Music Notes 10-20-24
This week we welcome back our marvelous drummer/percussionist Ed Zajac. I found a cool anthem for the choir that is a cappella with just a hand drum, so I invited him to join us for the worship. Ed began his musical career in Chicago, where he spent a year as a timpanist for the Chicago Symphony. He then decided he wanted to just play his drums, so he sold all his percussion equipment and moved to Los Angeles, but started getting jobs playing percussion in pit orchestras and movie soundtracks. He’s also an actor and a singer and has appeared onscreen in a variety of productions including episodes of M.A.S.H. and House, and has sung on soundtracks for movies like Spiderman 3, Superman Returns, King Kong and Star Trek Beyond. He’s been an invaluable musical assistant and resource for me over the years, and if we’re lucky, we might be able to get him to sing some Sunday morning. 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. Our offertory this week is an unusual offering from him – The Name Of Jesus. Most of what he writes has a more “classical” accent, but this tune, an original, is dance-like and has a syncopated rhythm that is fun to sing and fun to listen to. Ed is joining us on the hand drum, and is bringing an interesting “clapping machine” (so we don’t have to do the clapping ourselves). Henry Mollicone is a composer based in San Jose, CA and has a large body of work, including operas, symphonic works, songs, piano and chamber music, but one of his best known, and most performed, pieces is a gospel anthem called Hear Me, Redeemer. Bluesy and fun, it’s been sung throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Lord, I Lift Your Name On High was written by Fallbrook, California-based Rick Founds in 1989. He wrote it during his morning devotional, while reading scripture on his computer and watching television. He began plucking his guitar and thinking about the “cycle of redemption”, comparing it to the water cycle - You came from heaven to earth, to show the way; From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay; From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift your name on high. It was picked up by Maranatha Music and was listed as the #1 Christian song in churches between 1997 and 2003, and currently sits at #24. It’s #5 in the U.K. and #7 in Australia. It’s been interpreted in a number of musical variations, including gospel, R&B, soul, rock, dance, reggae, hip hop, rap, Soca, ska, punk and a cappella. My setting is rock, and we’ll rock the house with it in the New Year with the band.