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Masonic Music

Brother JStoffo

Brother JStoffo

Registered User
Music accompaniment enhances all Masonic Rituals and Memorial services. I play music for my Lodge in the Florida Keys and am looking for any input on Masonic music. There are specific songs associated with the degrees, but I have found most of the material to be improvisational. I found two masonic Music books with varying degrees of complexity. I also found a Masonic Musician that happens to live in South Florida named Joscar Poerschke. I attended an Entered Apprentice Degree Initiation, and his music really enhanced the ritual. When I play for Ritual work, I find it a great addition to include sound effects such as Gongs, Benedictine Monk Chants and various keyboards. Open to any and all input and stories of you own experiences as both Brother Masons sitting in a Lodge where music was performed or as a Masonic musician yourself.
 
Bloke

Bloke

Premium Member
We have music and songbooks for our degrees which are uniform throughout the state. Our Grand Lodge publishes them. Most of the times there are words set to the music in Degrees,. but also tune to cover a preambulation of a length designed to create a beat to move to and of a length to finish when you arrive at a cerain point when moving.

Words for degree songs include ideas like:

Pure as that badge thy life may be;
If thou but to thine inmost self be true;
And, like the Master, give thy best work
To all thy hand should find to do.

&
O Masons blest, Who pity shows,
And learns to feel another’s woes;
Lends to the poor man’s wants his ear,
And wipes the helpless orphans’ tear;
In ev’ry want, in ev’ry woe
Himself true pity then shall know.
&
With your emblem now invested,
Still proceed as you began;
Prove yourself, however tested
Both a Craftsman and a man.
&
Let ev’ry Craftsman gather, with wish sincere to share;
And welcome, with hearts flowing, our Master in the Chair
God grant he rule us wisely, and to his trust be true,
Then shall we ever proudly our loyalty renew.

They have some lovely ideas in them.

Singing is common in our lodges and social dinner. Most lodges have a lodge song..

Anderson's Constitution has songs in it. Ever looked at them ?
 
MarkR

MarkR

Premium Member
Brother JStoffo said:
Is it acceptable to play Pleyel's Hymn for any degree including EA and FC? Or is this reserved for MM only?
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Like so many things in Masonry, it would depend on what individual Grand Lodges say. However, if you're talking about singing it, with the Masonic lyrics I have, it wouldn't really make sense in EA or FC.
 
Brother JStoffo

Brother JStoffo

Registered User
I see your point. It is actually more suited to a Masonic Memorial Service. At the last one I played an excerpt from Mozart's Masonic funeral but was told that it was depressing! Too depressing for a funeral?
 
Chris H

Chris H

Registered User
Our organist used to pick pieces of music that were related to the character or something else about the person. One of our members was a ship’s captain. He’d come up with things like “What shall we do with the drunken sailor?” All taken in good part. Pilots get “Fly me to the moon” etc.
 
JanneProeliator

JanneProeliator

Registered User
In Finland our national composer brother Jaen Sibelius wrote unique music from Finnish freemasons to use. I know it has been uset at least in New York at Sibelius Lodge.

Here you can find the music. Open te link in different browser to find all the music.
 
W

Winter

Premium Member
Spiro D'Estini said:
yeah I thought that we were going to be discussing like, masons who make music and their music.
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As you can see by the original post, this thread was created by Brother Stoffo to discuss musical accompaniment in Lodge. If you want to start a new post to discuss Masonic musical artists I am sure some might find that interesting.
 
Spiro D'Estini

Spiro D'Estini

Registered User
Winter said:
As you can see by the original post, this thread was created by Brother Stoffo to discuss musical accompaniment in Lodge. If you want to start a new post to discuss Masonic musical artists I am sure some might find that interesting.
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yes my comment was intended to be an amusing aside consistent with normal banter when groups of men are talking, I didn't intend for it to spin into like 8 replies. I thought erryone knew KRS-1
 
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