I might have left this alone, except within a couple of
weeks we had the same experience in two separate churches. Both are churches
with fine music programs, whose services we appreciate, and whose ministries we
admire. But both sang the same song wrongly.
You ask, how can I say that a song is sung wrongly?
Years ago I heard a fascinating interview with Quincy
Jones, the great musician and music producer. He holds the most Grammy
nominations, and nearly 30 Grammy awards. He’s been at it a long time, for
decades racking up awards for producing in many styles of music. Asked for the
key to his success, Mr. Jones replied with one word: “Tempo.” Get the tempo of
a song right, he said, and you get the song right.
Twice within three weeks at the end of summer I was
expected to sing “Come, People of the Risen King” at a tempo that is,
technically, humanly possible—but hardly optimal. Granted, since I didn’t clock
either service with a metronome, I only have my subjective memory to go on. But
in both places the speed of the song was fast enough to just barely get the
words out. Certainly too fast to sing with real understanding or meaning. (And
this is a song I know well.)
After the second of these experiences I wondered what
might have driven that fast tempo. Is this how the song is being recorded? Are
service planners so worried about length of service? Are we worried that people
will grow bored, or have grown bored with the song? Nerves?
I rather like the song, and am responsible for introducing
it in one of the churches where we sang it this summer. So I came home and did
a bit of YouTubing. Predictably the leading videos are of the Gettys themselves performing
the song co-written with Stuart Townend. Very near the top of the list is also Mr. Townend performing
the song. Ah, there’s the definitive
tempo, right?
Very singable, with both breadth and welcome. Ironically,
the only really fast version I found in my quick search was by a robed choir
singing a choral arrangement of the piece. It would seem there is not an
unavoidable online move to re-cast the song.
But can I say the song was wrongly sung in both churches?
I believe so. First, because it was difficult to sing the (excellent) text
clearly. (And again, this is a text I know; I wasn’t trying to parse the text
as I sang.) Second, the song at a too-fast tempo has more of an urgency than a sense of invitation to it. And only third, but
importantly, the song creators themselves might be considered to be the best
judge of the appropriate tempo for their own song. (I know this is not always
the case, but in any case, surely we may privilege a song’s creator with
knowing how it goes best?)
As we invite congregations to sing any text, let’s
exercise our inner Quincy Jones, and recognize that tempo is one of the means we have to let our singing be “filled
with the Spirit” and “let the Word of Christ dwell richly” in those who sing.
