Help Yourself V: "Saved Alone"

Nothing I have done is as celebrated as a little arrangement I created for Melissa Givens and her inaugural recording project, let the rain kiss you. It's the hymn by Horatio G. Spafford, "It is well with my soul," tune Ville du Havre by Philip P. Bliss.

This hymn has endured, and the story behind the text is probably well known by now. Spafford's wife and four daughters were on a trans-Atlantic crossing when their ship collided with another, and the four daughters drowned. Mrs. Spafford's message in her telegram is now echoed in sermons, blogs, Sunday School lessons, and moving stories everywhere: "Saved alone."

This arrangement seeks to illustrate the calm of the ocean and life's troubled waters, while giving soloist and organist more to negotiate than quarter notes. Links are below to four versions for high and low voices with organ or piano accompaniment. Click, print, use, and please enjoy.

It is well (high voice with organ)

It is well (low voice with organ)

It is well (high voice with piano)

It is well (low voice with piano)

“There’s a place for us…”

My childhood church introduced PowerPoint to their services many years ago, after I had left for grad school. I can still hear my mother now, yelling at the minister of music: “I learned to read music singing hymns in church and singing in children’s choirs! How are young people supposed to learn it now? They won’t know anything about music if all we do is show some words on a screen. And our children’s choirs will die. There will be no one coming up the ranks any more. What will we do then?”

She was right, and she wasn't alone. It has been happening for years now. Children's and youth choirs everywhere are wastelands. I have seen them die at the hands of soccer, gymnastics, cheerleading, the PowerPoint screens, the cultish appeal of the youth minister, and a general refusal to reappear on the church grounds on Sunday afternoon/evening. In one church I know of, the youth choir was reduced to ashes in a moment because the youth minister wanted that Sunday time from the youth choir director for other purposes AND got the pastor’s blessing for it.

There's more. In general, you can hear contemporary Christian music at any Chick Fil-A. But has anyone noticed that for months now, Chick Fil-A has been playing the accompaniment tracks with the vocals removed? What’s that about? And has anyone noticed how utterly trite, boring, vapid, and profoundly silent that music is without some words attached? Hour after hour, it’s the same four chords over and over again, the same strumming of guitars, the same beat. Same, same, same, same.

There there’s American Idol. And America’s Got Talent. And halftime shows. And Grammy performances. It’s not encouraging.

But there is always hope. People do grow weary of the same diet week after week. People do seek deeper meaning in their church music. I’m seeing it happen in all churches and across all ages. My church music students are a prime example. Nine years ago, my class of twelve had never heard of a hymnal. Today, a class of eight have all heard of hymnals and actually know some hymns. One student who played in a praise band said that although he gets an emotional and spiritual charge out of playing there, the music itself is repetitive and completely unsatisfying. By the time he graduated, he was mixed up over what he wanted to do. But he learned about all the options while he was here. And that’s the goal – learn and start down a path!

I believe we’ll eventually settle in the knowledge that there is room for all, even if many bands and organists wish each other would just go away. There will always be a need for organists, orchestra directors, and classically trained church musicians. You know, people like me. There will always be a need for musicians who are also ministers, not just ministers who are also amateur musicians. We’re human, you know – we all seek deeper meaning, eventually.

Intimidating!

Recently I posted on Facebook, “I am NOT intimidating.” Then a day or two later, I posted, “Do I have to respond to emails from students addressed to ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’?” At that point one person posted back, “Is there, perchance, a subtle and unnoticed connection between this rhetorical question and the earlier assertion that Thou art not intimidating?”

Busted.

So now I’ll amend my first statement to say, “I may BE intimidating, but I never FEEL intimidating.” Then upon further reflection, one has to determine if the intimidation is coming from the person or from the musician. But then again, I don’t feel intimidating playing either role. So what is it? I do have a rather exacting work ethic in my performing. Is that it? I have exacting procedures I want students to follow in their practicing at first. That? I keep the office clean. That? I don’t live out of my car. That? I dress to impress. That? I remember dates, names, facts, jokes. That?

And I do NOT enjoy being addressed as “Hi” in an email. That much respect I do demand, but it’s related more to good grammar and writing skills than to personal/professional respect. After all, I’ll still respond to the email and not even mention the faux pas of calling me “Hello.”

I remember one choir member saying upon my departure from a certain church that she respected me so very much as a musician. I remember how moved I was to hear that from her, and I appreciated it so much. In a lot of ways, I’m just doing as I was taught. But in others, I suppose there is some innate prowess that can’t be explained. And I certainly don’t want to assume the shucks-folks-I’m-speechless persona nonsense I bewailed in an earlier post.

Well. All this won’t be solved here today. But it has put into motion a closer look at this accusation of “intimidating” I have received over the years. Meanwhile, don’t worry. I’ll never bite your head off, unless your name is <names withheld>.

Help Yourself IV

Here is an arrangement of mine. Click, print, and use freely. And good luck with it! :)

Elijah Overture