Christmas plans

Do you know Clatterbuck’s “Bethlehemtown”? I used it as a solo once on a Bethlehem-themed service.

Early? My Christmas season is fixin’ to start! Sometimes we start earlier if there are non-seasonal pieces I can work into my regular Sunday schedule. I try to have my research done and choices narrowed before school starts. Once classes start I’m too busy to brainstorm effectively. I’m handing out rehearsal schedules and CD’s this week to the church choir. The children’s choir has started learning “Once in Royal David’s City.” We’re doing Dan Forrest’s LORD OF GLORY with combined ministry-wide choirs and chamber orchestra.

Dave

We’re doing Larson’s new one - The Majesty & the Mystery I think. Listened through it for the first time last Sunday.

I’d love to do Lord of Glory someday. Dan’s stuff is on the top-end of our choir’s ability, though. I’m not sure we could pull off an entire cantata of his with ~12 people. :D

Yeah. The first time I did it, I just did 3-4 songs— filled in the rest of the service with hymns and solos. Then when I did it again, I added a couple more songs. I’m in a unique situation, I understand. I have several venues in one ministry to recycle and reuse music.

I hear ya’, though. Some of the songs don’t work as well for small ensemble. EVEN UNTO BETHLEHEM might work really well with a small choir?

Dave

It’s been a while since I listened through Lord of Glory - I’ll have to pull it out and listen to the one you mention. Last year we included “A Cradle Carol” in our Christmas program, and it was by far the hardest piece we did. I loved it! ;)

We are getting ready to start an older wilds one….the name escapes me right now…..but we are starting later than last year.

Angela, I thought the tempos on the listening CD were quite broad— to the point of being off-putting to my average church choir member. A smaller group (or a group with less singing training) may not be able to support a nice tone at that tempo. But I found the music is so well written it can sustain a little brighter treatment. I’ll be doing it this year with a large choir so we’ll see if they can handle the longer lines at a broader tempo.

Pardon the shameless plug. Because I’m studying it right now to begin rehearsals in the next couple weeks, I am struck again at the variety of moods and emotions Forrest manages to incorporate. Now they’re all a little more formal than your average “Victory in Jesus” church is used to. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. I am eager to get started on this project!

Dave

…because I really enjoy Dan’s work. I love the challenge it presents as well as the quality. I get my difficulty/challenge fix in community choir. In our church choir, maybe 2/3 read music. The rest learn by hearing. As much as I enjoy it, Dan Forrest’s music is just too difficult for a choir of that makeup. :) (Plus, I don’t really get any say in the matter anyway - I’m just a choir member, not the director! ;))

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But yeah, a little jealous of the journey you’re about to take. My only, ONLY, regret in being part of a small ministry is having a small choir. Not that I don’t LOVE our choir, but there are limits to what we can accomplish. :)

I have been praying and searching materials for several weeks now. I believe we are going to purchase “Christmas Mosaic” from Lillenas. It is easy. It is beautiful (with the exception of one song that I thought was a little cheesy). It is flexible in the sense that I can add drama, reader’s theatre, or something else.

I am not a music pastor but since we do not have one here, it is my job to find something. Thankfully, we have some people with talent and ability who will “make it happen” once I get the stuff here.

My secretary and I were recently discussing how odd it is to be talking about Christmas this far away from the holiday.

My DW and I did a concert at a small local church for several years, and then it just became too much.

Next year (it’s too late this year), I am thinking of trying to organize a Do-It-Yourself MESSIAH. It has been amazing to me to go into churches in this area, and the church musicians have NO IDEA of what Handel’s Messiah is. There are so many transplants here, some of them might be interested in bringing their books and singing those choral pieces again…

@ Pastor Joe— I recently sat through a Franklin-Covey spiel on time management. The guy used four quadrants to represent task priority:

Q1. Urgent-Important

Q2. Important-not urgent

Q3. Urgent-not important

Q4. Not urgent-not important

Obviously we want to operate as much as possible in Q2, so we can have the flexibility for Q1 “emergencies.” As I apply that to the music ministry, I think that I sometimes create Q1’s by not planning for Christmas early enough. I understand that not every ministry has the luxury of employing someone to think about Christmas and Easter all year long. But if we know we have a special service coming up—and it does come up, every year!—we can make space for the Q1’s that will come along by eliminating the Q4’s and operating in a planning mode, Q2.

All that to say: If department stores can be advertising Christmas specials now, we can be talking about our Christmas services :-)

@ Rev Karl— I haven’t had much success with MESSIAH. I have folks in my congregation that want to do it every year. And it’s great stuff on so many levels! But I haven’t had success performing it. Most folks just want to hear “Hallelujah.” And they want it sung like Wagner. (e.g. The Mormon Tab. with snare drum and a cast of thousands.) A performance with even a nod toward Baroque sensibilities is a let down to most church folks. But I know that others have had very successful performances. And a Sing-Along is a different animal, too.

If I ever did MESSIAH, though, I found a great resource. It’s MESSIAH for a volunteer choir. The books are sold by part with that part in regular type and the other three parts in smaller font. It is parts only, no accompaniment. And it includes two CD’s: one full performance, and one with helps for that specific part. Plus, the score is marked with places to steal entrance pitches, etc. Very cool.

I did Mark Hayes’ MAGNIFICAT last Christmas. It’s not historic, of course, but it’s more accessible to a volunteer choir, reflects a sound that most folks identify with, and is Scripture-based. My choir loved it. (At least, they acted like they did :-)

Dave

@Bro Dave—do you have a link for that “Messiah” resource? Sounds great! We have a choir of 6 (yes, s-i-x, and that is counting a mike for our pianist). Has anyone had success doing this as a community thing w/a gospel message perhaps?

[Dave Stertzbach II] @ Rev Karl— I haven’t had much success with MESSIAH. I have folks in my congregation that want to do it every year. And it’s great stuff on so many levels! But I haven’t had success performing it. Most folks just want to hear “Hallelujah.” And they want it sung like Wagner. (e.g. The Mormon Tab. with snare drum and a cast of thousands.) A performance with even a nod toward Baroque sensibilities is a let down to most church folks. But I know that others have had very successful performances. And a Sing-Along is a different animal, too.

The very first position I had as music director (just out of Greenville), we did selections from the Christmas section of Messiah for Christmas, and a few months later, selections from the Easter sections. We did this with a group of 8 voices, two per part, and a tape recorded for us by the church organist at FBC in Oak Park, IL. *I* thought it was great! What I remember from back then is that it was well received.

@ Diane— This isn’t the one I was thinking of. I have that one at church. I’ll try to get you the info to you after The Great SI Shut Down™

But, it’s something like this: http://www.jwpepper.com/1995885.item

Of course you can do your own with a mic and an MP3 :-)

Wow, Rev Karl! Eight voice MESSIAH? You must have had some singers—with some training!

Now I had a successful performance of Vivali’s GLORIA with high schoolers. But, then, Vivaldi was writing for younger voices. He taught at a girls’ school, so he had developing voices in mind, I believe.

Dave

Thanks Bro Dave. And….Handel karaoke? :D Now that’s innovative.