Sometimes we confuse somber with slow, penitential with plodding. Although the pace of worship and music matters, and in some ways tempo and piety are intertwined, they are not as formulaic as their use in Christian worship sometimes might suggest. Faster does not equal more joyous. Consider popular music. Some of the quickest music around—bluegrass and death metal—can be both dark and penitential, often in the extreme.

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The gospel acclamation is a high point of celebration in the assembly. It is the assembly’s opportunity to welcome the reading of the gospel in its midst, to rejoice for the great gift of God’s word, and to gather around the reading. It is an anticipation of the gospel reading to come and a response to the word it has already heard. The choir may have a role in leading the acclamation, providing a descant or singing the proper verse. However, on most days it is not advisable for the choir to sing the entire acclamation in the assembly’s place (the days of Lent and Holy Week may be an exception, when the proper acclamations are less easily sung by an assembly). This is the assembly’s response, and at least the alleluia needs the entire assembly’s voice.

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I'm the Prelude project manager who sifts through spreadsheets and sheet music in order to bring you the new material that keeps flowing into Prelude, both from Augsburg Fortress and our musical partner publishers. Many talented musicians have already contributed to this blog, and will do so in the future, and they are much better organists and choral directors than I could ever hope to be, but my special niche here will be give you content updates that go more in-depth than small front-page announcements. This gives me a chance to share specific recommendations from the recent batch that I hope you love as much as I do, things to bookmark for your planning this coming educational/liturgical year.

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Today Augsburg Fortress honors Martin Seltz on his 20 year anniversary as an employee of Augsburg Fortress, serving as Publisher of Worship and Music. A highlight from today's celebration includes a musical tribute by colleague Robert Buckley Farlee.

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About fifteen years before I arrived at my church, multiple styles of worship were being explored - which is a gracious way of saying that the church completely divided over worship.

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This is Part Two of a two-part series featuring interviews with Jeffrey Brillhart and Zebulon Highben, summer clinicians for the Augsburg Fortress 2013 Music Clinics. This week, enjoy some of Zebulon Highben’s thoughts on questions posed by Jane Knappe.

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This is Part One of a two-part series featuring interviews with Jeffrey Brillhart and Zebulon Highben, summer clinicians for the Augsburg Fortress 2013 Music Clinics. This week, enjoy some of Jeffrey Brillhart's thoughts on questions we posed.

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There are two important silences whenever a piece of music is offered, whether in church or the concert hall. The first silence precedes the music; it can be as short as a heartbeat, or as long as the conductor decides. This silence is for "anticipation and preparation", as everyone gets ready for the music to come. The music then grows from the silence. When the music has ended, there is another important silence, the "receiving" silence. In this short pause, the audience can sometimes be heard to inhale as they receive the music and its meaning, and choose what to do next. Clap? Hold still and quiet, savoring the moment? The receiving silence calls upon the listeners to make a decision.

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Jesus died for the Church...you don’t have to!

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