Day By Day

Anthem for Sunday, 09/16/12

Text and Music: Jay Althouse

MSCL#0231

Composer's Bio

Jay Althouse received a B.S. degree in Music Education and an M.Ed. degree in Music from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. For eight years he served as a rights and licenses administrator for a major educational music publisher. During that time he served a term on the Executive Board of the Music Publishers Association of America.

As a composer of choral music, Mr. Althouse has over 400 works in print for choirs of all levels. His music is widely performed throughout the English-speaking world. He is a writer member of ASCAP and is a regular recipient of the ASCAP Special Award for his compositions in the area of standard music. His hobbies are cooking and swimming.

His book, Copyright: The Complete Guide for Music Educators has been in print continuously since 1984 and is recognized as the definitive sourcebook on the subject of copyright for music educators. An updated, second edition was released in 1999. Mr. Althouse has also co-written several musicals and cantatas with his wife, Sally K. Albrecht, compiled and arranged a number of highly regarded vocal solo collections, and is the co-writer, with Russell Robinson, of the best-selling book The Complete Choral Warm-up Book, published by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. (Fredbrock.com http://www.fredbock.com/Promo.asp?page=223)

Music

This particular composition embraces a multitude of modern composition techniques that are very familiar and therefore easy to receive for the ordinary listener.  Several choir members have remarked that it sounds like music from a soap opera or a musical.  It is my opinion that is the trap inherent in modern compositions.  Keep in mind there is no such thing as an original composition.  Every composer draws on a lifetime of music he has composed, listened to, performed and studied.  This does not make his work a plagiarism in any way.  In the complicated, market driven world we live in today music is a not necessarily an art form, but is a commodity and a tool.  Rather than criticize a piece of music because it is outside our norm musically, as anthems go, let’s look at how these elements enhance this composition.

The light melody that serves as the introduction (measures 1-4) and the segue to the second verse (m. 13-16, ) does have the feel of a movie theme reminiscent of Ice Castles or even Love Story yet truly sounds like neither of these romantic and well known themes. Perhaps the composer was seeking to remind us with the theme that our walk with God is indeed a relationship and is something experienced Day by Day even as a romantic story or soap opera.  He may be musically reminding us that our lives and our walk with God take place As the World Turns  for All the Days of our Lives and the relationship with God revolves around our walk with him and All my Children each and every day carries us closer and closer to The Edge of Night.  Sorry, I couldn’t resist. 

Another common modern composition technique is the use of a “bridge”.  Often right in the middle of a composition a new variation of the basic melody is introduced and utilized that can be identified as neither a “verse” nor a “chorus”.  The bridge literally takes you off the musical road you have been traveling and then returns you to it.  Composers often use the bridge to emphasize a set of text that truly sums up the heart of the message of the piece.  In this particular composition the bridge can be identified beginning at measure 26 and going through measure 34.  The text, “Lord, be our friend and our companion, long though journey may appear.  Be Thou at our side, evermore our guide.  Help us overcome our doubt and fear,” truly does reflect the central message of the anthem.

           

A similar but far more dramatic theme calling on God for companionship, hope, and direction is found in Psalm 22 where David, tired of the woes and terrors of life and the pursuit of enemies cries out and calls on God to comfort and sustain and strengthen him in his fight to survive.  Psalm 68 goes further calling on God to “Do something vs.1 CEV”.

“ Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord—    day after day he carries us along.He’s our Savior, our God, oh yes!   He’s God-for-us, he’s God-who-saves-us. (The Message)”

John 15:1-8 in its discussion of the vine and the branch reiterates the need we have for God moment by moment, day by day.

In Acts 8 we have the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.  The lost Ethiopian seeking God says of the scriptures in verse 31, “How can I understand unless someone helps me?”  Which, is a fitting illustration for this piece.  What a prayer to end with!  “How can I understand unless someone helps me?  Help me Lord!”