Worshiping with Instruments: Music for Lent and Easter

We are fond of quoting Psalm 150. All those instruments —trumpet, harp and lyre, flute and strings, even tambourine and cymbals—paint a sound-picture of orchestral dimensions in Old Testament worship.

Unfortunately the way in which we "make a joyful noise" in our own churches often bears little resemblance to that sound picture from the Psalms. Perhaps that's because incorporating the use of instruments into our liturgy takes a bit of "doing." And "doing" it well requires acquainting ourselves with repertoire, carefully planning liturgy, and rehearsing. In other words, worshiping with musical instruments demands lots of extra time from worship leaders and church musicians.

But, as many churches have discovered, such time is well spent: instruments can effectively deepen and broaden the communicative power of music. It's not impossible, for example, to celebrate Easter without trumpets. But we celebrate more fully with them. Trumpets ringing out triumphantly stir the whole person. They remind us that our whole selves—not only our souls but also our bodies (with real hands that play instruments), not only our intelligence and will but also our senses and aesthetic perception—will participate in Christ's resurrection. Instruments touch our emotions, giving a new depth of feeling to our worship. Imagine how a gong tolling during a Maundy Thursday or Good Friday Tenebrae service might deepen the somberness of Lent, reminding us of the inexorable march of foreordained events leading to Christ's sacrifice. Or think of the poignancy a cello might contribute to a choral presentation of "Ah, Dearest Jesus." Consider the brilliance that a trumpet descant adds to a triumphant hymn or the magnificent full sound of choir, congregation, instruments, and organ uniting in a hymn concertato. Instruments help express the content of liturgy—giving it deeper sound and feeling. They also provide another opportunity for using members' gifts—not to showcase the members but to enhance the corporate worship of the community of believers.

Planning with Care

Ensuring that the use of musical instruments will truly enhance the liturgy requires careful attention to practical details. Knowledge, communication, planning, and rehearsal are essential.

The initiator may be the organist, choir director, minister, member of the liturgy committee, or any other person involved in planning a service. This person should be acquainted with the repertoire of music that involves instruments appropriate for worship and with the names and abilities of instrumentalists in the congregation. He or she should be willing to communicate openly with others involved in planning the service so that the music selected fits meaningfully into the liturgy as a whole.

Where should music be placed in the liturgy? Wherever it enhances and carries forward the flow of the liturgy. In other words, the liturgy should not include "special music"—a label that makes the presentation a performance, focusing on the players. Instead music should flow with and give new depth to the liturgy.

The music for instruments and key-hymns to the congregation. Music for instruments and solo or choral voices can be placed wherever the text and mood of the music enhance the content of the service.

Once the piece is selected and its placement in the service determined, the instrumentalists must be contacted—preferably weeks in advance. It is a rare accident for a piece to turn out well with only a few days' notice and a last-minute rehearsal. The parts should be delivered to the musicians well before the first rehearsal—with tempo, bowing or articulation, breathing points, and other details already marked in. It is helpful to have an early run-through of the piece with all musicians involved to set tempo and phrasing; the instrumentalists can then continue their private practice with these details in mind. At least two rehearsals with all the musicians involved should be scheduled during the two weeks before the service. It might be helpful here to note an idio-syncracy of many choirs: in their first rehearsal with instruments, the singers often pay such interested attention tion to the instrumental contribution that they neglect their own singing! So it makes sense to have the instrumentalists play their part through once or twice without any singing to acquaint the choir with the instrumental parts and to satisfy the singers' curiosity.

How shall such music be announced? Titles can be put into the service outline in the bulletin. Other information about the piece, especially textual associations, can also be included, perhaps in the announcements section. If a piece is based on a song that appears in the congregational hymnal, that information should be noted so that worshipers can refer to the text. Texts that do not appear in the hymnal should be printed in the bulletin.

The names of musicians should be included too—either at the end of the order of worship or in the announcements section. Announcing names from the pulpit or printing names in the body of the liturgy would again call attention to "performance" and to individuals rather than to the content of the liturgy and the community of worshiping believers.

On the following two pages is a bibliography of some excellent "use-tested" music, including compositions for instruments and keyboard, selections for instruments and voices, and hymn concertatos. Generally the music recommended is comfortable for senior high school students, college students, and adults. It is music specifically appropriate for Reformed worship in Lent and on Easter.

Instruments can effectively deepen and broaden the communicative power of music.

Karen A. DeMol is chairman of the music department at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa.

 

MUSIC FOR LENT AND EASTER

Tune:CHRIST 1ST ERSTANDEN

Title:Christ the Lord is Risen Again, Christ the Lord Ascends to Reign

Publication: Christ Has Risen, Hanssler, 11.104—$5.20, parts ea. $.90, Alto and tenor recorder, string quartet

Composer: KuKcK



Tune: CHRIST 1ST ERSTANDEN

Title: Christ the Lord is Risen Again, Christ the Lord Ascends to Reign

Publication: Resurrection Suite, Flammer, HF5014—$3.73, Scored for organ alone

Composer: Alec Wyton    

Notes: Effective with a bass clef instrument (cello, bassoon, trombone) playing the hymn tune. Three movements.

Tune: DEO GRACIAS (AGINCOURT)

Title: O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High

Publication: Wedding Music Book II, Augsburg, 11-9524—$6.75 trumpet and organ

Composer: David Johnson

Notes: Contemporary polyphonic style.

Tune: EASTER HYMN (LYRA DAVIDICA)

Title: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

Publication: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, Hope, 900—$1.95, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and organ

Composer: Austin Lovelance

Notes: Introduction for organ, three "verses" with the traditional harmonization for alternating brass and organ, a fourth verse with florid organ accompaniment, and a short Amen. Easy.

Tune: EASTER HYMN (LYRA DAVIDICA)

Title: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

Publication: Easter Music, Vol. 1, Augsburg, 11-9111—$6.00, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, and organ       

Composer: David Johnson

Tune: EASTER HYMN (LYRA DAVIDICA)

Title: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

Publication: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Concordia, 97-5936—$5.00, 2 trumpets and organ

Composer: Raymond H. Haan

Notes: Fantasy.

Tune: GAUDEAMUS PARITER  (AVE VIRGO)

Title: Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain

Publication: Easter Music, Vol. II, Augsburg, 11-9112—$4.00, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, and organ

Composer: David Johnson    

Tune: GAUDEAMUS PARITER  (AVE VIRGO)

Title: Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain

Publication: Three Hymns of Praise for Eastertide, Concordia, 97-5432—$4.25, 2  trumpets, 2 trombones, and organ 

Composer: S.Drummond Wolff

Notes: Largely traditional harmonization for alternating and combining organ and brass.

Tune: HERZLICH TUT (PASSION CHORALE)

Title: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Publication: Christ Doth End in Triumph in Four Festive Ensembles Series, Belwin, GB00122—$4.95, 3  trumpets, organ

Composer: J.S. Bach, ed. Campbell-Watson

Notes: Easy brass parts, consisting of the chorale harmonization; florid organ accompaniment.

Tune: LLANFAIR

Title: Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise

Publication: Three Hymns of Praise for Eastertide, Concordia 97-5432—$4.25, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and organ      

Composer: S. Drummond Wolff

Notes: Largely traditional harmonization for alternating and combining organ and brass.

Tune: O FILII ET FILIAE

Title: O Sons and Daughters of the King, Ye Sons and Daughters of the King

Publication: Fantasy on "O Sons and Daughters", Augsburg, 11-9164—$3.95, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, organ

Composer: Walter Pelz

Notes: Challenging and lengthy piece built through the development of fragments of the tune. Difficult.

Tune: O FILII ET FILIAE

Title: O Sons and Daughters of the King, Ye Sons and Daughters of the King

Publication: Resurrection Suite, Flammer, HF 5014—$3.75, Scored for organ alone

Composer: Alec Wyton

Notes: Effective with a bass clef instrument (cello, bassoon, trombone) playing the hymn tune.    

Tune: O FILII ET FILIAE

Title: O Sons and Daughters of the King, Ye Sons and Daughters of the King

Publication: Variations cm "OJUii el Filiae", Concordia, 97 5854—$5.50, 2 trumpets and organ

Composer: Raymond H. Haan

Notes: Seven variations.

Tune: ST. THEODULPH

Title: All Glory, Laud, and Honor

Publication: 5 Chorale Preludes for Organ and Two Instruments, Vol. 1, Concordia, 97-5472—$7.25, 2 treble instruments and keyboard

Composer: Donald Busarow

Notes: Moderately contemporary settings in which one instrument always carries the unaltered hymn tune. Remarkably useful for the varying resources of the congregation in that the instrumental parts are printed for both C and for B-Hat instruments, allowing them to be played by various combinations of flute, oboe, recorder, clarinet, trumpet, violin; the keyboard part, having no pedal, can be played by piano or organ.

Tune: VICTORY

Title: The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done

Publication: Easter Music, Vol. I. Augsburg, 11-9111—$6.00, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, and organ

Composer: David Johnson

Notes: Challenging and lengthy piece built through the development of fragments of the tune. Difficult.

Tune: VICTORY

Title: The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done

Publication: Fanfare for Easter, Flammer, LD 5000-$6.50, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, organ

Composer: Robert Elmore

Notes: Difficult   

Tune: VRUCHTEN

Title: This Joyful Eastertide

Publication: 5 Chorale Preludes for Organ and Two InstrumenLs, Vol. II, Concordia, 97-5569—$8.00, 2 treble instruments and keyboard

Composer: Donald Busarow

Notes: (see description under ST. THEODULPH)

Tune: VRUCHTEN

Title: This Joyful Eastertide

Publication: 5 Resurrection Suite, Flammer, HF 5014—$3.75, Scored for organ alone

Composer: Alec Wyton

Notes: Effective with a bass clef instrument (cello, bassoon, trombone) playing the hymn tune. Three movements.

Tune: VRUCHTEN

TitleT: his Joyful Eastertide

Publication: Three Hymns of Praise for Eastertide, Concordia, 97-5432—$4.25, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and organ        

Composer: S. Drummond Wolff

Notes: Largely traditional harmonization for alternating and combining organ and brass.

Tune: AUF, AUF, MEIN HERZ

Publication: Awake, My Heart, with Gladness from, Three Easter Chorales, Concordia, 98-2116—$.40, SATB choir, 2 descanting instruments in C, optional keyboard      

Compose: rJohann Cruger

Tune: CRUCIFER

Title: Lift High the Cross, Concordia, 97-2468—$.65 SATB, 97-5548—$4.40 score, 97-5549—$6.50 instruments, SATB choir, congregation, organ, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani

Composer: Carl Schalk

Tune: DUKE STREET

Title: I Know ThaT My Redeemer Lives, Concordia, 97-1462—$.40 SATB    97-4434—$3.50 score, 97-4440—$.75 trumpet, SATB choir, congregation, organ, 1 trumpet

Composer: Paul Bunjus

Tune: EASTER HYMN (MORGEN)

Publication: 5 Easter Procession: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Augsburg, 11-1768—$.45, SATB choir, congregation, organ, 3 trumpets

Composer: Paul Fetler

Tune: EASTER HYMN (MORGEN)

Publication: 5 Easter Procession: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Augsburg, 11-1769—$.45, SATB choir, 3 trumpets, organ, congregation                   

Composer: Paul Fetler

Tune: EASTER HYMN (MORGEN)

Publication: 5 Easter Procession: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, GIA, G-2455—$.90, SATB choir, congregation, organ, 2  trumpets, 2 trombones       

Composer: Powell

Tune: EASTER HYMN (MORGEN)

Publication: Easter Procession: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Concordia, 98-2050—$.60 SATB choir, congregation, organ, 2  trumpets

Composer: S. Drummond Wolf

Tune: ERSCHIENEN 1ST DER HERRLICH TAG

Publication: That Easter Day with Joy Was Bright from Three Easter Chorales        Concordia, 98-2116—$.40, SATB choir, 2 descanting instruments in C, optional keyboard     

Composer: Johann Paul Fetler

Tune: GELOBT SEI GOTT

Publication: Easter Hymn: Good Christian Men, Rejoice and Sing, Augsburg, 11-1769—$.45, SATB choir, congregations, organ, 3  trumpets     

Composer: Powell 

Tune: HERZLIEBSTER JESU

Title: Ah, Holy Jesus, Augsburg, 11-0302—$.65, SA voices, cello.

Composer: S. Drummond Wolf

Tune: JESUS, MEINE ZUVERSICHT

Title: Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense from Three Easter Chorales, Concordia, 98-2116—$.40, SATB choir, 2 descanting instruments in C, optional keyboard

Composer: Johann Cruger  

Tune: LLANFAIR

Publication: GIA, G-1731—$.70, SATB choir, 2 trumpets, organ, congregation

Composer: Noel Geomanne

Note: Includes texts for "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" (Easter) and "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise" (Ascension Day)

Tune: PASSION CHORALE

Publication: 0 Sacred Head Now Wounded, Agape, AG 7149—$.35, SATB choir, woodwinds (2 flutes and 2 oboes) or organ                   

Composer: G. Alan Smith arr.

Tune: PASSION CHORALE

Publication: Hymns and Descants for the Psalter Hvmnal, Vol. I-IV—$3.00 ea.       Available from Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA 51250, SATB choir, congregation, organ       

Composer: Dale Grotenhuis

Tune: ST. DENIO

Publication: We Welcome Glad Easter, Fred Bock, BGO 365—$.40, 2-part chorus (SA, mixed, or TB), 2 trumpets

Composer: John A. Richardson

TuneST. MAGNUS

Publication: The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns  GIA, G-2235—$.70, SATB choir, congregation, organ     

Composer: Carl Schalk 

Tune: ST. THEODULPH

Title: All Glory, Laud and Honor, Concordia, 97-4513—$5.25 SATB     97-4514—$.50 Trumpet, Junior or SATB choir, congregation,              trumpet 

Composer: Paul Bunjes

Tune: VRUCHTEN

Title: This Joyful Eastertide, Belwin-Mills, GCMR-2970—$.75, SATB choir, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones

Composer: Alec Wyton  

Tune: VRUCHTEN

Publication: This Joyful Eastertide, CRC Publications, 243700—$5.95 score and parts with permission to photocopy parts congregation and/or choir, organ, strings  (Vln I & II, Via, Vc)

Composer: David Holmbo

Tune: WINCHESTER NEW

Publication: Ride On, Ride On in Majesty, Concordia, 98-2528—$60 SATB         98-2529—$3.75 Brass, SATB choir, congregation, organ, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones             

Composer: Carl Schalk

Tune: WINCHESTER NEW

Publication: SATB Choir Settings from thePsalter Hymnal Vol. I-IV—$3.00ea. Available from Dordt College Sioux Center, IA 51235, SATB choir, congregation, organ     

Composer: Dale Grotenhuis

Karen DeMol is co-chair of the worship committee of First Christian Reformed Church (Sioux Center) and professor of music at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Reformed Worship 6 © December 1987, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Used by permission.