For your commitment to conducting, singing, playing great music in church and temple…some help!

Uncommon Music for the Revised Common Lectionary – Raymond Egan

a listing of sacred compositions (choral, soloist[s], congregational, instrumental, and psalm settings both choral and congregational) of imagination, craft, inspiration, high literary textual quality, and keen Biblical theology arranged by the Sundays & festivals of the three year Revised Common Lectionary. Each Sunday & holiday (and many secular holidays) contain many titles of compositions that are connected to, reference, or whose texts ARE the scripture readings for the day.

Goal: to supply sacred musicians with a choice of excellent music appropriate for whatever day or theme – Biblical but also seasonal, current event, spiritual, cultural – that we have to choose music for. And to be an instrument of healing by favoring and introducing compositional and cultural voices not previously welcome in the mainline Church.

The majority of the choral music listed is for mixed chorus, but there is also music for non-satb choirs and music for children’s choirs. Approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the entries are new compositions that will be new to you, too new to be in other guides. There is also lots of old music, and very old music appearing in modern editions and scorings. There are transcriptions of World Music, and imaginative arrangements of hymns.

Uncommon Music makes no differentiation of genres of music. There is no hierarchy of all the various genres: it attempts to simply contain any sacred music (or music with spiritual concerns) that relates to the Biblical Reading at hand that is music of imagination, craft, inspiration, and interesting text. The goal is to have represented sacred music from all the world’s cultures and musical genres.

To order – Year A is now available. Price is $35 for Year A. If ordered by January 15, 2017, price is $25. Payment by check to Raymond Egan:

“He drew a circle that shut me out –

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win:

We drew a circle and took him in.” -Edwin Markham