (1959–1988) at Concordia Teachers College, River Forest. He also served as a member of the Hymn Text and Music Committee of the LCMS Commission on Worship from 1979 to 1987, playing a significant role in the preparation of Lutheran Worship (1982), to which he contributed translations as well as original hymn texts. In this volume Scott Hyslop gathers the “original hymns, carols, sacred texts, and secular poems” of Lettermann, those works occupying pages 29–98 of this book, with Lettermann’s translations of German hymns filling another ten pages. Brief background notes for each of the hymns, carols, and translations are provided as well. This volume not only documents the poetic contributions of Lettermann, it also provides a perspective on issues of hymnic language in the late 1970s and early 1980s; see especially Lettermann’s essay “Make It New: Lutheran Worship (1982),” which is partially reprinted in this volume. __________________________________________
(Lutheran University Press, 2013), 87 pp. ISBN 9781932688887. [$15.00]
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(Lutheran University Press, 2013), 126 pp. ISBN 9781932688917. [$15.00]
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Recommended
Reading and Listening continued Listening Heinrich Scheidemann, Organ Works (Julia Brown) [vol. 6: 2013, Naxos 8.573118; vol. 7: 2013, Naxos 8.573119]
Julia Brown continues her traversal of Heinrich Scheidemann’s (ca. 1595–1663) organ works, volumes six and seven recorded on the wonderful John Brombaugh organ (his opus 35) at First Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois. Scheidemann, a student of Sweelinck in Amsterdam, succeeded his father, David Scheidemann, as organist at St. Katharinen in Hamburg, where he played a large (four manuals and pedal) instrument that was enlarged in the 1630s by Gottfried Fritzsche. Among the chorale-based works on these two CDs, I find Scheidemann’s settings of “Herr Christ, der einig Gottes Sohn” (LSB 402) (track 7 of vol. 6) and “Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her” (tracks 9–11 of vol. 7) particularly useful. With such settings, Lutheran organists of the twenty-first century benefit from the work of their seventeenthcentury forebears. Scheidemannn’s first two settings of “From Heaven Above,” for example, lend themselves very well to organ verses played in alternation with congregation and choir in this fifteen-stanza hymn (LSB 358). __________________________________________
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Stellwagen-Orgel zu St. Marien, Stralsund, Die Norddeutsche Orgelkunst, vol. 3, Hamburg (Martin Rost) [2013, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm MDG 320 1816-2]
Continuing our attention to the seventeenthcentury North German organ school as centered in Hamburg, Martin Rost’s CD includes works by Scheidemann, his Hamburg colleague Jacob Praetorius (1586–1651), and his successor at St. Katharinen, Johann Adam Reincken (1643– 1722), among others. Matthias Weckmann (ca. 1616–1674), a student of Heinrich Schütz and Jacob Praetorius, later became organist at Hamburg’s St. Jacobikirche. Rost includes three brief settings by Weckmann on “Nun freut euch,” “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” (LSB 556). Again, we find settings that would be useful in alternation practice, as choirs, congregation, and organist together sing Luther’s ten-stanza hymn. __________________________________________
Dieterich Buxehude, Opera Omnia: Vocal Works, 7: Arias, Chorale Settings, Sacred Concertos (Ton Koopman) [2013, Challenge Classics CC 72256]
Many of us know Dieterich Buxtehude (ca. 1637–1707) primarily through his organ works. His sacred vocal music, both Latin- and Germantexted, also merits our attention, and Ton Koopman is recording all of it. Volume 7 consists of two CDs containing eighteen sacred vocal works. While few of these works will likely find their way into our Divine Services today, these discs are pure listening pleasure, giving us a sense of why the young J. S. Bach undertook his lengthy walk to Lübeck in 1705 to hear Buxtehude’s music during the famed Advent concerts at St. Mary’s church. __________________________________________
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Reading and Listening continued Johann Philipp Krieger, Musicalischer Seelen-Frieden
Philip Stopford, Do Not Be Afraid: Choral Music of Philip Stopford
Johann Philipp Krieger (1649–1725) worked in Weissenfels as Kapellmeister from 1680 until his death in 1725. While we know from his own meticulous catalogue of works performed at the Weissenfels court that he composed some two thousand cantatas, fewer than one hundred have survived. His Musicalischer Seelen-Frieden (Nürnberg, 1697) is his only publication of sacred music, containing twenty sacred concertos scored for soprano, two violins, and basso continuo. Three of them are included on this CD, based on Psalms 31, 68, and 65. These works are highly sectional, with a close relationship of text and music, here beautifully sung by Dorothee Mields, with the instrumentalists of the ensemble Hamburger Ratsmusik led by Simone Eckert. __________________________________________
Philip Stopford is one of the best of a new generation of church music composers from the United Kingdom making significant contributions to the wonderful tradition of English choral music. Previous CDs of Stopford’s music have featured his own Ecclesium Choir with the composer conducting. This most recent CD features the Truro Cathedral Choir and a particularly fine organist in Luke Bond. Highlights of this recording include Stopford’s two settings of Psalm 100: his “Episcopal Jubilate” and the “Renaissance Jubilate.” His setting of Psalm 119:33–39, “Teach Me, O Lord,” is particularly beautiful. In this country some of Stopford’s music is being published by MorningStar Music Publishers. __________________________________________
(Dorothee Mields, Simone Eckert, Hamburger Ratsmusik) 2013, [Carus 83.372]
Johann Sebastian Bach, Lutheran Masses (The Sixteen, Harry Christophers)
(Truro Cathedral Choir: Christopher Gray, director; Luke Bond, organ) [2013, Regent REGCD 400]
Arkiv Music www.arkiv.com
[vol. 1: 2013, Coro COR 16115; vol. 2: 2014, Coro COR 16120]
Carus Verlag www.carus-verlag.com
During Bach’s time in Leipzig it was customary to sing a concerted “Missa”—the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass Ordinary—on the primary festivals of the church year. Bach’s settings (BWV 233–236) of the Kyrie and Gloria consist mainly of movements from his own cantatas, borrowed and reworked to accommodate their new Latin texts, an example of “parody” technique. Harry Christophers uses eight singers (two on a part) and provides superb performances of these works, which are too little heard in our time. __________________________________________
Challenge Classics www.challengerecords.com Concordia Publishing House www.cph.org Coro www.thesixteen.com Lutheran University Press www.lutheranupress.org Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm www.mdg.de Naxos www.naxos.com Regent www.regent-records.co.uk
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