Some sadness. . .

I read of the passing of another Lutheran musical giant of our time, John Ferguson.  He was a prolific choral composer with more than 100 compositions to his credit -- not to mention organ works.  He came up the ranks graduating from Oberlin, Kent State, and Eastman.  He was an accomplished organist and so I always associate his name with hymnody and hymn festivals.  He had church jobs at Central in Minneapolis but it most renown for his tenure (with his late wife Ruth) at St. Olaf College and the Cantorei.  He was a dozen years my senior but our paths crossed occasionally.  For so many years I looked forward to the Christmas at St. Olaf and his own part in both compositions and conducting.  John was particularly adept at the use of instruments and organ with choir and congregation in a way that was unforgettable.

John now joins the company of those heralded individuals whose names were synonymous with good Lutheran church music.  The names of Carl Schalk, Carlos Messerli, Tom Gieschen, Paul Foelber, Paul Bouman, Paul Manz, and a dozen or more others grace my mind.  I have no organized list but was privileged to grow up in an error in which these names were well known and respected inside and outside of Lutheranism.  It was a profound moment in which it seemed that church, school, university, and publishers agreed upon the place of music and its role within the life of the Church and God's people assembled around His Word and Table.  I was happy to have known them personally and to have enjoyed their leadership of hymn, chant, choir, and organ over more than 50 years.

Honestly, I fear for the future.  Where I have served it has been my privilege and delight to have worked with fine and dedicated musical partners like Rocky Craft and now Jonathan and Katie Rudy.  This Christmas we gathered in the late Divine Service on the Eve of the Nativity to hear the choir sing Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium.  What a treat!  But such music is accessible only in places where the congregation has invested heavily into the music that accompanies the Word.  In musician, choir, instrument, and setting, this is no mean feat --especially in a time of declining congregational size and budget.  As we find ourselves in smaller settings and with smaller resources we will inevitably lose some of our vibrant and living heritage of song.  Bach has become a composer for the concert hall -- something he would have found personally offensive.  He was always a churchman.  This is concerning to me and should be to you.

When I went to St. John's in Winfield, KS, we had so many organ students that the instruments were literally in use throughout the night and day as people struggled to get their practice time in.  There were fine organists (Gordan Bruns remains the name I think of first) who were pursuing church careers either as pastor or musician or both.  We had good teachers (like Lee Stocker and David Fienen).  And we were among the smaller of the church schools of the LCMS.  Now there are Lutheran universities without much of any musical identity.  I lamented this when I wrote of the passing of an old friend, Ralph Schultz.  

My challenge goes to those who prepare church budgets and assign priorities to what their congregations will support.  Your parish musician should be a primary priority.  The Lutheran Church has enjoyed a marvelous and faithful legacy of music and musicians.  The preservation of the faith will not be enhanced by the rejection of or forgetting this legacy.  Thanks be to God for faithful parish musicians and those who prepared them for their service to God in our midst.