As a composer/arranger, I respond to opportunities as they come up. Lately I have found myself drawn chiefly to sacred music, since it is an area where contemporary settings of high quality are still much needed. Please click on any of the titles below to sample my work. The link should lead you to an HTML version of the score which you can see as well as hear (via the sound card in most computers or a MIDI setup). My scores are composed using Sibelius software.  You may need to download a free Scorch viewer from the Sibelius Web site to hear and see them. It loads quickly and effortlessly, requires no registration, and installs as a patch to your Web browser automatically.

1. Abba! Our Father -- score, a congregational setting with keyboard or guitar accompaniment.
    MP3 "congregational" recording.
    This was composed for the Newman Community at the Ohio State University, while I was on sabbatical in Florence, Italy, in 1986. I felt called at the time to create a kind, gentle setting the prayer by introducing it with the Aramaic word for Daddy, "Abba." It is a term of endearment that children in the Holy Land still use joyfully today, in Hebrew, to greet their dads. We know from scripture that Jesus himself used it when praying to his father (Mark 14:36, Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:6). In Galatians, St. Paul writes, "Because you are children, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"  Why should we not do the same?
    Some may find praying "Abba!" at the beginning of the Our Father helpful, too, if they have unhappy memories of their own human fathers. Unfortunately, stern and authoritarian male father figures can leave emotional scars on their children, making efforts to pray to a God/Father figure difficult even years later. "Abba," our true Father in heaven, is not that way! May the gentle spirit of this musical setting help to heal any unhappy human associations that may exist.
    The entire composition is based on a simple three-tone (trinitarian) motif, G - E - F- G, which weaves itself into the melody line no fewer than twelve times. The overall musical architecture of the setting is in arch-form, the first part of the prayer leading from tonic (C) to dominant (G), and the remainder resolving back to the tonic. There is an enharmonic modulation from A down to F (a major third) where the text itself changes its tone from a series of confident petitions to the uncomfortable thought of being put to the test ("and lead us not ..."). This soon passes and we reach a moment of alternating chords, where the presider should insert a spoken prayer (the so-called "embolism") that sums up the needs of the community. The setting concludes with the final ascending line, "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen!" Congregations often hold hands during the singing of this prayer, and raise their hands up as they approach the concluding Amen.
 

2. Simple Prayer (The "Peace Prayer" attributed to Francis of Assisi), for SATB choir with keyboard or guitar acc.
    MP3 recording for voice, flute, guitar & violoncello, featuring soprano Christine S. Mortine.

Click here for a Power-Point-enhanced recording of the "Simple Prayer"

    The name of this prayer in Italian is Preghiera semplice, or "Simple Prayer." Theologically it is both simple and profound. The setting dates from 1986, when I was living in Italy. I was a frequent visitor to Assisi, and came to appreciate the calm, refreshing spirit of the place. One becomes mindful of the long Franciscan peace-making tradition when sojourning in Assisi, and one may be forgiven for wanting to set the most noble expression of that tradition to music.
    "Simple Prayer" was originally composed as a solo with congregational refrain. While that version - simply the soprano melody with accompaniment - is still available, the present version seems to fill a void in choral settings with congregational refrain.
    The words were recast in the first person plural (we) instead of the singular (I/me) because of its intended congregational use. A simple eight-measure refrain ("Peace, peace, the instruments of your peace ...") starts the song off and returns periodically, giving the congregation an easy way to participate. The final words of the prayer, "For in giving we receive, in pardoning we are pardoned ...," are set to the same refrain melody, enabling the congregation to join the choir (or the cantor) in singing the prayer's profound concluding thoughts.
    The whole composition is in rondo form, the thematic elements being a-b-a-C-a-b-a, with the central section, in major, intended for female voices (soprano and alto) in unison.
    Here is the text used in this setting, as adapted for congregational use by Anne Goodrich Heck. It is presented here in parallel with the Italian original:
 

Refrain Peace, Peace, the instruments of your peace, Make us, Lord, the bearers of your peace.

Oh, Signore! Fa di me un istrumento della tua pace:

 

Where there is hate let us show your love,  Where there's offense may we pardon, Where there's discord help us foster unity, Where there's doubt let us share our faith. Refrain Where there is error let us bring truth, And hope to those in despair; Where there is sadness may we bring joy, And light to those in darkness. Refrain Help us, o Master, not so much to seek: To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved, as to love. Last verse, set to melody of Refrain. For, in giving we receive, In pardoning we are pardoned, In dying we are born to our eternal life.

Dove è odio, fa ch'io porti l'amore. Dove è offesa, ch'io porti il perdono. Dove è discordia, ch'io porti l'unione. Dove è dubbio, ch'io porti la fede.     Dove è errore, ch'io porti la verità. Dove è disperazione, ch'io porti la speranza. Dove è tristezza, ch'io porti la gioia. Dove sono le tenebre, ch'io porti la luce.     Oh, Maestro! Fa ch'io non cerchi tanto: Ad essere consolata, quanto a consolare, Ad essere compreso, quanto a comprendere, Ad essere amato, quanto ad amare.   Poichè si è dando che si riceve, Perdonando che si è perdonati, Morendo che si riuscita a vita eterna.

Rights for public performance and/or publication of these pieces are very easy to arrange, if you will kindly contact me: tomheck@osu.edu. The first tune, "Abba! Our Father," is a gift to the Christian world. It is freely available to download and perform without payment of any kind. I only ask that you let me know where it is being performed.
    The other songs are under copyright protection and may not be reproduced or performed without permission and payment of a modest fee. Exceptions can be made if the community wishing to perform the work is located outside N. America or Europe and would find making even small royalty payments difficult. Life is short, and ways must (and shall) be found to share this music of life.