+ Jaraslov Vajda - 1919-2008 +

The Concordia Publishing House website reports that Dr. Jaraslov Vajda died on May 10, 2008. I first encountered his hymns with the now familiar “Go, My Children, With My Blessing”.

Some of us recently sang or read his Ascension hymn “Up Through Endless Ranks of Angels” (LSB 491) . The doxological verse to this hymn is a fitting closing to a long and productive service to God and the church.

Alleluia, alleluia! Oh to breathe the Spirit’s grace!
Alleluia, alleluia! Oh, to see the Father’s face!
Alleluia, alleluia! Oh, to feel the Sons’ embrace!

Sneak Peak - New Organ Music @ CPH

For you organists (and choir directors) out there, it looks like Concordia Publishing House is starting to unveil their 2008 new organ music (and choral) collections. On first glance there are a couple of editions that look enticing — primarily because I’m already familiar with these composers:

• A new volume by John Behnke in his series Five Preludes of Praise.
• Six Hymn Improvisations Set 7 by Kevin Hildebrand. I frequently use his improvisations in worship services. His collections on Christmas and Lent/Easter hymns are also good.
• Introductions, Harmonizations, Accompaniments, Interpretations, Vol. 5 by Jeffrey Blersch.

I suspect CPH is working on their promotional CDs and will soon be providing audio excerpts. But in the meantime they do have PDF excerpts for most of the music books.

And no, I do not receive any kickbacks from the CPH Music Department for writing this.

God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It

Today (May 6) I celebrated the 29th anniversary of my baptism when my parents brought me to the font. With the water and God’s word my dad baptized me in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and marked me with the cross upon my forehead and upon my heart as one redeemed by Christ. As Luther wrote, this Baptism is

“a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.”

And because of the rich gifts God gives in Baptism (forgiveness of sins, rescue from death and the devil, and eternal salvation) I can say:

God’s own child, I gladly say it:
I am baptized into Christ!
He, because I could not pay it,
Gave my full redemption price.
Do I need earth’s treasure many?
I have one worth more than any
That brought me salvation free
Lasting to eternity! (LSB 594)

Amen.

“There’s Just Too Many Hymn Stanzas”

How many times have you heard this: There’s just too many hymn stanzas? Or for that matter, how many times have you thought this on a Sunday morning?

I remember as a teenager reading TLH #315. (While I haven’t been at a congregation that uses The Lutheran Hymnal for a few years now, I still have the hymn numbers deeply ingrained in my mind.) Without picking up TLH, which hymn is it? If you answered I Come, O Savior, To Thy Table, you are correct. You get bonus points if you also remembered that it has 15 stanzas. As best as I can remember, I have never sung the entire hymn in one service. For better or worse, LSB broke the hymn into two hymns - LSB 618 and 619 - each with 5 stanzas and eliminated the remaining 5 stanzas. Perhaps the later stanzas will be sung more often now.

This all leads up to a memorable quote from my current lunch time reading — Robin Leaver’s study of “Luther’s Liturgical Music”. In the essay on Vater unser im Himmelrich (Out Father, Who from Heaven Above - LSB 766), Leaver recounts that Martin Franzmann was concerned that Luther’s paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer was infrequently sung because it was perceived to be too long — with 9 stanzas. Franzmann wrote a three-stanza hymn (LBW 442 — LBW did not include Luther’s hymn), as did Henry Letterman (LW 430). Leaver concludes with:

These shortened forms of hymnic versions of the Lord’s Prayer are symptomatic of our modern age, which is impatient with hymns longer than three or four stanzas and with services of worship that last longer than fifty-nine minutes. But worship and prayer require time if we are to become attuned to what we are doing and why. (133-134)

Sometimes it gets to the point of sound bite hymnody — first and last verses — or the “Best of the Divine Service” to fit the “allotted” time. Why? I would gladly stay longer to be nourished through the entire Divine Service and hymnody.

Soaked in Christ’s Blood

Over at Concordia TheoBLOGical Seminary, Rev. Cholak writes a vivid post on pastors soaking their flock with Christ’s blood as they preach Christ and the forgiveness of sins. It is well worth the read. He reminds us that God uses his servants to speak to us and that pastors should be preaching Christ - and consequently not some pop-philosophy or purpose driven drivel. He writes,

Pastors bring the forgiveness of sins from the cross and wrap you with it, like a warm blanket on a cold, winter’s night. They take his blood and wash you with it. Like a mother after you’ve played in the mud, a pastor scrubs you clean (even behind the ears) with Christ’s blood.

Yes . . . we need that scrubbing. We also probably need some high pressure washing. He concludes:

Expect to be soaking in Christ’s blood when the pastor says, “Amen.” Expect to be alive because Christ has wrapped you with his love and breathed new life into your ears. Not only should you expect it, you should demand it. It is your heritage. It is God’s good gift. AND…it’s yours.

If you’ve read this far, you need to read his whole blog post. Please click here.

As a side note: The imagery in Rev. Cholak’s post reminds me of my current bedtime reading - a collection of sermons by Chad Bird called “Christ Crucified“.

Singing Advice from Luther

I have just started reading Luther’s Liturgical Music by Robin Leaver. While I’ve only finished the second chapter, I sense this will be a very in depth but readable study of Luther and music. Chapter Two focused on how music was a central part of Luther’s life from a very young age until his death and how he was surrounded by accomplished musicians. Leaver “sought to demonstrate that Luther’s musicianship was anything but superficial and is the essential starting-point for any discussion of his musical understanding of theology or of his liturgical use of music” (pg. 63)

And after reading this chapter, what do I remember? This practical bit of advice from Luther regarding the starting pitch of a song: “No one should try to sing such a song in a higher key, for he will surely become hoarse and make a botch of it before he reaches five notes.” Thus saith Luther.

Johann Walter - First Lutheran Kantor

On April 24 (based on the Calendar of Commemorations for Lutheran Service Book), the church remembers Johann Walter - the first Lutheran kantor. Here is a brief biography from the LCMS Commission on Worship page.

Johann Walter, Kantor
Johann Walter (1496-1570) began service at the age of 21 as a composer and bass singer in the court chapel of Frederick the Wise. In 1524, he published a collection of hymns arranged according to the church year. It was well received and served as the model for numerous subsequent hymnals. In addition to serving for 30 years as kantor (church musician) in the cities of Torgau and Dresden, he also assisted Martin Luther in the preparation of the Deutsche Messe (1526). Walter is remembered as the first Lutheran kantor and composer of church music.