Recording offers new way to experience Holy Week readings

READINGS FOR WEEK MUSIC EDITION Holy congregation. A 12-foot-high scaffolding was erected in the center of the church to provide a platform for the director to lead the musicians and singers who were situated in the balcony with the organ.

The hymn recording session was done in one day, with a re-take time scheduled for a second day after tracks were reviewed. The hymns were recorded using a variety of mixtures of voices, instruments, a cappella singing, solos and small groups. One hymn even uses guitar accompaniment.

The original idea for this collection was to include a visual component to create a personal DVD experience. The art element of this DVD version proved to be more of a challenge to produce, so the project lay dormant for many years.

In 2017, Jill brought the recordings to the attention of the Interprovincial Board of Communication, who were excited by the opportunity to produce and publish this audio collection. The original files were reviewed; additional recordings at College Hill Moravian

“We use the recordings for our Holy Week worship services. We are a small congregation, and this allowed us to sing along...” — Bruce W., New Jersey

January/February 2020 Church in 2018 supplemented the earlier recordings. The IBOC’s Mike Riess worked to master these recording and prepare them for duplication.

25 Using the set Now, more than 13 years later, this CD project has come to fruition. We hope that this audio version will offer a feeling of congregational participation in the Readings for Holy Week that can be useful to small churches, nursing homes, prayer groups and home listeners.

The five CDs cover the different days of Passion Week: Disc 1 includes Saturday, Sunday and Monday; Disc 2, Tuesday; Disc 3, Thursday Evening; Disc 4, Friday; and Disc 5, Resurrection. Each includes the complete narration and hymns that make up the printed editions of Readings for Holy Week. Narration sections and hymns appear on separate tracks to allow listeners to access them in a variety of ways. Hymns are listed in bold, and track listings include page numbers for the current printed Music and Regular editions of Readings for Holy Week to assist users in finding the hymn or narration they wish to access.

Readings for Holy Week editions, including the new audio CD set, are available from the Interprovincial Board of Communication at store.moravian.org; you can also contact Jill at 1.800.732.0591. The CD-set is $25.00. n