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Showing posts from 2016

Christmas Hymn: The Morning After Jesus' Birth

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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

Column in Reformed Worship

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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

New Sally Morris collection

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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

Let Speeches Fall Silent--a hymn after the Orlando massacre

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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.

In Tune Presentation

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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!

Writing the Church's Song--Save the dates!

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The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada is hosting "Writing the Church's Song" in September.  The announcement is below. I'm thrilled to be working with Sally Morris and David Bailey to promote good craft in congregational song. Save the Date!  We will offer a workshop retreat for poets and composers of all styles of congregational song in September, 2016.  Outstanding faculty will guide participants, providing insights from their own writing process and offering feedback.  There will be time for small group interaction and ample time for individuals to work on their own projects.  The workshop will be held at Richmond Hill, an ecumenical community in the heart of Richmond, Virginia.  Full schedule and registration will be available online April 1 Space is limited so sign up early!! Schedule Overview Monday, Sept 26 :  check in after 4 pm and join the community for prayer and dinner Tuesday Sept 27 through Thursday Sept 29 :  meet together fo

Contemplating Craft and Psalms

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I had a delightful time at the Calvin Symposium on Worship. It was an international, intercultural, and interdenominational feast. The music was exhilarating and sometimes challenging--and often a bit loud! I was privileged to be a resource for a songwriter's retreat along with Greg Scheer and Sandra McCracken. When I saw the stack of submissions from retreat participants, I knew that this would be a learning experience for me. All but a handful of the songs were written in a decidedly "contemporary" idiom. (I use quotation marks because everything, when it is written, is by definition "contemporary." I'm using the term here to describe what's often known as "Contemporary Christian Music," or CCM--typically guitar-driven songs, often with through-composed, non-strophic lyrics.) What would I, as a writer of hymn texts, contribute to the conversation? Greg and Sandra are far more knowledgeable about that world, and I loved hearing their wisdom

More on the Calvin Symposium

I'm excited to head up to Grand Rapids next week!  Here are a few more details on what I'll be doing. On Thursday Sandra McCraken and I will lead a retreat for hymn/text/tune/song writers/composers, moderated by Greg Scheer . I'm excited to explore our varied approaches to our crafts. (By the way, I'm pondering an upcoming post on Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made A Hat as instruction books for good hymn writing.) Thursday and Friday at 4:15 one of the vesper service options is The Good News for the Hurting: A Service of Scripture and Song  Michael Burkhardt , the Choral Scholars , and Zebulon Highben , featuring texts by Adam Tice   The conference program describes it this way: "Led by choir and organ, this service of scripture and song surrounds a few Isaiah texts, bringing good news for a hurting world." Beyond that, I haven't heard anything about what is planned--I can't wait to see what they've included. And yo