n previous posts, I’ve discussed Sojourn Music’s new album, Over the Grave: the hymns of Isaac Watts, volume 1. This final post is a brief discussion on which songs would work best in a congregational singing situation.

Before we look at a few songs from Over the Grave, however, let me make a few comments on finding songs that “work” for a congregation. I’ll admit that part of the process is subjective, but there are some criteria that I look for. I’ll only include criteria here that relate to what makes a good congregational song, not a good song in general. (For example, if the lyrics are poorly written, there’s no need to even consider a song for congregational singing.) In no particular order, they include:

1. Vocal Range:
   • This doesn’t mean appropriateness of the key. If it did, 99% of Chris Tomlin’s songs would be disqualified. It means, “Can I fit this song into a key where the vocal range is at most an octave and a fourth?” An octave and a major second is even better.
2. Rhythmic Simplicity/Complexity:
   • This is probably the most subjective of a list of subjective criteria. To put it simply, “Can this song be sung well by folks who have only heard it a few times and do not own a recording? Will they know when the words fall?” If the answer is no, we should reject the song.
3. Melodic Interest:
   • Simply, is the melody memorable and singable? Are there any weird leaps?

On this album, I would recommend (and plan on using) three tunes for congregational singing:

• Only Your Blood
• May Your Power Rest on Me
• Refuge

All three of these songs are very well written both musically and lyrically and meet the criteria that I listed above.

Why not some of the others? As I said, it’s a subjective call. (And for me to want to use 3 songs from a single CD is a large number to begin with.) “Warrior”, for all of its creativity, would not transfer well to a congregation of all ages (think of Aunt Noreen trying to get out all of the words on the verses at the right time). “Living Faith” has a range of an octave and a sixth; one of the reasons that it works well as a song is because of the soaring chorus – but this is precisely the area that would be trouble for anyone in our congregations who isn’t a soprano or tenor. The other songs that I haven’t mentioned just didn’t work as well for congregational singing for me as well as the three noted above.

I’m sure that Sojourn Church uses most, if not all, of these songs in their worship services. Good for them. Indigenous music is a lost art in the church. However, the songs have come directly out of their congregation. They are reflective of that church in a way that they’re not reflective of mine. Sure, I could expect folks from my church to buy the CD if they really want to know the songs we’re singing. But I’m of the opinion that if someone needs to own a CD or listen to Christian radio to really learn a song for corporate worship, the song is too difficult.

My one disappointment with this album was that there were relatively few songs that I felt would work well with a congregation. This surprised me. Of course, not all songs on hymn albums are meant to be sung corporately (there are many songs on the Indelible Grace CDs, for instance, that are not congregational and some on my own CD won’t work for congregations), but I expected that at least half of the album would be adaptable for corporate singing. However, I’m reading my own expectations into a review of someone else’s art and that’s not entirely fair. Just because I would have liked them to have a more corporate focus doesn’t make their work poor because it has a different focus.

To sum up all four parts of a lengthy review, I love Over the Grave. I hope that more churches and musicians will take on projects like this one. Buy it. Listen to it. Use these songs. Support these musicians.

Tags: Hymns, Music // 6 Comments »

hen I originally sat down to do this review, it was set to be one post. Later, it had grown into three, which I advertised on the @psalmsandhymns twitter feed. By now, we’re at at least four posts. Today, we’ll look at the second half of the album.

There have been quite a few settings of “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed”, from Hugh Wilson’s MARTYRDOM to the sing-songy “At the Cross”. This is an interesting setting. It’s slowly growing on me. This is the only song on the album that’s a setting of Watts’ original text.

“May Your Power Rest on Me”. Isaac Watts joins Evanescence. That’s probably a bit unfair but captures the feel of this song quite well. Piano-led accompaniment with rock drums and pads supporting a female vocal at the very top of her chest voice register. Hopefully, this doesn’t come across as a negative description of the tune; it’s very good. Lyrically, this is one of the strongest songs on the album.

Though the trial still goes on,
Your grace will be my song.
For I can bear all things when temptation springs,
For you sustain me all my days.

And then we come to “Refuge”. This song was featured on the YouTube video teaser for the album and helped make me impatient over the many months it took to come out. I could describe the simple piano-octaves that open the song or the text of reliance upon God at all times or the use of the choir in the background but that would obscure what I love most about this song: it’s just fun. Think Coldplay meets Wilco meets the Psalmist.

“We Are Changed” takes the jazzy, gospel vibes from other songs on the album and runs with it. Rhodes electric piano drives this song about the work of God in salvation. The chorus reminds me of Gomez’ cover of the Beatles’ “Getting Better”.

The final track on the album is “Savior King”, a rocking 6/8 setting of Isaiah 52.

How happy are the ears that hear this joyful sound,
Which kings and prophets waited for, and sought but never found.
How blessed are the eyes that see this heavenly light:
Our Savior King.”

Musically and lyrically, this is a solid album from beginning to end. The drumming is especially solid. I am already looking forward to “Lo-Wattage”, the next volume in this set.

In part 4, we’ll look at the question that all worship musicians should ask when looking to incorporate songs from this or any other album into corporate worship: “What about congregational singing?”

Tags: Hymns, Music, Psalms // Add Comment »

esterday, I began reviewing Sojourn Music’s new album Over the Grave: the hymns of Isaac Watts, volume 1. Today and tomorrow, we will look at the individual songs more in-depth. Finally, we’ll ask the all-important (and oft-neglected) question, “Can the congregation sing it?”

Yesterday, I said that this wasn’t an “indie-rock” album but that I didn’t mind because of the variety of musics used. (I love the word “musics”, which I got from Harold Best. Incidentally, if you’d like to see an interview with Harold Best and Mike Cosper, one of the producers of this album, you can see it at Sojourn Music.)

My friend Tim Sharpe delivered me a copy of Over the Grave while we were at General Assembly in Orlando. I listened to the first song, expecting indie-rock, and instead got the funky “Warrior”. After the funk influenced verse, we get just a snippet of the chorus, complete with Eleanor Rigby-like strings. Actually, the verse is a little like chant or recitative, in its minimalist reduction to repeated notes and cadences. This is a a fun song. Lyrically, it’s great to hear a song about the Lord as the conquering King!

“Living Faith” is a mid-tempo rocker that boasts a soaring vocal.

For some reason, “How Long” reminds me of Johnny Cash singing gospel. Up an octave, of course. With 21st century guitars, of course. Any settings of the psalms of lament are welcome, though I wonder if this song needed another verse to more completely capture the pleading cries of Psalm 13 (upon which it is based).

“Only Your Blood” is one of my favorites for several reasons. The production, while intricate, never gets in the way of the lyrics, a great setting of the second half of Psalm 51. Like “Refuge” later on the album, the use of the piano in octaves provides a great chime-like texture. Lyrically, the third verse stands out:

No bleeding bird, no bleeding beast,
No hyssop branch, no priest,
No running brook, no flood, no sea
Can wash away this stain from me.

When I first heard the song, however, I heard a mondegreen:

No bleeding bird, no bleating beast…

I like that lyric even more than the original.

To call “Reveal Your Love” high-energy would be a tremendous understatement. The lyrics would have been helped by some variation in dynamics. Even if the song does vary in loudness, it’s all energy all the time.

“Over Death”. Isaac Watts’ called this hymn “Victory over Death”. The song is based upon 1 Corinthians 15.55ff.

Joyful, with all the strength I have
My trembling lips should sing:
“Where is your boast of victory grave?
And where is the monster’s sting”

This is the kind of song that should be sung at funerals, not schlock like “I’ll Fly Away”. Our hope isn’t that we’re going to escape this bad, old world but that death has been defeated. We praise the “God of victory” that death has no power over the Christian, we will be resurrected on the last day.

Tomorrow, we’ll cover the second half of the album. As always, I’d like to hear others’ comments on the album if you’ve been able to get a copy.

Tags: Hymns, Music, Psalms // 2 Comments »

ravis recently asked me to post some thoughts on the new Sojourn Album, Over the Grave: the hymns of Isaac Watts, volume 1.

This album is the first of a two-album Isaac Watts project by Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky. (Though a Baptist church, Sojourn is also affiliated with the Acts 29 Network, a group seeking to plant gospel-saturated churches worldwide.) This album has been described by the musicians at Sojourn as “Hi-Wattage”, meaning an indie-rock feel, while the next album will be more folk/acoustic influenced, hence, “Lo-Wattage”.

Let’s get the genre out of the way. There’s no way I would describe this as an indie-rock album. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s just an inaccurate genre designation to place on an album with such a variety of sounds. For one thing, producers Mike Cosper and Neil Robins have outdone themselves in making this album different from their other albums. While I enjoyed Advent Songs (especially the new tune for “Joy to the World”), this album is on a completely different level of creativity of lyric writing, composition, and arranging.

This is not a project like Red Mountain Church or Indelible Grace or even my own music. These are not hymn texts with new tunes. They are new compositions inspired by the hymn texts. This becomes clear by comparing one of the pieces. On the left is Isaac Watts’ Hymn 15 and on the right is Sojourn’s “May Your Power Rest on Me”, inspired by that hymn.

I’ll have more thoughts tomorrow. If you’ve heard this album, what are your thoughts?

Tags: Hymns, Music, Psalms // 1 Comment »

ver the past few weeks, I’ve posted several reviews of the worship services at General Assembly. I appreciate the comments and discussion that those posts have inspired. A few closing thoughts today:

1. As I’ve stated in a couple of venues, I think the variety that the Central Florida Presbytery brought to the worship services was a great thing. A denomination that embraces many different styles of praise to the Lord is a good thing.
2. Sound engineering was an issue, especially Wednesday evening. The guest artist was turned up so loud that it obscured the congregation’s singing. That’s never okay.
3. With the variety of music being written and produced in PCA circles today (Red Mountain Church, Indelible Grace, Park Slope – Brooklyn), it was a shame that the only real exposure we had to any PCA music was from Laura Story. Please don’t hear this as a criticism of her, she did a fine job, but she’s easily the most accessible, CCM artist that could have been featured, when we need to find a way to feature more of our own artists whose music might not be as readily accessible in mainstream evangelicalism.
4. Likewise, aside from songs by Laura Story and one by Josh Bales, there were no songs written by PCA members. We had several Sovereign Grace songs, several hymns, several Tomlin songs, but nothing RUF, nothing Red Mountain, etc. I’d love to see more churches working those songs in and General Assembly working those songs in as well.
5. Of course, it’s entirely possible that none of those songs fit the themes for the evenings. The services were well-designed around the themes related to a New Creation.
6. All in all, my first trip to General Assembly was a very positive one. I’m looking forward to future assemblies.
7. Finally, the next time it comes time for someone to yell out a hymn for us to sing during a break during Assembly sessions, please, please don’t yell out “How Great Thou Art” with its misleading 4th verse. Yell out “263!” (For All the Saints) or something good like it instead.

Tags: General Christian Worship, Hymns, Music // 1 Comment »

he third and final worship service, held on Thursday, June 18, was called “A Renewed World”. Attendance at this service was spotty, due to the Assembly ending early and the service being moved up to 4:30pm from 5:30pm. (This also meant that the cellist for the evening was on his way to the Assembly during most of the music set. It’s a shame that the musicians weren’t warned further in advance that they would be needed earlier so that they would have time to prepare.)

Music was led by Josh Bales and musicians from City Church, Orlando (where my sister-in-law is involved).

The hymns and songs chosen were:

• Come Away from Rush and Hurry
  • Words: Marva Dawn, Music: NETTLETON
• This Is My Father’s World
  • Words: Maltbie D. Babcock, Music: TERRA BEATA
• Holy, Holy, Holy
  • Words: Reginald Heber, Music: NICAEA
• Our Great God
  • Words and Music: Fernando Orgeta, Mac Powell
• ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
  • Words: Louisa M. R. Stead, Music: TRUST IN JESUS
• A Hymn for All the World
  • Words and Music: Josh Bales

Ray Cannata, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, gave a testimony of the rebuilding work going on in the people and the city of New Orleans 4 years after Hurricane Katrina.

Martin Ban, pastor of Christ Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico, spoke on “Mission, Risk and Redemptive Feasting” from Luke 14:1-35 and 22:14-27. He had a wonderful communication style, unlike any other preacher I’ve heard, but one that fit him well. (And shouldn’t that be the goal in preaching!) He delivered long, well-constructed sentences and allowed time for them to sink in. It was a great exposition of the text but also a great challenge for the future of our denomination.

Musically, this service was probably the most unified of all the services. A smaller ensemble with no special guests helped to bring everything together. This was the most like a typical church-plant music style – acoustic guitar led, piano, bass, drums, a color instrument (cello, in this case). It was very well played, with a mind to supporting the congregation.

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