PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

October 9, 2022

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE

One of the first scriptures I memorized as a child was Psalm 100, a Psalm of thanksgiving.  It begins, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.”  At my home church in Gary we fulfilled the request of the Psalm with three choirs, a grand organ, and wonderful congregational singing.  When I visited a black church in Gary they made a joyful noise unto the Lord with a slow, syncopated beat that invited everyone to sway as they sang.  There are churches that have contemporary services that make a joyful noise with praise songs.  I have worshipped in the Virgin Islands where they made a joyful noise on Wednesday evening singing the old gospel songs.  Saturday afternoon, October 1, at River Park Square in Plymouth, Indiana, Denver Bierman and the Mile High Orchestra made a joyful noise with a rousing rendition of “Victory in Jesus” and “Holy, Holy, Holy” Dixieland style.

Saturday night, September 24, the South Bend Symphony Orchestra made a joyful noise with their Mozart Y Mambo.  The guest artist for the evening was Sarah Willis, older sister of the symphony’s music director, Alastair Willis.  Sarah is a French horn player with the Berlin Philharmonic where she runs a popular series of online interviews known as the “Horn Hangouts.”

Three of the numbers that the symphony and Sarah played were a blending of classical and Cuban music.  During one of the numbers Alastair and Sarah did a little dance on stage.   The older Willis has spent considerable time in Cuba working with their symphony and becoming acquainted with the island’s music.  The three numbers reflected a blending of the classical and Cuban styles of music that invited everyone to respond by dancing.

The final number of the evening Le Boeuf sur le toit (The Bull on the Roof) always was a blending of different styles of music.  The composer, Darius Hilhaud, spent several years in Brazil serving as the secretary to Paul Claudel, French minister to Brazil.  Upon his return to France he composed Le Boeuf which merges folk tunes, tango, maxixes (a kind of Brazilian syncopated polka), sambas, and Portuguese fado music.

The organist and choir director for my home church in Gary, Indiana, was a music professor at Indiana University, Gary.  Dwight was well steeped in classical and traditional Christian music.  However, he was also a fan of Elvis Presley.  Some Sunday mornings he merged his diverse interest with his prelude.  One Sunday he played “Love Me Tender, Love Me Sweet” in the style of Bach.  Probably, only those in the choir were aware of what he was doing.

For many years the organist for the Crescent Avenue United Methodist church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was Fritz Gingrich.  Fritz was an avid supporter of Michigan State University.  On those occasions when Michigan State would beat Michigan I could expect that somewhere in the service following the victory Fritz would work in the Michigan State fight song.

When I was in high school I saw a movie about the life of John Philip Sosa.  One of the things I remember from the movie is that if you play Sosa’s most famous march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” in 3/4 time rather than the 6/8 in which it was written it becomes a waltz.  One Sunday when I was preaching I invited the congregation to dance to the hymn “In the Garden” as if it were a waltz.

There are many ways that we can make a joyful noise to the Lord.  The South Bend Symphony did it Saturday, September 24, by bringing together a variety of styles and types of music to produce a wonderful evening that invited all of us to respond by dancing.  Perhaps, the concert gives a hint of what it is like when the whole company of heaven gathers to praise the Lord from their diverse musical expressions.