Music for the Pastor's Study: Part VIII. March of the Penguins

I know next to nothing about Alex Wurman, composer of this lovely soundtrack, but his use of black and white musical dyads and couplets is beautifully evocative of both the coloring and the odd gait of the stars of this equally gorgeous film, yet without ever devolving into mere cuteness. I can only think the composer must have drunk deeply from the well of Saint-Saens. Simply the most beautiful movie soundtrack I have heard in a very long time. Having played it over 100 times since I loaded it onto iTunes a couple of months ago, I have not tired of it yet.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part VII. Bach

To quote a famous fictional Army corporal who served during the Korean war era: "Ah, Bach!"

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part VI. Mozart

Karl Barth was certainly onto something when he kept Mozart spinning on the gramophone, um, you know, "the record player," as he himself spun out the 6 million words of the Church Dogmatics. I cannot imagine trying to concentrate at all, much less analyze deep theological problems while listening to opera, but the symphonies move right along, and when it comes down to sheer productivity, somehow I always seem to get a lot more done than I imagine possible when the symphonies of Mozart are running in the background.

At present I am having fun loading them onto iTunes in numerical order. I am no musicologist, but I do realize there are critical and historical problems with this approach. Nevertheless, I also think it gives one a general sense of how the great composer developed by listening to things in (grossly) chronological order, and in fact, I find this developmental approach to anyone's output, whether musical, theological, sermonic, etc., is almost always the most revealing.

So then, why not start with his so-called "Youth Symphonies"?

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part V. Phil Keaggy

The amazing Phil Keaggy has a sweet singing voice that is often compared to that of Paul McCartney. Nevertheless, his vocal albums are not what I would recommend for our purposes here. Once again, the instrumental contributions stand out. Legend has it this diminutive Christian man with only nine working fingers once received a hat tip from Eric Clapton when Johnny Carson asked him what it felt like to be the best guitarist in the world. "You'd have to ask Phil," came the reply.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part IV. Rick Wakeman

Continuing with the theme of British progressive rock artists who went and grew up, Rick Wakeman's "Airs" trilogy is virtuoso piano at its exquisite best:

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part III. Steve Hackett

Ant Phillips was replaced on guitar by Steve Hackett, who later departed Genesis in 1977 to issue a number of solo projects in a variety of genres. For music conducive to study, one must be very selective where Hackett is concerned, but his most pastoral records are his instrumental acoustic albums. (Don't let the album covers put you off!)

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part II. Anthony Phillips

Perhaps the one figure who is most prominent in my music library generally, and who more than anyone has acted as a minister of music to me over the course of my life is Anthony Phillips, the original guitarist with the progressive rock group Genesis. "Ant," as he is called, quit the band to study composition just as the band was poised to soar to legendary success on the art rock scene. Never so famous as his former band, he has nevertheless been amazingly prolific, recording as many pieces for guitar  as piano, as well as synthetic compositions for soundtracks, and other albums of blended styles and orchestrations. While not all of his albums may be described as pastoral, there is a lush and evocative pastoral beauty to his lengthy series of now ten albums that he has entitled (or subtitled) Private Parts and Pieces (I through X), and this series is but a subset of his total output. CCM fans should note that Ant's first solo album, The Geese and the Ghost, had a profound influence on guitarist Phil Keaggy, specifically on his classic, Master and the Musician.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part I. The Harp

Much as I love music, it is not always easy to find music that complements the tasks of study, prayer, and sermon preparation, rather than distracting from them. With this posting, I thought I would initiate a series devoted to some preferred sounds that I think are not incompatible with, but rather make for a good pastoral environment in the study. Not everything that is mentioned will necessarily be sacred music as such, or as intended by the artist, but in the same way there is a great deal of well-intentioned Christian music that does not contribute to a pastoral ethos in the study and thus will find no mention here. My aim is not to be exhaustive, but merely suggestive.

The harp seems a good place to begin as it offers a wonderfully therapeutic sound that is most welcome in these very tense and stressful days; so let me recommend the works of some of the best harpists or "harpers" (as they prefer to be called) who are producing some very pastoral and pleasing sounds today:

1. Kim Robertson

2. Aryeh Frankfurter

3. Joanna Mell