Sunday night the concert was well attended. We had an nice evening and the choir sung well. The counter melodies for some of the hymns were especially nice to sing. Some pictures....

In Holland there was an attempt to put the Psalms to pop music with "Psalmen voor Nu" (Psalms for Today). That caused people to take position: in favour or against.

Now some other musicians took the Genevan tunes and brought them into the world of CCM. I am not sure if they managed to add a chorus here and there.

Maybe the next attempt is to sing Genevan tunes just as they are... and then they're full circle (and they lost a few people in this process).

Personally, I don't think that this should be dismissed. This is well-done, with professional musicians.
We should not assume that this is meant for use in the church. It would be great for a band...

Although this is in Dutch, the video, displays the Psalms tunes that are sung.
 

LUTHER - In the Middle Ages several times a day psalms were sung in the monasteries. Singing and music was part of worship, also before the Reformation. As a musician, Luther wrote many hymns, mostly based on the psalms, in the people’s language. The people in the pew could sing again. The Lutheran heritage of church music includes Johann Seb. Bach who did not enrich the Lutheran church music, but he changed all music in the world. Lutherans today are still thankful for their musical heritage and try to build on it for the future. They love to sing.

CALVIN - John Calvin was not a musician. He had the same conviction as Luther, giving the church song back to the people. When singing the Psalms Calvin desired to give the congregation the whole meaning of the Psalm and therefore sang entire psalms or large portions of the psalms. So impressive was the psalm-singing of the French Church that one visitor wrote: 'Everyone sings, men and women, and it is a lovely sight...As I looked on this little company of exiles, I wept, not for sadness but for joy to hear them all singing so heartily.' They loved to sing.

What about today, here, in North America?

THE SOUTH - When you enter a church on Sunday morning in the Southern part of the United States, good chance you will hear the singing before you enter. Good chance that a choir with an enthusiastic director is producing that sound. They like singing: you can hear that with your ears and you can see that with your eyes. And they sing lots – one song after the other.

EVANGELICAL - In the Evangelical circles the worship is often led by a worship leader, a lead-singer, and a band. Often they will transition from one song into the next, possibly with a few connecting words. Some churches the singing takes half an hour at the beginning of the service. They call it ‘a time of worship’. Often they stand for all of the singing, however, people may choose to sit if they desire, and that is okay.  They love to sing.

PRESBYTERIAN - Presbyterians like to sing – that’s what some of them claim. Unaccompanied psalm singing on Scottish tunes can be heard in the RPUSA. Some of these Psalms take between three and five minutes to sing – and they are sung standing. Other Presbyterian denominations sing also hymns, using choirs and instruments. They sing all stanzas of hymns in the services.

Why do Christians like to sing?

It’s not in their genes, but in their Bible.

They like singing. Through the working of the Spirit

they want to glorify the Lord of lords and King of kings.

BIBLE - It is in their Bible….

o                          Exodus 15:21 • “Miriam sang to them: Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.”

o                          Deuteronomy 31:19 • "…teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me ...”

o                          1 Chronicles 15:16 • “David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.”

o                          Psalm 92:4 NIV • “For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.”

o                          Psalm 146:2 NIV • “I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”

o                          Acts 16:25 NIV • “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

o                          1 Corinthians 14:15 NIV • “So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.”

o                          Ephesians 5:19 NIV • “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,”

o                          James 5:13 NIV • “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”

o                          Revelation 5:13 NIV • “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

ABOUT US - How does this apply to our churches? Are we singing churches? Do we love singing? What is the practice of the singing in our churches?

Although we are not Dutch churches and should not identify ourselves as such, our singing is definitely influences by the Dutch background of many of our members, pastors included.

HISTORICAL INFLUENCE - In the Netherlands, the Reformed churches had a hard time with psalm singing after the Reformation. Although the commitment was present, there was no suitable rhyming in the Dutch language in the beginning. Having large churches with no support from an instrument made the singing dreadful. Every note was sung very, very slow, and very loud. This resulted in that singing of one stanza could last several minutes! Some people were taking a breath before every other note!

It was impossible to sing psalms completely or large sections of them. One stanza was a significant task, also physically, and often time consuming. For practical reasons the number of stanzas was limited. Singing psalms became singing versifications. The psalm-singing church became the stanza-singing church. And that is how it has been until the beginning of the 20^th century.

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION - In the first part of the previous century a Revival started. Discussions about how the psalm-singing in the churches of Strasburg and Geneva was in the time of John Calvin brought up food for thought. A Restoration of psalm singing in the Reformed churches in the Netherlands brought back the rhythm in the songs and the tempo was restored close to what is must have been. The mistreatment of these beautiful tunes was coming to an end.

But… there is something missing. It never became a total “Reformation” of psalm singing. The singing of psalms (or sections of psalms), as the churches were doing in the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Early Church, is not restored. The singing is still just like it was when it took 7 minutes to sing one stanza: we are singing stanzas, but now it takes just one minute….

THE REASON – Here is an analogy that I remember from a recent article in Clarion… A lady cuts of the ends of the roast and puts them on top of the roast, as usual. She does this because her mom did it, always. And mom did that because grandma did the same thing, always. Asking grandma, it turns out that her roasting pan was too small and she had to cut of the ends to make the roast fit.

We are dealing here a habit that we don’t know why we do it this way. The reason for the habit is gone long time ago. The same thing with singing man-made stanzas instead of inspired psalms: we still sing just a stanza, because 100 years ago in Holland it took 7 minutes to sing one stanza of psalm 68.

CONCLUSION - The original reason for singing stanzas instead of psalms is not present anymore, but we still sing stanzas. Reformed churches should sing psalms: they are psalm singing churches. If this would happen... it would be a Reformation of the Psalm Singing in the Canadian Reformed Churches!

POST SCRIPT – Much more to say about the singing of all stanzas of hymns, about preferences, about some of our church people complaining about the singing, about selecting favorites by ministers, etc.

Yesterday evening I had a brief conversation with someone who commented on the tempo of the singing in their local congregation. I picked up on the following part of the conversation, which is kind of a statement:

"Slightly faster singing in our church would

appeal to the youth in our church and

make them enjoy singing (more)..."

I have three observations:

1. There is a perception that the singing is slow in the church and that faster singing would be desirable. What is fast and what is slow singing?
   
   
   1. Calvin’s recommended singing Psalms in church with “poids et majesté” (gravity/weight and majesty), instead of  “léger et volage” (wild and light) (John Calvins letter “Epitre au Lecteur” June 10, 1543). This recommendation conflicts with speeding up the tempo so that the Renaissance Psalm tunes change into Renaissance Dance tunes.
      
      
   2. Understanding of the text is important for the singer as well as for the listener. If the text is a repetitive chorus of a contemporary song, it is acceptable to sing fast. When the text is basically a general statement about God or his work, a faster tempo will still allow the mind to follow the thought in the text.
      When there is no repetitiveness in the tune and not in the text, and there is a developing message in the text, it is more difficult to sing fast and still understand fully what you are singing. When singing complete Psalms there is often a deeper message, sometimes a description of Gods great works in the history of his church, and that is hard to sing fast.
      
      
   3. Not every tune is the same. Psalm 141 will be sung different than Psalm 68. There is not one set tempo for all Psalms. Accompanists will know that it is important to indicate the tempo clearly with Psalm 1 and Psalm 32 because the first few notes are long notes. The character of the text can play a role in the tempo as well.

4. Hymns are okay – psalms are not. There is no discussion about the tempo of “Abide with me” or “Amazing grace” or our National Anthem. Somehow the Psalms are attacked with all kinds of issues: the language is old, the tunes are difficult, the psalm texts not suitable for us to sing anymore, we sing them to slow. Hymns don’t have this. We heartily sing about “a wretch like me” in "Amazing grace" (but Psalms with this character we “hate”), we have no issue with “Thy” in “Great is Thy faithfulness” (but Thou in the Psalms make them archaic). Singing hymns slower is acceptable all around us, but Psalms can’t be fast enough. Is there a witch-hunt on the Psalms? If so, it needs to stop!
   
   
5. The room in which the singing takes place is a factor. At bible study in the living room the Psalms can be sung quite a bit faster than we do in church. In a small church with 100 members and a piano the singing is most likely faster than in a church with 600 people. A church with no acoustics will allow faster singing than a church with a second or two (or more).
   
   
6. The accompanists in the church have a significant impact on the tempo of the singing. I have spent some time on that in various workshops. With simple techniques you can make the congregation start off slow or fast. Organists and pianists need to lead and therefore they need to have an idea about the tempo before they start with the prelude. I know that there are mistakes made in setting the tempo every Sunday again. This is ultimately the responsibility of the consistory. Concerns should be brought to their attention - and not be discussed aroud the coffee after the service.

2. There is a concern about the youth in the church.
   
   
   1. It is important to pay attention to the youth in the church. The youth was the focus of both Luther and Calvin. The youth of today will make up the church of tomorrow.
      
      
   2. The approach to teaching the youth in the church and about the church, has changed.

                                                               i.      When young people asked questions, half a century ago it was common to tell them: “This is how it was, this is how it is, and this is how it will be – end of the discussion”. This was acceptable then.

                                                             ii.      When young people are asking question in the church today, I have observed two things:
1) fear about them not liking it and leaving the church (“if we don’t get more hymns from Synod it will be a problem for the youth - help… help…”) and
2) the instant desire to make changes to please them (“Let’s do something for them: what can we do, now…?”). These are not Scriptural reactions.
 

3. What we owe the youth is what God teaches us in scripture: we must explain why and how, we have to teach them a context and perspective. They must become the torchbearers and pass on the flame to the next generation. Also about how we worship. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7; Proverbs 22:6) They also should know that “the old folks” are not out of touch with this time, but that they have a living faith and that God credits the older generation with wisdom (Job 12:12; Job 32:7).
   
   
2. What is important about enjoyment of singing in the church
   
   
   1. Singing is an act of corporate worship. We do it together as a congregation, young and old, in unison. Our Psalm tunes allow us to do that. Gods people have done that in this way since the Reformation. Churches are united in this, all over the world.
      
      
   2. We sing first of all to God’s glory. Calvin saw the singing as part of prayer. In our singing Psalms we approach God’s throne in Jesus Christ. God is Holy, and He is our Father. He is merciful and the Judge of the living and the dead. It does not matter whether we enjoy the singing, as long as God can accept our prayers and praises in our singing.
      
      
   3. We sing for each other also. We sing about God and His mighty works. Luther supported that we can proclaim Gods Word to each other (edification) through the singing of Psalms.
      We may build each other up and encourage each other with the Word of the Lord in song. If our brother or sister in the Lord grows in faith, if Holy Spirit can use our singing – that determines our enjoyment!
      This enjoyment however does not fall in the category “personal pleasure” or “personal satisfaction”.

Post Scriptum

If you want to know what I consider a "good" general tempo, you can listen to my CDs. The Psalm CD has MM=55 for the half note, where we have focussed on the ability to understand what it sung. On Sundays we are generally between MM=60-72. Keep in mind that this is a larger church and that in a smaller church I would probably sing slightly faster (MM=72). But again, different per song.

... which features singing of Genevan tunes, I came across an interesting person, Calvin Seerveld. I found an interview with him on the website of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. A few interesting comments:

Seerveld is convinced that singing psalms together is another way to stamp them on the communal mind. Since the days of John Calvin, Reformed Christians around the world have sung from the Genevan Psalter.

When he was a boy in West Sayville, New York, Seerveld wasn't drawn by psalms sung slowly and in harmony. Fifty years ago, as a graduate student in the Netherlands, he was impressed that Dutch congregations knew psalm texts by heart, but their slow singing tempo failed to move him.

"The Genevan psalms came alive for me in the 1960s, when I used to speak for the beleaguered Christian Labour Association of Canada. There I heard the Genevan psalms sung in unison, at tempo, with syncopated organ play, by Dutch immigrant congregations, who were much less affluent than U.S. Christian Reformed folk.

"Hearing psalm singing at labor rallies helped me imagine how the Welsh miners may have sung going down to the pits, or as slaves' hollers took place (I've heard this on documentary videos) on Southern plantations," Seerveld says.

In Voicing God's Psalms, he includes 20 versifications, along with suggestions on which psalm tunes to use. Most of the tunes are Genevan, Welsh, or German compositions.

Calvin Stapert, who plays the recorder on the accompanying CD, says the Genevan psalms have lasting power. "Their tunes are as simple and direct as Cal Seerveld's language. Their melodies are beautifully shaped out of simple, singable motifs. Their rhythms are built out of only three note-lengths, but within a great variety of metric structures.

"They're simple without being simple-minded, grand without being grandiose. They're sturdy and strong, and they fit John Calvin's requirement that the song should correspond to the magnificence of the subject," Stapert explains

'Amazing Grace,' the doxology, and 'Silent Night' are probably about the most Christians could muster to sing impromptu without printed notes (not counting the Bible choruses).

"We need to start way back and have leaders fall in love with the psalms, get current language, recite certain psalms, exercise certain tunes, and then-after a generation?- they may begin to live in our voices," Seerveld says.

A number of years ago I was asked to play for a graduation ceremony. For that occassion I wrote an "Intrada". An intrada (Italian) is an entry piece and could be used for a processional. When you listen to this, close your eyes and imagine a large church and the graduates walking in through the center isle.

During graduations you hear often the same pieces played. I find that the excitement and seriousness of the moment is sometimes lost because of the music. This piece is easy to play, yet dramatic and powerfull. It could be shortened quite easily if it would be too long.

The sound file is generated with two types of brass instruments. On organ I suggest to use the Trumpet on the Great and a another reed or contrasting combination on the Swell.

Since this week I have suddenly more time on my hands. Now I have a plan get more familiar with Finale. Small pieces like this are fun to enter in Finale and I hope that it will go faster every time. Although I wrote this several years ago, I also want to post this now as a start of something new.

I've been working on many things lately and had little time to blog. Some thoughts popped in my mind and I could write a blog about each of them - if I had the time. You can probably guess what I would say about them.

• Musical culture (or the lack thereof) of individual members should not be allowed influence the songbook for the church.
   
• Organists are the responsibility of the consistory.
  Good and bad organists are the responsibility of the consistory too.
  (Future) lack of organists is the responsibility of the consistory too.
  (Future) availability of a sax and drummer is the responsibility of the consistory too.
   
• The Israelites were not influencing David about which Psalms they wished in their songbook. Therefore the Reformed church members should not (attempt to) influence the content of their songbook.
   
• Many hymns in many churches are often sung in-context - completely (I have never heard in a church "We'll now sing the hymn 'Abide with me' but just the second and fourth stanza"). Many Psalms in Reformed churches are often sung out-of-context ("We'll now sing Psalm 79 stanza 5").
   
• With the departure of Rev. Bredenhof from Langley the Assurance of Pardon departed from our liturgy.
   
• A church should be used to a lot of singing. If the members are complaining about too much singing is an indication that God is missing out on praise He deserves.
   
• The pre-service song is a contradiction: singing praises to God as a congregation - before of after the handshake - is service to God.
   
• The church is different than the world. Therefore practice of (organ or piano) music before the service should be revised, because it has the same function as the background music in the shopping malls. (With Christmas it will be the same music).
   
• Church, home, and school are not giving God the glory if they each promote different styles of Christian music.
   
• Psalms are sung when the church is oppressed. Hymns are sung when the church worships in freedom.
   
• When the music and liturgy become topics of debate in church, realize that the devil started it.
   
• The deficiency of a good intrument for accompaniment is the ultimate responsibility of the consistory.
  The deficiency of a good intrument for accompaniment is the problem of the congregation.
  The deficiency of a good intrument for accompaniment could hinder the praises to God.

 The following announcement was placed in our Liturgy sheet. It will be in the next Church News as well.

Our choir will start practicing on Monday Sept 14. We invite singers of all ages to join us in our practices towards a Christmas Performance. We like to work hard, learn a lot and have a lot of fun on Monday nights from 7:30 - 9:15 PM.

Making music and singing is rewarding...our choir has done a lot of exciting things (professional choral workshop, singing in Kerrisdale, singing the Crucifixion, being part of a CD recording, etc.) - ask our past and current members what they think!

To start with, we plan to be part of the the2009/2010 Langley Concert Series with our Christmas performance...BUT we need you to sing! Please contact Frank Ezinga (604) 514 9414 if you would like more information.

(BTW...do any 2009 CCHS graduates like to join in our excitement...?)

This picture was taken of the choir when we started last season. Every year is different and this season will be the same: not knowing how many and who is going to join us... I have received some inquiries that make me feel excited... I would like to have at least 5 Sopranos, 5 Altos, 3 Tenors and 3 Basses.

I have two programs prepared for Christmas this year. If there are a lot of new singers joining, we will sing an easier program, and if we have more experience in the group, we will tackle more complicated material (Willcocks and others) . Given the preparation time, it will be hard work either way.

If it works out, we might have "Young Laudate Singers" joining in the performance. I have a plan to try out a children's choir from Langley church, and this Christmas performance is a nice opportunity.

Other plans for 2009-2010 include a CD recording featuring the choir, voice lessons by a professional, and more.

Another season...
Making plans and schedules...

It is like casting our bread upon the water, in the knowledge that we will find it again after many days; or sowing your seed in the morning, and not letting your hands be idle at evening, because you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.(Eccl. 11)

Always remembering: "Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." (Psalm 115)

 

A few weeks ago I received a CD from a colleague, here in Vancouver. The theme of one of his works I recognized. It was similar to Hymn 19 in the Augment. Although the end of Christus Vincit is different, the beginning is identical to Hymn 19.

I like this music. This week I ordered the sheet music, because this is a great piece for before or after the service, or for the offertory.... but I didn't receive it yet. So last Sunday afternoon we sung Augemtn Hymn 16 but I could not play this yet...

Herewith a few small clips of this piece. There are 5 variations.

Variation 1 is in an intrada style. You don't hear the melody right away, but some intervals of the tune give you a hint....

Variation 2 starts with the melody in chorale style, but this is worked out further, using different keys and much more.

Variation 3 starts with the manuals and the pedal seems to play the melody. A lovely variation that keep the fingers going till the end...

Variation 4 is a beautiful variation with a solo stop and tremolo. For the people that know the style of Protestant organ music in Holland will agree that this one could become popular over there

Variation 5 used material from the second variation, and puts it in a toccata style. Definitely the climax of this work!

Although not 100% the same as Augment Hymn 19, there is definitely enough overlap. Any of the Variations sur Christus Vincit could be played before, after or during the church service. Most organs/organists will be able to handle some of these variations. (Sheetmusic available from www.cheldar.com under CH40 (10.00 plus shipping) and the CD will also be available soon.)