Music Notes 6-28-26

Gershon Kingsley was born in Germany in 1922. His family, being Jewish, fled Germany a few

days before the infamous Kristallnacht riots and moved to Israel. His parents then went to Cuba

while he studied music at the Jerusalem Conservatory of Music, and then obtained visas to enter

the U.S., where he joined them. After World War 2, he became a pit conductor for Broadway

musical shows after he graduated from the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music in 1946. He

became interested in synthesized music in the mid-60’s and released an album in 1967 that

contained a cut called Baroque Hoedown. Baroque Hoedown was picked up and used by

Disneyland as the background music for the Main Street Electrical Parade. He then became a

proponent of the Moog synthesizer and became one of the most famous creators of music for that

medium. He also began to write music for Jewish worship in the late 60’s, encouraged by the

relaxing of formal restraints and growing acceptance of contemporary musical styles. His most

famous anthem, Shepherd Me, Lord, was written in 1971 and generated sales of over 2 million

copies just to Southern Baptist congregations, who were attracted by its gospel style.

Andraé Edward Crouch, a Los Angeles native, has been referred to as “the father of modern

gospel music” by contemporary Christian and gospel music professionals. Known for his

compositions The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power, My Tribute (To God Be the Glory) - which he

told me had been recorded 2500 times - Soon and Very Soon and this week’s offertory, Let The

Church Say Amen, which he wrote in 2011, he was also known for his collaborative work during

the 1980s and 1990s with Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Quincy Jones, as well as conducting

choirs that sang on the Michael Jackson hit "Man in the Mirror" and Madonna's "Like a Prayer".

Crouch was noted for his talent of incorporating contemporary secular music styles into the

gospel music he grew up with. His efforts in this area helped pave the way for early American

contemporary Christian music during the 1960s and 1970s. His original musical arrangements

were heard in the movies The Color Purple and The Lion King, and in the NBC television show

Amen. His awards and honors include 7 Grammy Awards, induction into the Gospel Music Hall

of Fame in 1998 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After his father's death in 1994,

Crouch and his twin sister Sandra took over the shared duty of senior pastor at the church his

parents founded, Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ in Pacoima. I first met Andraé when

we performed on the 1993 Grammy Awards ceremonies together. He was part of the team that

had produced The Messiah, a Soulful Celebration (a gospel adaptation of 16 of the pieces from

the Messiah), which was up for a Grammy for best gospel album. We were both singing with the

choir that performed a hybrid version of the Hallelujah Chorus for the show, and during

rehearsals we talked at length about the piece. He asked, “I wonder what Handel would have

thought about what we did to his music?” I told him “I think he would have loved it. He was

always ripping off his own music for other uses, but I think he would have loved the idea that

someone could have taken his music and made it relevant and meaningful to a whole new

generation, culture and race of people.” I still think that. Sadly, we lost him in January of 2015.

Amazing Grace has a long and storied history. The words were written by English clergyman

John Newton to illustrate a sermon on New Year’s Day, 1773. His own history was rocky and

turbulent. He was conscripted into the Royal Navy and, once released from service, went into

the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a storm battered his ship off the Irish coast so badly that he

called out to God for mercy, an event that marked the beginning of his spiritual conversion. He

was ordained in the Church of England in 1764 and became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire.

It wasn’t until 1835, however, that composer William Walker assigned Newton’s words to the

tune New Britain, which was itself a combination of 2 different melodies, Gallagher and St.

Mary. The final, familiar version of the hymn as we know it was first published in the “shape

note” tunebook Southern Harmony in 1847, “shape note” being an American musical artform

dating back to the Revolutionary War.