Posted here and my music blog Hogfiddle so I can memorize the bass part. We’re singing the choral arrangement at our Christmas Eve service, and the other basses will be out of town for the holiday. So I can’t fall back on my old trick of standing next to someone who knows the part and singing what he sings a quarter of a second later!
Luckily, I actually like the song. And, since the choral version is harmonized, it doesn’t go skittering up out of my range in the bridge. That’s unusual for contemporary worship music.
I don’t mind listening to it, either.
Which is also unusual for contemporary worship music!
Songwriters are Chris Stevens, Matt Maher and Rachel Popadic. Maher fronts the group in the video above. According to Wikipedia, he is “a Canadian contemporary Christian music (CCM) artist, songwriter, and worship leader from Newfoundland.”
(Wikipedia, BTW, has annoying little links to definitions of all the terms it uses; I’m pressed for time, so I’m not removing them like I usually do. But don’t feel like you have to follow them!)
Maher’s music strikes me as more sophisticated than other CCM numbers I’m familiar with. That may be because he has a varied musical background.
“His parents recognized his musical talent, and he grew up taking piano lessons and immersing himself in a broad variety of music and playing in concert and jazz ensembles, singing in a choir, and playing in a garage rock band,” says Wikipedia. “Maher started his post-secondary studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland and continued his studies in the Jazz Department at Arizona State University. He studied jazz piano and earned a music degree there.”
A practicing Catholic, Angerman lives in Nashville, and has written and produced nine solo albums. He awarded the Songwriter of the Year for an artist, at the Gospel Music Association’s GMA Dove Awards in 2015.
Our four-part (SATB) choral arrangement is by David Angerman, music director and organist at Bethany Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas.
He holds a Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Church Music from Baylor University and a Master of Music in Organ Performance from the University of Texas in Austin. According to his profile on the Choristers’ Guild website, he has composed more than 100 published works, including choral and handbell music as well as organ and piano solos.
And his arrangement of “Glory” is a joy to sing.
Ordinary Time 
And our soloist is an even better singer! Can’t beat that.
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Lovely tune. Hard to imagine making the transition from Newfoundland to Nashville. And as a Catholic no less.
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