Ruach is a new composition that dramatizes the sudden, chaotic, and shocking moment when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples on Pentecost. Composed in 2018 and revised in 2022, Ruach is a sacred concert work that is inspired – figuratively and literally – by this mysterious yet earth-shattering event: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole... Read more
Guest post by Rev. Jonathan Evens. For over 50 years, pop musicians in all genres have explored the meaning and significance of Jesus in their music. The result is a rich collection of songs that consider important spiritual questions like faith, doubt, and prayer in unique and often provocative ways. Delvyn Case and I have recently been in conversation in a short series for HeartEdge to try to mine this rich resource to share rock and pop music for... Read more
There’s a Christmas song that makes me really uncomfortable. It makes me think about things I’d rather not – especially this time of year. And as a Christian, it makes me feel ashamed. No – it’s not “Baby it’s Cold Outside” – though that song has always been problematic. It’s not Santa Baby, with its creepy sexualization of old Kris Kringle. It’s not even Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers’ “I Believe in Santa Claus”, which – while starting out promisingly... Read more
Sam Cooke’s “Touch the Hem of His Garment” retells a famous Bible story – but with one significant omission. That’s why it’s so powerful. This classic 1956 song appears on a recording by the Soul Stirrers. Written several years before he “crossed over” to secular pop music, releasing romantic classics like “You Send Me” and “Wonderful World”, this great song is much more than just a musical version of a familiar story. Listen to the song here. Here is the... Read more
Sometimes words are not enough – especially when we contemplate the great mysteries of our faith, like Christ’s crucifixion. That’s when we need music. As we commemorate Good Friday, I offer my choral work Tenebrae factae sunt. It is a dark and dissonant musical setting of some Jesus’s final words from the cross. It’s not an easy piece to listen to. But then again, its words are not either. Last year I wrote about this piece in an article for... Read more
A full-voiced choir. Trumpets, cymbals, and drums. THIS is the kind of music best suited for the Almighty King. Except…is it? Psalm 19 begins: The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the wonders of his work display the firmament. The most famous musical setting of these lines appears in Franz Josef Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” from 1798. It’s a blazing and glorious piece that has become a standard church anthem: Take a listen: The Bible often describes... Read more
Hark! These bells bring peace and joy – but something else as well. They call us to contemplate the Incarnation. The “Carol of the Bells” is a song you definitely know, even though you might not know its name. Written by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 and given lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky, it is a remarkable composition. (It also has an extraordinary backstory, including a political assassination…) Unlike most joyous songs of the season, it is in a minor... Read more
Join me on a musical exploration of Mary’s great song of praise. It might just change your view of this extraordinary poem. The “Magnificat” is the name given to the poem we find in Luke 1:46-55.(“Magnificat” is simply the Latin translation of the beginning of the first line.) It is Mary’s response, spoken when she visits her cousin Elizabeth, to the news she has received from Gabriel: that she would bear the Son of God. The Magnificat is a traditional... Read more
Handel’s masterwork isn’t just great music. It can also help us grow in faith this Advent season – but only if we know how to listen to it. Advent is hard. It’s a time in which we are called to ponder the darkness of the world, waiting in sober yet joyful expectation for the coming of Jesus. But that’s really difficult when your neighbor’s house is flashing red and green like the runway at LaGuardia. Our whole culture skips over Advent... Read more
Doom. Darkness. Tyranny. Misery. Ransom. Exile. Gloomy clouds. Dark shadows. The grave. Hell. Satan. All are words that appear in the great Advent carol O Come, O Come Emmanuel. If you are looking for a song to get you ready for Christmas, you can’t do much better than the 12th-century Latin hymn “Veni, Veni Emmanuel”, known to most of us in the 1851 English version by J.M. Neale (who also wrote “Good King Wenceslas”, by the way.) It’s dark. Heavy metal... Read more
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