Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Leadership
    • Our History
    • The Rainbow Fish
    • Our Partners and Friends
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • CGS on YouTube
    • Digital Worship Bulletins
    • Music
  • Living Together
    • Calendar
    • Newsletter
    • Blog
    • Important Documents
    • Library
    • Facilities
  • Renewing Spaces
  • Breeze
  • Donate

Needs more (hand)bell

9/26/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Daniel Thomas, Church Musician
​

As we enter the fall season you’ll notice we’ve introduced new liturgical music. It is my hope that as a community we can continue to expand our musical boundaries in relation to worship, and where this summer’s music was based in a more contemporary American sound, this fall we are using music from Christian cultures around the world, as a reminder that music and worship transcends cultural and political boundaries.

I have incorporated traditional folk and sacred music from South Africa, Peru, Korea, Russia, China, and Jamaica, as well as a European piece from the classical era and a more contemporary Caribbean song. What I like about all of these pieces is, even though they reflect a variety of melodic and rhythmic structures, they maintain a simplicity that allow communities to learn the tunes quickly and focus on the words and their moment in worship.

You will also notice some changes in our instrumentation! First and foremost, you’ll see our handbells incorporated much more often into the liturgies; this is something we will continue to do in upcoming seasons, and I am grateful to and impressed by Rachel, Kevin, and Chuck for their willingness and quick study (Rebecca, of course, is a handbell veteran!). Secondly, you’ll also notice our guitarists often joining Ronny in playing percussion, which allows us to create more varied textures and colors.

Finally, I am spending very little time at the piano during the liturgical music – part of this is to support the different aural textures of the pieces (the piano is very much a European                instrument and would not often be found in the folk traditions of these other cultures), but it is also to allow me to play a support role for the rest of our band. Since my arrival at CGS, I have wanted the band to function more as an ensemble and less as a piano with some instruments playing along. But I also recognize that our musicians are volunteers, and as such, may be absent due to family, work, or other responsibilities. This setup allows me to jump around and fill in as needed to maintain the integrity of the ensemble sound. (I will   admit that it’s also a fun challenge, as I went from playing bass two weeks ago to handbells last week, and this week I’ll be doing various things to fill in for Rachel and Kevin).

As always, I hope you enjoy this liturgical music and are able to appreciate its origins and         connections to God and God’s Word that all of these cultures  enjoy. And as always, I welcome your thoughts and discussion on this or any music that we have here at CGS.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Christ the Good Shepherd 

    Various editorials, articles, and other items of interest.

    Archives

    March 2025
    February 2025
    September 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Choir
    Community
    Faith
    Music
    Pastor
    Pride
    Racism

1550 Meridian Ave. 
San Jose, CA 95125

(408)266-8022
​
[email protected]
Picture
Picture

El Camino Real Conference

Photo from wuestenigel
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Leadership
    • Our History
    • The Rainbow Fish
    • Our Partners and Friends
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • CGS on YouTube
    • Digital Worship Bulletins
    • Music
  • Living Together
    • Calendar
    • Newsletter
    • Blog
    • Important Documents
    • Library
    • Facilities
  • Renewing Spaces
  • Breeze
  • Donate