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 The Verse
A monthly newsletter |
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The Hymn Society
in the United States and Canada
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January 2012 |
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Greetings!
We've reached a milestone! The Verse is one year old! Thanks for all the positive responses throughout the year. It's great to hear from you when an issue goes out and even more delightful when you send me something to add to the newsletter!
Though our work is never done (like dusting or cutting the grass) I'm encouraged to see how vital congregational song is in so many areas. Hymn festivals, seminars and workshops are being presented in many locations. There have been articles about congregational song in recent journals-- some in surprising locations. Shirley Erena Murray, alerted me to an excellent article by Brian McLaren. It's a revision of a piece he wrote for songwriters earlier and worth another look:
http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/open-letter-to-worship-songwrite.html
Just now I'm attending the Calvin Symposium on Worship where I'm looking forward to learning more about the Re-tuned Hymns movement from Greg Scheer, Kevin Twit, Bruce Benedict and others. There are lots of Hymn Society members on the program there -- John Bell, Alice Parker, Yvette Lau, Larry Visser, Martin Tel and of course, Emily Brink--just to name a few. You can be sure that I'll be talking about The Hymn Society with anyone who will listen!!
Meanwhile, keep singing!!
Deb
Deborah Loftis
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January 27-28, 2012 -- The Ninth Annual 2012 University of Alabama Church Music Conference featuring Dr. Joby Bell and K. Lee Scott . The 2012 Full Tuition Organ Scholarship winner will perform on Friday evening and the University Singers under the direction of Dr. John Ratledge in collaboration with Dr. Faythe Freese, Organist, will perform Bernstein's Chichester Psalms on Saturday evening.
February 3-4, 2012 -- "The Song of God in Our Midst: Music and Spirituality in the Key of Jazz" with Tom Reynolds, at Emmanuel College, Toronto. The event opens with a concert on Friday night. Concert tickets available at the door.
February 6, 2012 -- The Church Music Institute, Charlotte Kroeker, Exec. Dir., will present "Music for Worship that Matters" at Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, TX. Future dates and locations for similar programs are: June 8-9, 2012 Dallas, TX with Dr. Michael Burkhardt; July 24, 2012 in Seattle, WA; August 14, 2012 in Portland, OR; January 31-February 2, 2013 Tallahassee, FL. For more information click here.
March 3, 2012 - Olson Campus Center, Luther Seminary, 1490 Fulham, St. Paul, Minn. "Maurice Duruflé: A Liturgical Musician", a conference of Music, Lectures and Workshops. James Frazier, an expert on Duruflé and author of Maurice Duruflé: The Man and His Music, will lead conference participants into this topic. He will be joined by Anthony Ruff, a monk who teaches at St. John's University in Collegeville; Dirk Lange, a former brother at Taizé who teaches at Luther Seminary; and Christopher Aspaas, a choral conductor who teaches at St. Olaf College. Pre-registration is preferable. Contact Luther Seminary's Master of Sacred Music Office at 651-523-1612 or at krongsta@luthersem.edu; or by the conference website www.luthersem.edu/sacredmusic.
Two upcoming seminars at Calvin College:
June 18-22, 2012, "Singing What We Believe: Theology and Hymn Texts" will led by Bert Polman, More information at http://www.calvin.edu/scs/2012/seminars/polman/
July 23-Aug. 3, 2012, "Globalization and Worship: Soundings from the Worldwide Church" led by Charles Farhadian. More information at http://www.calvin.edu/scs/2012/seminars/farhadian/
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Our prayers are lifted for the family of Life Member, Tom Thatcher, who died January 21 in Shawano, MO. Until his last years, Tom was present with us at many annual conferences. To read his obituary, click here.
Though not a Hymn Society member, Gerre Hancock made valuable contributions to congregational singing and was known and respected by many Society members. We mourn his passing on January 21 at age 78. Dr. Hancock was a renowned organist, teacher, and church musician.
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2012 Summer Conference
  
Irma Dueck, (center) and Marilyn Houser Hamm will lead our opening hymn festival, "Face to Face," and we will be inspired to sing with enthusiasm under their dynamic leadership!
Irma, a native of Winnipeg, is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Canadian Mennonite University. Her recent focus of research has been on
on the rituals of the church such as worship and baptism and on themes related to power. More recently Irma's commitment to peacemaking has led her to participate in a number of reconciliation endeavors. She works regularly with John Bell.
Marilyn is a pastoral musician, pianist, vocalist, conductor, clinician, and music educator who is passionate about congregational song and the potential of the congregational voice. Mentored by Dr. Mary Oyer and colleague Dr. Kenneth Nafziger, Marilyn's work includes the Mennonite and Church of the Brethren worship resources Hymnal: Worship Book & the Hymnal Accompaniment Handbook; supplements Sing the Journey and Sing the Story, two Mennonite World Conference Global Assembly song collections, and feature article in the American Choral Journal in August of 2010.
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Upcoming Event
March 19-21, 2012 - Candler School of Theology will host The Singing Church: Current Practices and Emerging Trends in Congregational Song, a conference that will explore the emerging practices, leadership skills, and repertories of congregational song. Hymn Society members among the leaders include Barbara Day Miller, Carlton R. Young, James Abbington, Mary Louise Bringle, Greg Scheer, Tony Alonso, Delores Dufner, John Bell, and Deb Loftis. To register for the conference, purchase general admission tickets ($20) to the John Bell concert, or for more information visit: tinyurl.com
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Hymnic Resources
Psalms for All Seasons, the new collection published by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Faith Alive, and Brazos Press, is available in the Society's Book Service. This volume contains multiple settings of each of the 150 psalms spanning a wide variety of musical styles. Each psalm appears first in pointed chant setting followed by a variety of settings including responsorial, hymn paraphrases and song forms. The psalter will be featured in a Hymnal Showcase this summer in Winnipeg but you may not want to wait that long to get your own copy! Congratulations to the compilers for this valuable resource.
Singing the Faith Plus (www.singingthefaithplus.org.uk ) is the web-based resource designed to complement and support the new hymn book of the Methodist Church in Britain, Singing the Faith. It was established in order to provide a platform for new hymns, songs and contemporary worship resources as well as offering a single point of access for information on Methodists hymns and worship.
Celebration Hymnal Instrumental Parts available:
An entire set of The Celebration Hymnal instrumental volumes. They include the accompaniment edition, flutes, clarinets, alto & tenor saxes, trumpets, French horn, trombones, & bass. These 10 volumes are all ring-bound and are
listed on Amazon for $70 each. The owner will sell them all for only $100. If you are interested, contact Deb at the Hymn Society office and she will put you in touch with the seller.
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| New Hymn Contest
Humbercrest United Church, Toronto, and the Southern Ontario Chapter of the Hymn Society are co-sponsoring a hymn search "Marking Significant Moments in Congregational History. Full details and a very concise summary are available on our site at www.sochs.org. Deadline for submissions is May 15, 2012
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| Continuing Hymn Contests
United Theological Seminary has announced a new competition: "New Songs and Hymns for Renewal: A Conpetition for Writers and Composers." This competition will search for hymns/songs in three distinct categories: (1) new text and tune, (2) new music for traditional hymn/song texts, (3) new hymn text for traditional hymn tune. The deadline for submission is April 20, 2012. Visit
http://united.edu/Music-Competition/New-Songs-and-Hymns-for-Renewal/menu-id-639.html for more details.
The Hymn Society has opened a search for new hymns on Unity in Diversity for the 2012 Summer Conference, "The Meeting Place." Visit our website www.thehymnsociety.org for more information, guidelines and entry forms. Deadline for submission is April 30, 2012.
See the October issue of The Verse, archived on our website, for more details on:
St. Paul's on the Green Episcopal Church, Norwalk, Connecticut. Entries must be received by March 1, 2012.
See the September issue of The verse, archived on our website, for more details on:
Pascack Reformed Church in Park Ridge, New Jersey. All entries must be postmarked by March 1, 2012.
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The Hymn Society's First Tune Search
Earlier this month, a gentleman called the office to ask if I could verify whether John N. Burnham had ever been a Hymn Society member. He was trying to compile information on this New York organist and had found the following short announcement in The Etude magazine for March 1924:
John N. Burnham, the blind composer and organist of New York, has been awarded the prize offered by the Hymn Society for the best setting of Rev. Harry Webb Farrington's "Harvard Prize Hymn," Our Christ.
I was able to determine that Mr Burnham had been a member in the 1940's but no further information was available in our records in Richmond. Wondering if there might be some information about the hymn tune Mr. Burnham composed (VERITAS), I contacted Carl Daw who is maintaining our archival files in Boston. Carl's search of the minutes of early Society meetings uncovered a wealth of information for the gentleman who contacted us, but I thought you'd enjoy knowing a few facts: the discussion of the Harvard Prize Hymn and the ensuing search for a new tune was a matter of discussion at every Hymn Society meeting over a period of two years--starting with the Society's 3rd meeting in February 1922. Over 1000 tunes were submitted! In addition to the winning tune, the Society voted to keep on file 25 additional tunes with the copyright maintained by the composers. (We were already gathering resources!) The Society also voted not to grant permission to use Mr. Burnham's tune unless it was to be paired with Farrington's text, "Our Christ."
Just thought you'd enjoy this little glimpse into our early days -- You never know what adventure will begin when you answer the phone and say, "The Hymn Society!"
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