The Practical Organist
February 2017
Love Letters
Lo, the winter storms are here. What’s the weather report between you and your congregation? Sunny? Partly cloudy? Thunderstorms? Surely, it’s not as cold as it is outside. Even so, there too many stories of contentious and even adversarial relationships floating in guild circles. Some organists feel abused by their congregation. Just as bad, some congregations regret the day their organist found the start button on the console. If you consider the sole purpose of the church, to extend love and compassion to a hurting world, such stories should never be. Let’s consider how different things would be, if the gentle winds of Love were to prevail, like the spring we are just beginning to long for.
Love would give us ears to hear what the congregation responds to without having to be told. Love would give us hearts humble enough to choose music that uplifts them in worship, regardless of their “cultural level,” which is probably beneath mine. Love would enable us to forgive their many trespasses into my territory, my area of expertise. It would salve our wounds even often bear, wounds from words that were spoken with the best of intentions..
February is the month of love, with Valentine’s day competing for liturgical attention with the allure of the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. Love letters will be crossing every which way in the next few weeks. I hope you get at least one. Have you ever received a love letter from your congregation? If not, this one is for you:
Dear Misunderstood Organist, You may not know me very well, if at all. I sit in the back of the church at the early service, so I can slip out as soon as the service is over. I really need to be there, since I live a shellshocked life, but I don’t really fit in with the church crowd and would rather not have to meet them when I am down. I get a lot out of coming, and I like your music. I would never dream of seeking you out, so I am writing this note to thank you for making me feel better when I come.
You are there every week, and I know you have to work hard to learn all that music. I secretly admire you, because you stuck with music lessons, when I quit. You never let the little mistakes in your playing get you down, even when I see others wince or roll their eyes. If you aren’t perfect, then maybe there is room for me in heaven, too. I love to watch you bob along with the music, and sometimes I get a glimpse of the little smile you have when you play the postlude. There must be such joy in playing. I am glad to get a little of it for my week ahead.
Sometimes I am concerned that people take you for granted, that you will always be there, expected to make whatever sacrifices of time and energy and good will it takes to make it all look so easy in worship. Who knows what it is really like to work behind the scenes with our pastor, the church council and the choir director? Do they appreciate you? I wonder. If no one ever says it out loud, thank you. Please forgive those who let another week go by without expressing their appreciation.
Everyone is so caught up in their own worlds, busy with their own challenges and their own worries. If everyone in our congregation would give it a thought, next Sunday they would all be in a line to shake your hand and give you the gratitude you deserve. They won’t be, but maybe this little note will let you know that they do care more than they let on. As my mother used to say, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down when you can fly like an eagle.” You are my eagle, and this turkey needs to see you flying when I come to church next week. Yours truly, Nadine
The church is one place where the many dimensions of love come together. Right after Valentine’s Day, we will turn toward Lent, where the deepest dimensions of love are ready for exploration. Are you looking for something new to play this year? Here are several books to consider.
Lenten music calls for a unique combination of depth, darkness and comfort. Familiar hymns are often the best way to help people find the unseen spiritual path that leads from the despair of isolation toward the ultimate glory of new life on Easter morning. Anna Laura Page’s And Through Eternity I’ll Sing On (Lorenz 70/1904) is a fine example of sensitive writing, offering conservative, but not boring harmonies that support her creative settings of nine of the most familiar African American spirituals. It’s written in two-stave format with pedal parts included. Please don’t automatically discount it because of this! The countermelody in “Wondrous Love” is simply gorgeous. “He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word” suffers. Her walking bass “Surely He Died on Calvary” is as ear-pleasing as it can be.
Lent is also well served by Franklin Ashdown’s Adagios of Hope and Peace (Augsburg 9781506413587). Eight familiar hymns are dressed in beautifully designed patterns that rise and fall in support of the melody. Ashdown has an interesting way of nesting the chorale within the supporting harmonies to achieve a restful flow, reminding me of Vaughan Williams string compositions. Although he intended this volume for memorial services, there is a need for “Abide with Me,” “Be Still My Soul,” “Rock of Ages,” “The King of Love,” and “If You But Trust God to Guide You,” during the Lenten season, as well. Ashdown has also included two two of his own free compositions here. Both are useful when non-hymn tune material is desired.
Music that speaks across the generations are what make classics The Classics. We have to make sure that our arrangements of them attract everyone’s ears. Gerald Near’s new arrangement of “Deep River” (MorningStar 10-37) fills this expectation beautifully. It’s not too literal, not too sentimental, and not too dramatic; yet it will lead your over-stimulated congregation to the place of deep peace and comfort where healing and hope live. A new arrangement of “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” by Robert G. Farrell (Paraclete 01617) takes this normally subdued melody into a musically satisfying place. Using a steady rhythmic underlay, a lovely countermelody, and truly gorgeous harmonies, Farrell’s arch climaxes and recedes without ever becoming harsh or overbearing, and it remains within moderate technical demands.
Postludes in Lent can pose special problems, don’t you think? You want to send them out on a high note, but how can you maintain a little restraint at the same time? Robert Lau’s solution is Lamb of God Most Holy: Five Postludes for Lent (MorningStar 10-372). Each of his two-page pieces limit themselves to early intermediate technical demands. He is an expert at keeping the chorales at the forefront and at providing interesting counterpoints. Included in this volume are “Forty Days and Forty Nights,” “Glory Be to Jesus,” O Lamb of God, Most Holy,” “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” and “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle.
The next volume for your consideration is Lenten Postludes for Organ (MorningStar 10-362). This is a substantial compilation of previously published works. It will be very useful to the advanced intermediate organist. Representative chorale preludes include Michael Burkhardt’s famous “The God of Abraham Praise,” David Schelat’s “When Jesus Wept,” a very sinuous “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” by James Biery, and Charles Callahan’s “O Day of Peace.” The publishers have also brought back from the past an unexpected “Out of the Depths” from Johann Kuhnau’s First Biblical Sonata. There are a total of ten pieces here—more than you need for one Lenten season.
Lent is coming, coming indeed. February is the time to prepare. But, before you dive into the fray, do one thing for yourself. Take a moment to write your own love letter to your congregation. What would you like to say? What would you like them to know about you and your work among them? Go ahead, write it down. You don’t have to send it. Just make sure they hear love in your playing. That’s a real Valentine gift only you can give.