For Good Measure

How Worship Music is Chosen

Organ History with Dr. Robert M. Thompson

Ever wonder how hymns, choral music, organ and other music is chosen for worship services? Secular, liturgical, and epidemiological considerations are all in play.

Having a text, hymns and choral music are best when they relate to one of the lessons, the psalm or the season in general, and thankfully there are liturgical planning books to guide us along the way.

With well over a thousand choral works in our music library, it is very likely that something appropriate can be found, but the work needs to fit other criteria: length, difficulty, number of voices, etc. Covid-19 has reduced the choir to seven voices. The choir has eight or so pieces in their music folder at any given time. These have to be learned in advance of Thursday morning recording sessions. An extremely difficult piece, for example, would require much more time to learn, so that has to be factored into the mix.

Often a non-liturgical event may influence music choices for both choir and organ, such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Independence Day and Thanksgiving. These are secular events, not liturgical ones, but are otherwise appropriate to recognize and observe.

For example, this year the choir will have sung Afro-American and Afro-American- inspired anthems both before and during February, Black History Month. When possible, the organ will present similar music.

In March, Women’s History Month, there will be numerous organ preludes and postludes by women composers including several by former Good Samaritan organist and director of music, Beatrice A. Miller, much of it published during her lifetime. Many other works by Mrs. Miller survive in recently-discovered manuscripts. Sadly, there are few anthems by women and even few organ works.

In order to help fill this gap, I have transcribed for organ pieces for other instruments by Amy Beach and Clara Schumann, and in my research found three organ pieces by Nadia Boulanger, the famous French teacher of hundreds of American composers including Aaron Copland.