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Musical
Notes . . .
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This is the first
in a series of articles entitled, “Musical Notes”, that hopefully will
address and provide insight into the multifaceted music program at Christ
Episcopal Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
It has happened on a
routine basis for as long as I can remember being a church choir musician.
The time of year didn’t matter; neither did the geographical location of the
church. Although I am a “cradle Episcopalian”, I’ve recognized that it
occurs in all of the Protestant churches in which I’ve attended. It occurs
with the young as well as with our more “seasoned” congregants. It can be
as predictable as watching the grains of sand slowly descend from the upper
into the lower chamber of a 3-minute timer, or it can catch you off guard as
quickly as a curved ball thrown by major league baseball pitcher Roger
Clemens. You ask what is the “it” to which I am referring? My answer is
very simple. I am referring to the comments that are routinely expressed to
me that reflect on the hymns that are selected for any given service. I
appreciate hearing comments that are positive and with which you may choose
to share a personal perspective. I even appreciate hearing from individuals
that don’t particularly find a tune (familiar or unfamiliar) or text
to be of great significance. My on-going challenge is to find musical
literature that appeals to the diversity found within our congregation. To
keep from creating a dissertation on the current musical practices found
within the Episcopal Church, I want to narrow my focus quite a bit. For
now, I will address one simple question: How are hymns chosen for our
services?
The first part of
this process isn’t complex. I meet with the clergy, and the liturgical
planning team. We list any and all liturgical themes that will occur, and
begin the process of planning resources that will speak to the selected
themes. My next step is to discuss the themes or topics with our other
staff musicians: Betty Debban, our organist, Lisa Butler,
Director of Youth Choirs, and Janice Cummings, our Bell Choir
Director.
We are fortunate to
have a resource entitled, “The Episcopal Musician’s Handbook”, which
I find extremely useful. The Living Church Foundation publishes this
handbook yearly. Within its pages, I will find the dates, liturgical
observances, collect, customary color, scriptural theme or excerpt, proper
preface, Sunday lectionary, and suggested hymn listings from the
Revised Common Lectionary for each Sunday of the church year. Currently,
we are approaching the close of Year B, 2005-2006, of the three-year Sunday
lectionary cycle. For particular feast and saints’ days, the same material
is used in all three years. The hymns usually carry the themes of the
collect, lessons, or gospel. Sometimes a sermon theme, or unique event
(such as a baptism, or a national holiday) will cause me to select a
hymn/hymns that may not appear on the suggested usage list.
Our tapestry of
musical resources currently involves hymns chosen from The Hymnal 1982,
as well from the sanctioned supplements, Wonder, Love, and Praise,
and Lift Every Voice and Sing II. In addition, we have recently
acquired a couple of copies of the newest supplement, Voices Found.
In the back of the planning handbook is a hymn-use checklist from which I
record the date of each hymn sung. Hopefully I can provide a quick answer
for anyone who may lament, “We never/always sing that hymn!” At other times,
I’ve heard that a particular hymn tune was difficult to vocally maneuver, or
that a text did/didn’t provided great insight or reflection to a specific
theme.
Since I normally
complete my planning on a quarterly basis, it may be fun to provide the
upcoming musical material on our website. I’ll check with our technical
gurus on this possibility.
In closing, I want
to leave you with this thought: It is my goal to provide the best musical
literature that allows the word of God, as well as the words and music from
the people of God, to come alive in our worship. Future articles will
hopefully appeal to you in some fashion, and expand your comprehension of
the unique relationship found within music and worship. Feel free to share
your comments after a service, through e-mail or simply jot a note and place
it in my church mailbox!
In harmony,
Kevin L. Benford
Director Of Choral Music
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