Music Notes 4-28-24
It’s been satisfying to look back at the past year and take stock of where we’ve been. It’s kind of like Doc Brown’s time machine DeLorean from the movie Back To The Future – the readout screen shows where you were, where you are and where you’re going. The first year, for me, was spent getting the music department organized and functional. Everything the church owns, from choral music to microphones, are all tools on the tool bench, or spices in the spice rack. If you don’t know what you have, and have them where you can get to them, you are severely limited in what you can do. Establishing procedures and goals, developing friendships and working relationships with the other staff and congregants, and learning about the church itself has given me a clear vision of where I think we should go. Getting there will be a wonderful adventure, and I’m looking forward to having that adventure with all of you. See you Sunday.
Craig Courtney is one of the dominant forces in the world of church anthems. He is currently the Executive Music Editor for Beckenhorst Press in Columbus, Ohio, and was the protégé of the founder, the legendary John Ness Beck. What his resume doesn’t tell you is how he started composing (I got this information one day over coffee with him). He was a staff piano teacher at the famous Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Sitting in his cubicle, day after day, waiting for piano students to arrive (or not), he began to improvise and noodle. This brought about his first big publication, Thy Will Be Done (which we happen to have in our library). He sent that to John Ness Beck, founder of Beckenhorst Music Publications, and the rest is history. This week’s anthem is an arrangement of a true classic, How Great Thou Art. There’s always a danger when you work with a song from that generation – How Great Thou Art, Shall We Gather At The River, Old Rugged Cross, and so on – that the Wisconsin factor can get out of hand…they can get really cheesy. But in the hands of a master, it becomes dignified and meaningful. His treatment of this old classic is both wonderful to sing and to listen to. Enjoy.
Our offertory is another Brooklyn Tabernacle offering called Praise You by Elizabeth Goodine and arranged by music director Carol Cymbala. We’re featuring one of our newer choir members, Lori Amadei, whose last name, appropriately enough, is Italian for “Love of God”. Lori is a member of the choir of lawyers that I conduct and volunteered to come and sing with us as well. Now that we’re on an even keel musically, we’re going to be featuring more of our members in solos and solo instruments.
Francesca Battistelli is a Christian recording artist who was born in New York in 1985 and released her first independent album in 2004 titled Just A Breath. She released her first studio album under the Fervent label in 2008 titled My Paper Heart. Her single Holy Spirit, written by Bryan and Katie Torwalt, was released in 2014 as part of her 3rd studio album, If We’re Honest, and it went on to win a Grammy in 2016 for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.