"New Wine in Old Wineskins": A Hymn Setting of Kathryn Ann Hill's poem.

A hymn setting of the poem "New Wine in Old Wineskins" by +Kathryn Ann Hill , from her book, To You It Has Been Given: The Parables of Jesus in Picture and Verse (Copyright  © 2011 Kathryn Ann Hill. Used by permission.), published by Lutheran Legacy, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 2011. The poem is based on Matthew 9:17, "Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." (NKJV)

I have been working the last few days on a musical setting of Kathryn Ann Hill's poem, "New Wine in Old Wineskins." The Youtube video of the hymn is above. I came across Ms. Hill's poetry in the magazine Gottesdienst and was very moved by it. I ordered the book of her poetic settings of the parables of Jesus called To You It Has Been Given. "New Wine in Old Wineskins" is one of the shorter poems, so I thought it would be a good place to start.

I have written jazz lead sheets and songs, one which made it into a movie, country western songs, piano rags, "movie" music (music for imagined movie scenes), radio jingles, and, in my college days, twelve-tone and avant-garde compositions. "The Miracle of Tire Vulcanizing", "Surinam Swings" and "A Bum Steer" are examples of my "aleatoric"  period. I think my composition teacher thought I wasn't being serious from the titles of these masterpieces.

But in the last few years I have been looking for ways to use the musical gifts God has given me in the  service of the church.

Recently I wrote an anthem for choir. I then thought about setting one of Kathryn Hill's poems to music in a hymn setting. I hope to do this with several more of Ms Hill's wonderful poems. She has graciously permitted me to publish her poem with my music on Youtube and my blog. You may order To You It Has Been Given at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kah1952. and see her other books there, too.

As with the Youtube videos in previous posts, this digital realization uses a generic choral sound to approximate the sound of a choir of singers. You won't  hear distinct articulations of consecutive notes on the same pitch. I hope that we will sing this in church, perhaps for Pentecost. If we do, I will post a video.

Credo First Performance Video

This is a video of the first performance of "Credo" on Sunday, February 17th by the choir of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Olathe. Reverend Mark Frith graciously recorded the video. Rev. Frith is a former Pastor of Beautiful Savior and is currently serving as Assistant to the President for Missions & Stewardship of the Kansas District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. His wife, Leigh is the director of the choir. I thank her, all the members of the choir, and Pam Mayer, the choir's fine accompanist, for this opportunity to write a choral composition and have it performed. I think the performance went very well. We may record it later in a studio setting and with slightly larger forces.

Practice Videos for Choir

These Youtube videos are for practicing the different voices in Credo, a piece for choir that I wrote for the adult choir at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Olathe, Kansas under the direction of Leigh Frith. The score playback uses a generic "choral" synthesizer sound without words. If there is a repeated note the synthesizer does not rearticulate the note, but plays it as if it were tied to the note before it. For instance, if there are four quarter notes in a row on middle C, the program plays it back as one long whole note. Also, the moving vertical line lags a beat behind the music being played. Ignore it if you can.

I hope this helps with learning the parts. The accelerandos and ritardandos are approximate only. The tempi are close, though. I'm still learning the program, Sibelius First, which, by the way, is a terrific notation software. Soli Deo Gloria.


For best viewing of all videos, press the "play" arrow, select full screen and either 480p or 720p HD with the  buttons in the bottom right hand corner of the full frame. 

The first video is with all parts equal.

The video below emphasizes the soprano voice.    

 

The video below is for altos.

The one below is for the tenors.

And the one below is for the basses.

Advent Adult Bible Class Series— Joseph: Man of Steel

Starting on Sunday, December 2, and continuing for the next three weeks, the adult Bible class at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Olathe, Kansas will look at Joseph, the step-father of Jesus Christ. We will use the materials provided by Lutheran Hour Ministry's MensNetwork. Links to supplementary material will be posted on the right.

All of the materials may be downloaded from Lutheran Hour Ministry's MensNetwork site. You will need to log in on the site or create a free user account at http://www.lhmmen.com. Click on "Studies" and when you get to the new page scroll down to "Joseph: Man of Steel." You may watch all the videos of the course, order a dvd, or download the links pages for "Digging Deeper."

The course was designed by the MensNetwork, but it will be of interest to women as well.