A Couple more newly arranged “Older” songs: a blessing and a psalm

Ruthie and Beth visiting with Santa at the New Prague Library in December of 1984.

In a week’s time, December 27th, Ruthie and I will be married 50 years. We started dating in May of 1969. The best “awful” thing that happened to me was when my dad’s company transferred him from Chicago to St Paul, Mn during the summer before my junior year in high school. As a junior in a whole new high school, St Bernard’s on Rice Street, I felt very isolated until I went to band practice. There playing first French Horn was this vision of beauty, Ruth Ahmann. She smiled that fantastic smile at me, kindly welcomed me (she was the first person who talked to me that first day of school), and I was smitten.

Ruthie’s high school graduation picture.

She graduated in May of 1969 from high school, worked a year, and then studied to be a Registered Nurse. I graduate from high school, in May 1970, majored in music at the College of St Thomas, and graduated in December 1974 (I did my student teaching the Fall quarter of 1984).

My college graduation in December of 1984.
Ruthie’s graduation from Anoka Ramsey College in May 1984.

Two weeks following my graduation, we got married at St Bridget of Sweden Catholic Church in Lindstrom, MN. on a very cold, December 27th evening. Fortunately, there were not blizzards that day (that happened one week later). Ruthie recently asked me why we got married on that day in December. It was because the church would be brightly filled with Christmas decorations, and besides, what more festive a time can one get married than on Christmas. Am I correct? I did compose a song for our wedding. Got an good friend, a music major from St Kate’s, to sing at our wedding. Arranged some music for trumpet and organ etc. The only music we could not have in our wedding was “our song”, “Midnight at the Oasis”. As a liturgist, later on, yeah, that would not have been appropriate for a wedding … perhaps better sung and enacted on the honeymoon night. But I digress …

Needless to say, the best day of my life was when Ruthie and I got married December 27th of 1974 and married to her every day following continues to be the best day of my life.

God’s Love Be With You

God’s Love Be With You is a choir hymn composed as a blessing. The text I adapted from some blessings in the Book of Psalms, and, from the Book of Numbers. I composed the music and adapted the text during the summer of 1984. Here is the text:

GOD’S LOVE BE WITH YOU

Refrain
God’s love be with you.
God’s peace be with you.
God’s love and peace be with you.

Our God proclaims peace to all people.
And to those who put in God all their hope.
Near indeed is God’s salvation to those who hear God,
Glory dwelling in their land.

Refrain

May peace be in your walls,
Prosperity in your buildings.
With all my relatives and friends, I say,
“Peace be within you.”

Refrain

May our God bless you and keep you.
May the face of our God shine upon you.
May our God be gracious to you and look upon you,
Kindly and give you peace.

Refrain

The music:

God’s Love Be With You (c) 1984 music and text by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place

My favorite psalm is Psalm 84. I love this psalm so much, that I composed a musical setting of the psalm, and then presented the psalm to the person I love so much, Ruthie, and gave it to her as a Christmas present in 1989. I worked on this song throughout most of the Fall of that year. Here is the text:

PS 84 – HOW LOVELY IS YOUR DWELLING PLACE

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O God of Heav’n and earth. (repeat)

My very essence longs with deepest desire
For the courts of our God.
My heart, my soul sing out with joy to our God,
The living God.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O God of Heav’n and earth. (repeat)

For even the sparrow you provide a home.
The swallow nest her young at your altar, O God.
My God, my all. My God, my all.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O God of Heav’n and earth. (repeat)

To spend one day in your courts,
Is all I desire.
To rest upon your doorstep,
I prefer to all dwellings.
For you, my God, are a sun and a shield,
You bestow your grace on those
Who walk with you.


How happy are they who trust
in you, O God of hosts.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O God of Heav’n and earth.

Here is the music:

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place (c) 1989, music and text by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

Ruthie and I at my retirement party, May 2019. Our kids from left to right: Meg, Beth, Andy, and Luke.

Newly arranged “old” choir music for the Season of Christmas.

The “ghostly” image of my son, Luke, in front of the Christmas Tree on Christmas Day, 1981.Many years later, Luke now sets up the Christmas tree and decorates the tree and the outside of the house with lights.

In this post are several choir songs and the responsorial psalm for Christmas.

As with the Advent music posted earlier, much of this music was composed for the choirs of St Hubert in a period of time from the mid-eighties to the early nineties.

Look, God Is Among Us

Look God Is Among Us, was composed as a Christmas present for my son, Luke, when he was 10 years old. I adapted the text from Isaiah 12, one of the readings on Christmas Eve. Here is the text of the song:

Look! God Is Among Us

Refrain
Look! God is among us,
The Holy One of Israel.
Come in greatness,
Shout for joy!

O God, you are our salvation,
You are our strength, our comfort.
In you we place our trust,
We have no fear.

Refrain

Come, O Zion draw water,
From the springs of our God.
Drink deeply from the font
Of our salvation.

Refrain

All who live in Zion,
Proclaim God’s name to all people.
Declare God’s mighty works,
Invoke God’s name.

Refrain

Look God Is Among Us (c) 1987 music and text by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

How Beautiful the Mountains

How Beautiful the Mountains was composed for my choirs in 1986. The text is adapted from Isaiah 52, one of the readings for Christmas Eve Masses. Many of these songs I began to compose in the month of June. I would pour through the readings of Advent and Christmas, choose texts, start to adapt those texts for music, and then do the composing and arranging. The Fall of 1986, the local association for liturgical musicians in the Archdiocese had a “contest” for original music composed by the directors of music in the Archdiocese. I entered this song, and won second or third place. Winning was not necessarily important. Performing the song for a wider audience was exhilarating. Here is the text:

HOW BEAUTIFUL THE MOUNTAINS

How beautiful the mountains that ring with the news that our God is king,
The voices of our watchmen excitedly shout for joy! (repeat

Refrain:
Rise out of your ruins Jerusalem,
God’s consolation has come to you.
For all the ends of the earth have seen
Have seen the salvation of our God.

How blessed are the messengers announcing the good news
Break into song O Zion proclaiming God’s peace to all. (repeat)

Refrain

How blessed are the eyes that behold our Lord God, our Comforter,
Returning to his people, redeeming them, bringing them peace. (repeat)

Refrain

The music:

How Beautiful the Mountains (c) 1986, music and text by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

Our Savior Is Born To Us

Our Savior Is Born to Us was composed as a Christmas present for a music colleague of mine, Joann Klinglehutz, at St Hubert. Joann was an educator and incredible soloist at St Hubert, and we played many a wedding over the years at St Hubert. She later got married and moved to Omaha.

I adapted the text from Isaiah 62, another reading proclaimed at one of the Masses on Christmas Eve. The refrain was composed to be sung as a round. As you listen to the recording you will hear the refrain sung in unison when it is introduced. After the first verse, it is sung as a two part round. After the second verse, it is sung as a three part round. And, following the third verse it is sung as a four part round. I have updated the arrangement to include a three octave bell choir, 2 violins, 2 flutes, a brass quartet, SATB choir, and piano. Here is the text:

OUR SAVIOR IS BORN TO US

(soprano solo)
Let us rejoice in the Lord,
Our Savior is born to us.
True peace descends upon us from Heaven.

(full choir)
Let us rejoice in the Lord,
Our Savior is born to us.
True peace descends upon us from Heaven.

Blazing forth from the East,
God comes from the dawn.
Filling the earth with a new light ne’er before seen.
Overcoming the darkness in our land.

(2 part round)
Let us rejoice in the Lord,
Our Savior is born to us.
True peace descends upon us from Heaven.

Desolate, forsaken we shall be no more.
As a crown of glory held aloft in God’s hand,
For all the nations to see.

(3 part round)
Let us rejoice in the Lord,
Our Savior is born to us.
True peace descends upon us from Heaven.

We have become delightful, espoused to God.
No one can silence the joy alive in our hearts.
Our Savior is born to us!

(4 part round)
Let us rejoice in the Lord,
Our Savior is born to us.
True peace descends upon us from Heaven.

The music:

Our Savior Is Born to Us (c) 1992, music and text by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

All the Ends of the Earth

All the Ends of the Earth, Psalm 98, is the responsorial psalm for Christmas Day. There are many, many musical versions for choir and cantors composed over the years. The music was composed by me for SATB choir and piano in 1985. I used the text that was provided in the Lectionary for Mass at that time (when the Catholic Church in the United States still had a decent translation of the scriptures.

In 1983, I was still the full-time music educator at St Wenceslaus, but worked nights and weekends at St Hubert 25 miles away. Ruthie was pregnant with our fourth child, and the baby was due at Christmas. Needless to say, I was a bit trepidatious about that, not wanting to be stuck directing music at all the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Masses, and not being able to be with Ruth if she should go into labor (Note: our daughter was born two weeks later). When I composed this musical setting of this psalm, I had been working at both St Wenceslaus and St Hubert for two years. My family and I were living on my meager church salary and were officially living under the poverty level. My choirs got to know my family, and after one rehearsal in Advent 1984, the pastor, Father Barry Schneider, OFM, called me into his office and gave me an envelope with $1000. He said it was a gift from an anonymous donor to my family. What was looking to be a very meager Christmas at my home, turned into something far more special for my kids. I composed this setting of Psalm 98 as a thank you to the anonymous donor. About 20 years later, I finally discovered who the donor was. They are one of those special families that touch the lives of many so positively.

The music is based on a repetitive chord pattern, known as a “ground” in music theory. There are many popular songs that do this. Think Louie, Louie by the Kingsman, or any 12 part blues chord pattern. David Haas had composed a psalm setting of Psalm 100, “We Are Your People”, using this technique. I decided to base this psalm setting on the same principle. While the chord pattern remains the same, I composed two separate melodies to be sung over that chord pattern, one for the refrain, and one for the verse. At one point, in this psalm setting, you can hear both melodies being done simultaneously. Here is the text:

PS 98 ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

Refrain:
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
For he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won vict’ry for him,
His holy arm.

Refrain

(women)
The LORD has made his salvation known
In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
(men)
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness,
Toward the House of Israel, the House of Israel.

Refrain

(super imposed over the verse is the melody of the refrain)
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Song  joyfully to the LORD,
All you lands break into song,
Sing praise.

Refrain

Sing praise to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and melodious song.
With the sound of the trumpet and horn
Sing joyfully before the King, the Lord.

Refrain

Here is the music:

All the Ends of the Earth (c) music by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

NEWLY ARRANGED “OLD” MUSIC FOR CHOIR AND ASSORTED INSTRUMENTS

My now 22 year old grandson, Owen, on Christmas 2003, at the age of 1 year.

Since Labor Day weekend, on which I broke my left wrist, I have been occupying some of my time in composing a musical setting of the Ordinary of the Mass, and rearranging some old choir/piano psalms, hymns, songs, for SATB choir, strings, 3 octave handbell choir, woodwinds, and brass quartet (2 trumpets, a horn in F, and trombone).

I dug out my old orchestration books from over 50 years ago, and started arranging, keeping in mind that these new arrangements had to be playable by musicians of all ages and abilities from high school level up and still sound musical.

Since we are in the Advent Season on the cusp of Christmas and the Christmas season (going by the liturgical calendar and NOT the retail business calendar which has the Christmas season starting have the fourth of July), I will start first with some Advent music.

About what you will hear …

I did these new arrangements using the music program, Finale. Finale does a wonderful job reproducing authentic instrument sounds from keyboards all through the instruments of an orchestra. However, the only instrument it cannot reproduce well is the human voice. Voice parts sound like someone is singing a very long “Ahhhhh.” With the advancement of AI, I am sure that in the future, the human voice, complete with sung text, will be reproduced to sound more authentic. However, lacking a choir to direct, and hands that are nearly crippled by arthritis, I can only give you this facsimile, based on the playback feature of the program. It still works. To assist the listener, I have also included the texts of the songs to match the music. Most of the music is written in either three part form (think refrain, verse, refrain) or two part form (think verse, refrain).

Here is the first of the songs based on the Responsorial Psalm for Advent, Psalm 85, entitled, “God Let Us See Your Kindness.” This was composed for my choirs at St Hubert in Chanhassen during the mid-eighties, when our music budget really didn’t exist and our music resources in the pew were quite awful if not, perhaps, illegal (violating copyright laws, something I rectified as quickly as possible). I composed a lot of choir music at that time in my life.

PS 85 GOD LET US SEE YOUR KINDNESS

Refrain:
God let us see your kindness.
God let us see your kindness.

I will hear what God proclaims:
Our God proclaims peace to all people.
Near indeed is God’s salvation for the humble of heart,
Glory dwelling in our land.

Refrain

Kindness and truth shall meet,
Justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out from the earth,
And justice shall look down from heaven.

Refrain

God, you give us your benefits,
Our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before you, and salvation
Along the way of your steps.

Refrain

God Let Us See Your Kindness (c) 1985, music and text (adapted from Psalm 85) by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

The next choir hymn is based on the Baruch reading for the Advent season, entitled, Remembered By God. This was composed for my St Hubert Choirs in 1992.

Remembered By God

Refrain:
Let us prepare a way for the Lord.
Let us put on the splendor of God forever.
Let us gather with all people and rejoice,
For we are remembered by God.

May we give birth to God’s tidings of joy to the lowly,
And heal the brokenhearted,
And announce this time of favor from our God.
Refrain

Upon the heights, let us look to the East and the West,
And see all of God’s children,
Whom God brings into our midst with mercy and justice.
Refrain

May we be clothed with God’s mantle of salvation,
Wrap around us God’s mantle of justice,
And go forth led in joy by God’s light that grows within us.

Refrain

© 1992 text adapted from scripture (Is 40:3, Is 61:1-2a, Bar 5:1-9) by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.

The music:

Remembered By God (c) 1992 music and text by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.