Adam M. L. Tice

Here's a new text reflecting on the news of late. I imagine singing it to HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, which would require going back to stanza one at the end to get the ABABA form. But it could be combined with any number of familiar CM tunes, such as NEW BRITAIN (Amazing Grace) or McKEE. Use it freely through February, 2017; report use if you have a onelicense.net account. (You will need to manually enter it.) Has Jesus stood in front of me, unseen before my eyes? He comes, a weary refugee, and calls through strangers’ cries. Has Jesus met me in the street in someone I found strange— in one who seeks a bite to eat, or asks for extra change? Has Jesus knocked upon my door and sought a place to stay? If I refuse to bless the poor, will God turn me away? Will Jesus find us puffed with pride, or humble, last, and least? He calls all hungry souls inside to share in God’s great feast. CM Adam M. L. Tice, January 31, 2017; ©2017 GIA Publicatio

Here is a hymn for this Christmas season. If you download the graphic, it should be large enough to reproduce well.   The morning after Jesus’ birth no angels hovered near the earth; the shepherds left to tend their sheep and Bethlehem awoke from sleep. The world was changed when Jesus came, and yet, too much remains the same as evil seems to keep its hold, despite what prophet songs foretold. We sing the angels’ song of peace and wait for rage and war to cease. And wait, with faith the world finds odd, to greet the promised reign of God. That reign is here, but upside-down, for Jesus claimed no earthly crown and shunned the use of hate and might to turn the world from wrong to right. At times that reign is hard to see, and not where we would have it be. It grows among the poor and weak in places most refuse to seek. As seeds take root in barren ground so can the reign of God be found, for Love has come and blossoms still

Reformed Worship has published a series of columns by Dr. David Music on hymn writers and composers. My work was featured in the December 2015 issue, which is now available online.  It is an insightful and detailed analysis.  Read it here: http://www.reformedworship.org/article/december-2015/echo-voice-god

Ok, I'm pretty biased because there are more than a few of my texts included... 25, to be exact... But Sally Ann Morris' new tune collection is spectacular. Her setting of Mary Louise Bringle's text "You Search Me and Know Me, O My God" alone is worth the cost of the book. I love that Sally finds a "voice" for each writer she works with. (For my texts she leans towards jazz.) That means there is substantial stylistic variety in the collection. Some future musicologist should compare how she sets her various writers' work. Many of the tunes for my work have been previously published in my last few collections; however, there are still several new discoveries to enjoy; newly written tunes for my older texts, and one text never before published. Head over to GIA to order your copy . See also Sally's previous two books: To Sing the Artists' Praise , and Giving Thanks in Prayer and Song . Sally and I also collaborated on a recording: Walk

Permission is granted for free use of this hymn during October, 2017. Here is a new text, along with two possible tunes. Click on the tune images for full-sized versions.  This hymn may be freely used through July 31, 2016. Let speeches fall silent and platitudes cease from hawkers of violence they brand as “peace.” Let people who suffer find places to speak, and holders of power give way to the weak. Let teachers of hatred, suspicion, and fear, and those who would kill for the views they hold dear, be turned from their ways and disarmed of their wrath to walk on a new, more compassionate path. Forgive us the times we neglected to act; forgive our excuses for courage we lacked. God, teach us the wisdom that leads us to grace: your image is found in our enemy’s face. Adam M. L. Tice, June 15, 2016 ©2016 GIA Publications, Inc.

This is really long and full of all kinds of scratch-the-surface stuff squeezed into a TED-talks style format. It is a presentation I shared at Bethany Theological Seminary's In Tune conference in April. I was asked to introduce my work and to talk about being a hymn writer. (My presentation followed one from a "contemporary praise and worship" musician/pastor, and so much of what I said is about blurring genre lines and finding synthesis.) If you only have time for one piece, jump to 49:35 for "The Mountain of God" with Sally Morris' awesome tune TO THE BRINK. I wish the recording picked up more of the congregation--they really rocked!