It is SO scary to unveil a piece of music that you’ve composed for someone. . . because once you’ve shared it with them, all you can do is wait for whatever the honest response is going to be – cheers, jeers, or worst of all, a yawn.
I shared a new piece of music with the top choir at Tremper High School this morning – and I’m happy to say that it was with cheers rather than jeers that the students received “Strike the Rock.” It’s a lively piece and challenging but not overwhelmingly so- and for once I did a pretty good job of making the manuscript legible and orderly. (I’ve learned the hard way that nothing sours a choir on a new piece of music like a sloppy, hard-to-read manuscript.) More importantly, I seemed to do a pretty good job of gauging what would work well for them and for their particular voices and what would be just challenging enough. I actually wrote the piece first for the senior choir at Holy Communion, so this was a case of making it a bit more difficult (splitting it into six parts instead of four) and of changing the lyrics to make them just a little less overtly religious. After all, the story of striking the rock and seeing a stream of water emerge from it is more than anything a story of HOPE.
Are you thirsty? Are you empty?
Do you long for something cool to drink?
All around is – barren desert –
but beneath you is a flowing stream.
Strike the Rock and Strike it with Faith!
Strike the Rock and you will be amazed!
Strike the Rock and sing a song of praise
as the living waters flow!
Strike the Rock with all of your might!
Strike the Rock, whatever be your plight.
Strike the Rock and see the wondrous sight
as living waters flow!
Are you hungry and depleted?
Do you need the strength that bread can give?
See the Manna given for you.
Come and eat your fill and you shall live! Strike the Rock…
Are you wandering and discouraged?
On a journey you cannot sustain?
You can never be forgotten.
Loving hands will guide you home again. Strike the Rock…
I certainly would be remiss if I didn’t mention how impressed I was with the students’ sight-reading. In the space of just a few short minutes, they were sounding like they had been singing this piece for quite sometime. That has something to do with their talent, but also something to do with the musical skills which Polly has instilled in them. The typical Tremper choir singer walks away after four years with a lot more than just pleasant memories; they walk out of there as skilled, confident musicians and that’s thanks to Polly’s diligence. That paid HUGE dividends today in the great singing they were able to do right off the bat.
I had good fun with this piece this past Sunday morning at second service when I sang it as a duet with Jamie Wilson, in honor of his birthday- with his folks visiting from southern Illinois and sitting proudly in the front row. And boy, did we hit it out of the park! Pastor Jeff went out of his way to compliment me afterwards, and he is not particularly frivolous with his compliments- so if he takes the time to say that he likes one of my songs, I know that he really does.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I actually played this piece for Mr. Noble today after Carthage Choir rehearsal – or part of it, since he was on his way to Chicago and didn’t have time to hear the whole thing. I should have waited but I sort of forced the issue and played a sampling of it for him – and let’s just say that it was received with more politeness than enthusiasm. And that was fine- after this morning I was feeling like Bach, Beethoven and Brahms rolled into one. Now I just feel like Berg, which is the way it should be.
pictured: Polly and her top choir at Tremper High School