Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XXII. Rachel Portman (Soundtrack to "Emma," et al.)

Perhaps the best bet for finding a good soundtrack for the pastoral study is to comb through the movie soundtracks of pastoral (often British) period films.  A case in point: the movie "Emma" (1996) has been rerunning on cable recently, and I have been reminded of its lovely, sprightly, and evocative theme. If the name Rachel Portman seems familiar, its because her name has appeared as composer on dozens of films, but it was for "Emma" that she won the Oscar. (Oddly enough, Portman was schooled at the England's prestigious Charterhouse, where the boys of Genesis, including Anthony Phillips, were educated.)

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XXI. The St. Olaf Choir

I should have mentioned this at Christmas, but one of the great highlights of the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany cycle is the radio broadcast of the annual St. Olaf Choir concert. A truly world class choir filling the world with joyous, sacred song from Northfield, MN. What a treasure.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XX. Taizé

The music of the Taizé community likely needs no introduction, but is rather a cause for thanksgiving and joy. Organic yet broadly appealing, historic yet ever contemporary, the songs, chants and prayers of Taizé are, like the work of the Iona Community, a breath of fresh air and sanity in the midst of the so-called "worship wars."

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XIX. The Iona Community

Based in the west end of Glasgow, and of course on the island of Iona itself, John Bell, Graham Maule, and the Wild Goose Worship Group of the Iona Community have been breathing new life into Reformed worship for some time now. With fresh texts set to many traditional Celtic tunes as well as some original melodies, their approach to the knot of gospel and culture is not unlike that of Luther in 16th c. Germany and Vaughan Williams in 20th England. Would that their work was still more widely known, but it has been making inroads and is being well received, so I suppose there is little more to say than simply, "Faster, please," and "More, please."

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XVIII. The Psalms! The Psalms!

Hopefully it is clear that with this little series of entries on music that sets the tone for devotional study in the pastorate, I do not intend to "rank" these suggestions; rather, these are simply posted as they occur to me and as time allows. Were they ranked, the Psalms would, of course, have to stand in a list of their own for their qualitative distinction as Scripture itself. That they have not been mentioned so far is simply that one can easily take them for granted, they are so obviously essential and indeed stand far and away above everything we have said so far. It should go without saying, right? But just in case anyone stands in the need of the reminder ...

Meanwhile, the staggeringly diverse cultural styles and modes in which the Psalms have been rendered is a topic far beyond the scope of this modest post and ever further beyond my own expertise. From the rich cantorial art of synagogue worship to Gregorian chant and plainsong to the Genevan Psalter and on and on, down to fresh settings in CCM and the Jewish messianic strains of Paul WIlbur, the Psalms are truly enduring, an endless source of inspiration!

Perhaps the most intriguing and moving record I have run across in this area recently is Days of Majesty (below), where the letters of the Hebrew text of the psalms (and canticles) have been encoded or translated into the notes of music, i.e., the melody, itself; hence, the delightful and breathtaking designation: "Music from God." Who would have imagined the beautiful order of the text would lend such beautiful order in the musical dimension as well. Peculiar, but inspired and inspiring. Listen and select with reverence and wonder and care.

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XVII. "Hear My Prayer"

Without prayer, there is no true preaching ...

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XVI. John Rutter

I realize I began this series of posts with some pretty obscure suggestions for what makes for a good, studious, contemplative musical environment in the pastor's study, putting gleanings before the harvest perhaps, but we must finally ask, where would sacred music be today without John Rutter (and the Cambridge Singers)?

Music for the Pastor's Study: Part XV. Bruce Cockburn

It's hard to believe Bruce Cockburn's career is now entering its fifth decade. Like Van Morrison or U2, the Canadian songwriter, guitar player, environmental activist is a Christian whose career has been spent on secular record labels, striking the all but impossible combination of credible artistic reputation in the secular world with an equally credible Christian witness. Cockburn (pron. "COE-burn") has been issuing roughly an album every year for the last forty years, most of them including an instrumental track or two. More recently the best of his  instrumental pieces, ranging from folk and country to rock and jazz, were compiled on a lovely CD entitled Speechless.

Although Bruce's music gets more of a workout in this pastor's car than in the study, his "Salt, Sun, and Time" never fails to transport one to warmer climes. My iTunes has a playlist of Cockburn favorites that I call "Cockburn the Confessor," a compilation of both instrumental and vocal tracks that contain his most overt (though perhaps more often covert) expressions of Christian faith, hope, and love, in some of which he even dares to invoke "the name above all names," even "Jesus"! You go, Bruce!

Bruce Cockburn has produced an admirable and significant catalog of enduring character, and though the production quality often betrays the technical limitations of the times, in the end it is all good. Here are just a few pastoral and "faith-based" highlights.