Music in our Worship: Prelude and Postlude

Music in our Worship: The Prelude and Postlude (Voluntaries)
 
Ever wonder why we begin most of our worship with a prelude and end with a postlude? 
 
In very general terms, the history of preludes and postludes in worship, is quite simple.  We inherited our tradition of preludes and postludes (also called voluntaries) from a 17th century Dutch tradition of concertizing before and after worship.  Church organs at that time were owned by the city council, and organists were hired by the city. At the early part of the Reformation in the Netherlands, there was no place for music at all in Dutch Reformed church services, but since the Dutch people enjoyed organ music, and organs were still in churches from days of Catholicism, the city hired organists to play concerts before and after worship.  Over time, this tradition voluntaries has developed and morphed into one that is quite the opposite of its beginnings.  For we no longer view these voluntaries as performances that are outside of worship, but as integral offering and part of our worship, a time of centering ourselves in God and God’s goodness.
 
I invite you to consider these voluntaries as a sacred bridge that brings us from our worldly context into the presence of God, or in the case of the closing voluntary, one that sends us back into the world to live out our calling as children of God.  These bridges are firmly anchored in holy worship on one side and our earthly world on the other.  They prepare us for the consideration of sacred things.  They help send us on our way to do the work of Christ in the world.  
 
For us, music in worship is never about performance, but about an offering of praise, thanksgiving, penitence, or petition to God.  While we often are often caught up in the beauty of the music or the words, the purpose is not to bring attention to the musicians or singers but to point to the Creator who makes all things beautiful and inspires creativity in us all.  For me, this what makes offering and leading music in worship a very holy and sacred thing.  Before each service our choirs pray together this prayer, as do I each time I don my white surplice for worship.  It helps reminds about this holy and sacred duty.
 
            Bless us O Lord your servants who minister in your temple;
            Grant that what we sing on our lips, we may believe in our hearts;
            And what we believe in our hearts, we may show forth in our lives.
            Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  (The Choristers Prayer)
 
Soli Deo Gloria!
Dr. Ben Keseley, Minister of Music
 
 
St. George’s Favorite Hymn Project: 
 
We are collecting YOUR favorite hymns.  Submit yours today! 
 
Tell us what it is here and why.
 

The Hymns We Sing

The Hymns We Sing
A Saint George’s Favorite Hymn Project
 
Hymnody is a powerful force in the life of God’s people; one that brings an assembly of individuals together in one unified voice.  When we sing together, we are physically joining together on one wave of sound, sharing the same harmonic series of pitches, even when we sing in harmony.  We sing not only with our voices, but with our bodies, our minds, and our spirits.  When lift our voices in song we are participating in a community building activity; a form of meditation, a form of proclamation, and a form of prayer.  When we sing we join in the heart and spirit of poetry, with its rich images and its deep meaning.
 
Our repertoire of hymnody forms a powerful part of our personal memory, which in turn, becomes part of our communal memory.   Hymns often become our favorites because they are sung at times of high emotion.  In fact, many of our hymns were conceived at such times for the hymn writers.  For generations, our hymns have been sung at baptisms and funerals, weddings and anniversaries, in times of joy and sorrow, and indeed in many other contexts across time and space.  These emotional experiences are seared deeply into our memory and more importantly are joined together with others in community. 
 
These become an integral part of the entire fabric of the Body of Christ. Church musician and composer David Cherwien says, “The act of singing these songs becomes a blessing, healing, reassuring and energizing force for the heart and soul of a congregation.”
 
I’d like to know your favorite hymns.  For these next few weeks I will be collecting them for use in our worship.  Please send me your favorite hymn by filling out this form. And, if you care to, please share with me why this particular hymn is your favorite.  I’d be interested in hearing your story and sharing with others if you so choose.
 
Soli Deo Gloria!
 
Ben Keseley
Music Director

Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654 • J.S. Bach

Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654 • J.S. Bach
“Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness” ­– Hymnal #339
 
Our prelude on Sunday is based on Johannes Crüger's chorale Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, which is also our hymn during the administration of Communion.  Crüger’s hymn was first published in 1644; about 70 years later, J.S. Bach took the melody and shaped it into one of his most beloved chorale preludes for organ. 
 
Composed sometime during Bach's years in Weimar (1708-1717), the chorale prelude comes from Bach’s “Leipzig” chorales, a collection of 18 or so chorales that These compositions encapsulate the very essence of his compositional style.
 
In this chorale prelude, Bach uses compositional devices applied to the chorale melody to ‘paint the text’ of the chorale.  A way to musically illuminate its text.  The melody is found in the uppermost voice, intricately ornamented. While the ear is often drawn to the beautiful melody and its ornamentation, the other voices provide an equally, if not more beautiful counterpoint underneath.   Bach introduces each phrase of the melody with three plain dotted half notes.  This simple and beautiful technique, while leading the ear to think the chorale melody will be heard in a straightforward presentation, serves to magnify the effect of the blossoming ornamentation of the melody – “Soul, adore thyself with gladness.”
 
Soli Deo Gloria!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

The Saint George's Hymn

The Saint George's Hymn

1/21/2018

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The Saint George’s Hymn • All-embracing God
 
I hope you have found the past year of regularly singing our hymn, All-embracing God, to be as wonderful and life-giving as me.  What began as a project to commemorate and give thanks for our renovated Nave and the ministry and people of this place, has become an incredible gift to the larger church and an important and poignant prayer for our times.  It is one I pray daily.  
 
I am happy to report that this hymn has been published by Augsburg Fortress in a collection of new hymns entitled, Peace, Be Still: Hymns of Susan Palo Cherwien, Volume 3.    You can purchase a copy on their website and for more background on how our hymn came to be, visit our music website.
 
As I look at some of your favorite hymn submissions and the stories that go with them, I am ever thankful that we collectively choose to invest in music and the beauty and riches it brings to our lives.   I look forward to sharing these with you soon.  For me there is nothing more thrilling and sacred than when we all gather and raise our voices together in song.  In doing so we bridge the gap between a world torn by trouble and heaven’s most yearned-for promises.   This is an incredible thing for which I am grateful, and I hope you are too.
 
St. George’s Favorite Hymn Project: 
We are collecting YOUR favorite hymns.  There is still time to submit yours.
Tell us what it is here and why.
 
Soli Deo Gloria!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music

Together we Sing

Together, We Sing!
 
America’s beloved children’s choir expert, Helen Kemp (1918-2015), had a wonderful chant she used regularly with her children’s choirs and in her workshops with adults:
 
“Body, mind, spirit, voice, it takes the whole person to sing and rejoice!”
 
This wonderful chant became Helen’s guiding principle throughout her long and influential ministry.  I like it because it reminds us that singing is not just something we do, but a physical act of the vocal chords and the breath, an act that involves the whole body, our minds, and our spirit.  When we sing, our whole being is in engaged in proclaiming our faith.  Each time we sing together we engage in an activity that builds community; a form of meditation and prayer, and a form of praise and proclamation.  Singing together helps us share in the joys and the sorrows of those in our community.  When we sing together we give and receive a wonderful gift. 
 
I love this poem by the hymn writer Thomas Troeger.  It is one I’ve shared before.   The beautiful imagery in the poem captures this communal aspect of the songs we sing together both in worship and in fellowship.
 
We need each other’s voice to sing,
each other’s strength to love,
each other’s views to help us bring our hearts to God above.
 
Our lives like coals placed side by side
to feed each other’s flame,
shall with the Spirit’s breath provide a blaze of faith to claim.
 
We give our alleluias
To the church’s common chord:
Alleluia! Alleluia!  Praise, O Praise, O Praise the Lord!
- Thomas Troeger
 
Soli Deo Gloria!
Ben Keseley, Minister of Music
 
St. George’s Favorite Hymn Project: 
Remember we are collecting YOUR favorite hymns.  Tell us what it is here and why.
 
We need each other’s voice © 1994, Oxford University Press.  Reprinted with permission. OneLicense.net # A717214