I am so excited to announce the official online launch of The Word Became Flesh at DanGoellerMusic.com. Heidi and I have been working on this project since last November, and it is thrilling for us to have the opportunity to finally share it with the world. The Word Became Flesh is a musical exploration of the doctrine of the Incarnation. The musical score is epic in scope and contains a beautiful balance of familiar hymns and Christmas carols with new choral compositions. The underscored narratives are adapted from Scripture and are presented in an accessible and dramatic way.

The Word Became Flesh begins with creation and God’s perfect plan for fellowship with mankind. This divine plan, interrupted by The Fall, continues with God promising a Savior who will save His people from their sins. The story ends with a glorious celebration of the birth of this Savior, Jesus, the Word Incarnate.

One of the exciting parts of creating The Word Became Flesh was producing the recording. Heidi and I flew to Nashville the first week of March to record the orchestra and choir. The recording features exquisite performances by The Nashville String Machine and the New Cumberland Singers. It was exhilarating to hear the music finally come to life.To preserve the natural acoustic sound of a live orchestral/choral performance, the sessions were recorded at Black Bird and OceanWay studios in Nashville using a decca tree microphone configuration. This approach best conveys the excitement and subtlety of the musical score.

As with In His Own Words, the choral pieces that comprise The Word Became Flesh will be offered as individual anthems rather than as a book. This will provide choirs with the flexibility to perform these choral pieces individually or as a complete work. The director/accompanist/narrator edition will offer an 8.5 X 11 spiral-bound version of the complete (i.e. including all ten choral pieces, underscores and narrations) choral/piano score. This edition also contains a great section of director's notes and suggestions...many of which were contributed by music directors from across the country.

Heidi and I have worked diligently to create a 45-minute work that will remind all of us of the significance of God's incarnation in the person of Jesus Christ. It is our sincere hope that many choirs, orchestras, and individuals will be encouraged by The Word Became Flesh this Christmas and in many Christmases to come.

Happy New Year! 2007 was a very blessed year for our family. In His Own Words was well-received by those churches who presented either all or portions of it. It is very encouraging to Heidi and me to hear testimonies from those of you who have been blessed by this unique project.

2008 will be an exciting and challenging year for us. One of the things I am trying to improve on this new year is staying in touch with all of you who utilize my music. This blog is one of the ways I will be able to do that. I have been posting blogs each time a new piece is released. This provides some great insight and background material about the pieces I am composing. Be sure to keep checking the blog for new entries that provide additional information about the music in my catalog. I am also putting links from the product displays to my blogs so that you can find the article specifically related to each piece in the catalog.

As far as new projects go, Heidi and I are busy working on our new Christmas project that will release in April. The 45-minute work, titled The Word Became Flesh, explores the theology of the Incarnation. Scriptural narration ties the work together. The project includes four original choral pieces and six arrangements of familiar carols and hymns. Three of those familiar carol arrangements are sing-along medleys interspersed throughout the Christmas story. We think this participatory element will really enhance the congregation's experience when hearing this new work.

We are going to produce a professional recording of the project in Nashville the first week of March. Recording a professional orchestra requires a large financial investment on our part, but I cannot afford to spend six months programming the orchestration like I did with In His Own Words. Just keeping up with email, orders, the website, and the day-to-day affairs of running the publishing company is a full-time job. Despite all of that, I am actually able to find time to compose, orchestrate, typeset, produce, et al! Heidi is a huge help to me, and God has miraculously gifted me with ingenuity and efficiency.

To offer a more interesting way to let people know about The Word Became Flesh, I am planning to create a new section on my website to promote the project. I am creating movie-style promo trailers that will introduce you to this new music, as well as interactive pages to help you learn more about all of the various aspects of the project.

Each new year brings its share of challenges, but we are excited about all of the new things happening in 2008. Thanks for your continued partnership with us in making music that glorifies our Lord.

Recently, I had a director ask me what the story behind Joyful, Joyful with Asifiwe Bwana was. So here is the story behind this unique arrangement.

Randy Edwards, the director of YouthCUE, asked me to compose some new choral pieces in multicultural styles.  I don’t find many up-tempo sorts of compositional styles that appeal to me.  But I have always been attracted to the unadulterated joy of African choral music.  I experimented with this style in my own choral composition, I Am the Resurrection.  And so as I considered the pros and cons of writing in a variety of multicultural musical styles, the African choral style seemed like a perfect match for me.

So the exuberant joy I sensed in the African choral genre reminded me of Henry Van Dyke’s words:  “Joyful, Joyful we adore Thee.”  Although 5/4 meter is not exactly common in western music, it seemed to give Beethoven's familiar melody the sort of rhythmic vitality it needed to make sense within this ethnic style.  But something seemed to be missing.  Then I realized that one of the things that makes African choral music sound distinctively “African” is the language.

Alas, I embarked on a transcontinental search for KiSwahili lyrics that would perfectly complement Van Dyke's classic hymn text.  I searched through the KiSwahili translation of the Bible and extensively studied as much information as I could gather about the syntax and pronunciation of KiSwahili.  Finally, I arrived at this paraphrase of Luke 1:68, “Asifiwe bwana, kwa ame wajia, watu wake ili, awakomboe” which means, “Praise be to the Lord, for He has come to redeem His people.”

I can think of no greater cause for joyful celebration than the fulfillment of God’s promise to lovingly provide for mankind's redemption.  And so, the inspiring text of an American clergymen, the melody of one of western music's greatest composer's masterpieces, and the joyfully-rhythmic style of African choirs joined together to express man's enthusiastic praise for the majesty and glory of God.

My hope is that this arrangement will also give you an opportunity to “join the happy chorus” praising God who is the “Giver of immortal gladness.”

Click here to listen to Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee with Asifiwe Bwana

On September 1st of 2007, Heidi's extended family gathered together for the burial of her Aunt Julie’s ashes. Auntie Julie, as we called her, died on November 3rd, 2006 after a year-long battle with cancer. She was only fifty-four.

Even after almost a year of grieving the loss of his wife, Uncle Bill still seemed as emotionally raw as he did at the funeral service the previous November. After burying Julie’s ashes, Bill commented to me and Heidi that Psalm 13 had become a strong focus of his attention. Bill wondered, “How long did it take David to go from the honest, grief-stricken, pleading portion of a Psalm until he came around to the resolution at the end?” Bill added that although his faith told him God was in control of the situation, his emotions still felt trapped in that first part of the Psalm.

After reflecting on what Uncle Bill shared with us, Heidi and I began discussing the possibility of using the Psalm 13 text for a new anthem that had been commissioned by the youth choir at the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. I spoke with Joyce Blakesley, the director, and told her that Heidi and I were considering this text. Joyce agreed that Psalm 13, although very serious, would make a good text for the youth to sing. We both commented that despite their brevity of life experience, teenagers experience all of the same range of emotions that we (adults) do. And as Randy Edwards (director of YouthCUE) has often commented to me, “A choral piece containing a promise from God is one of the most powerful texts any youth choir will ever sing.”

And so the work of composing a choral setting of Psalm 13 began. As Heidi and I studied Psalm 13 (and some other complementary Psalm texts), we tried not to shy away from that raw emotion that Uncle Bill described. “How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I have sorrow in my heart? How long will I wrestle with my grief? How long, O Lord, how long?” (Psalm 13:1-2).

But we also tried to express the assurance of God’s faithfulness. This sentiment is so eloquently expressed by David in Psalm 57. “Have mercy, O God. Have mercy on me. Have mercy, O Lord, in You my soul finds rest. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the storm has passed” (Psalm 57:1).

Finally, we tried to express the beauty of God's love as expressed in the closing verses of Psalm 13. “So I trust in Your unfailing love. My heart will rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for He is good to me” (Psalm 13:5-6).

The result, we hope, is an anthem that will encourage choirs and congregations as much as we have been encouraged through the process of creating it.

As for Uncle Bill, he is still grieving for Julie. I ask God to comfort him each time I hear this piece. I hope that you might remember him in your prayers too–and anyone else close to your heart who needs to feel the warm embrace of God’s unfailing love.

Click here to listen to Your Unfailing Love

Be Thou My Vision seems like the perfect hymn to consider at the start of the new year. I have just released a new orchestral arrangement of this classic Irish hymn tune. The piece was commissioned by Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, and premiered at their fifth annual Desiring God National Conference back in September.

As with all of my hymn arrangements for orchestra, I try to stay true to the tone of the text when choosing harmonies and orchestral textures. This approach presented a unique challenge in that the three stanzas of Be Thou My Vision are fairly straight-forward. There isn't a section that creates any sort of conflict or doubt... so the usual musical devices I employ to create contrast (minor modalism, mild dissonance, etc.) were of little use in this arrangement. Instead, I utilize a steady increase in dynamics and orchestral scope to achieve a sense of form and balance.

The Be Thou My Vision hymn tune (Slane) is complemented by a sweeping countermelody. This countermelody is first stated in the opening bars of the arrangement, then reappears in interludes and a coda at the end of the arrangement.

Following the introduction, the opening statement of the hymn tune (played by a solo clarinet) is a quietly-reverent reflection of the prayer-like sentiment of the first stanza of the text.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

The second statement of the hymn tune is in the low register of the horns and clarinets. This rich, majestic color is accompanied by warm strings and a gently-flowing eighth note pattern in the piano.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

Following the second stanza setting, a solo trumpet reintroduces the countermelody. The music changes key and crescendos into a regal statement of the last stanza.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Following this majestic treatment, the arrangement concludes with a final statement of the countermelody in the horn and violins. I hope that my arrangement of this beautiful hymn will encourage you to seek out the wisdom of our Lord in this coming new year.

Click here to listen to Be Thou My Vision

After two months of diligent work, our new and improved website is finally online!

Heidi and I have been redesigning and reprogramming the site to make it more interactive, informative and efficient. We have made it more interactive by adding short introduction and testimonial videos. Interactive menus also provide customers with more information about our products and services. Our newly-automated PayPal system streamlines our ordering and payments process. With just the click of a button, customers will now be able to customize their orders and safely pay with a credit card.

Please take some time to browse our newly-revised site. It is our sincere hope that it will be a useful tool in our efforts to supply you with unique, artistic music.

On Saturday, June 23rd, Heidi and I had the opportunity to attend the YouthCUE Nation’s Capital Festival dress rehearsal. I had visited the National Cathedral once before, when I was in college. But sitting in a pew listening to the choir and orchestra perform God So Loved the World was one of the most amazing musical experiences of my life. Other than hearing the University of Sioux Falls premiere the In His Own Words choral pieces (with piano accompaniment–in May of last year), I have not had an opportunity to hear any of these pieces performed live. The 350-voice youth chorus, accompanied by members of the National Symphony, was absolutely amazing.

In addition to being the first opportunity to hear some of the In His Own Words pieces performed, this was also my first opportunity to attend a YouthCUE event. I have been a strong supporter of YouthCUE and the vision that Randy Edwards (and the rest of his team) has for bringing musical enrichment to youth choirs and their directors. But being able to attend this festival was a great encouragement to both Heidi and me. We met many of the choral directors with whom I have corresponded by email and phone. Hearing the testimonies of these directors and the parent-chaperones who were there was inspiring.

I must admit that there are times in which composing music makes me feel somewhat isolated. My goal (in producing new music) is to communicate and connect with those who perform and hear it. But the creating and publishing music is challenging and sometimes downright tedious. Having the opportunity to personally fellowship with others who have enjoyed my music gives me a renewed enthusiasm to continue making unique, artistic music that glorifies God.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to encourage me in person, by mail, email, or phone. Your kindness is greatly appreciated.