John Behnke - Kum Ba Yah

Topic: Religious Uses - Hymnals
The authority accorded the Methodist hymnal can be detected in any version of "Kumbaya" that identifies its tune as "Desmond." Three that were mentioned in church bulletins were published by MorningStar, a company that opened in 1986 to produce ecumenical music "within the liturgical tradition." [1] At the time, non-denomination music was dominated by Contemporary Christian artists who were incorporating the aesthetics of popular songs.

The founder was a Lutheran who had worked for Concordia Publishing. [2] Rodney Schrank may have left after the Missouri Synod began suppressing liberal theologians. [3] One of the company’s first writers was the Roman Catholic Charles Callahan. [4] The other versions of "Kumbaya" were composed by Episcopalian Michael Larkin [5] and Evangelical Lutheran John Behnke.

Behnke’s "Variations for Organ on Kum Ba Yah" was the one most often mentioned in the church bulletins described in the post for 21 February 2019. Five Presbyterians used it as a prelude, as did one breakaway Presbyterian group, two Methodists, an Adventist, and a Lutheran musician.

Programs uploaded to the internet may not be the most objective source for evaluating taste. Of the large denominations, Presbyterians may be the most conscious about retaining records of their meetings. Methodists also keep archives. Other groups have different commitments to the written word.

YouTube may be more representative, since participation only depends on an individual’s access to the necessary software. Two men posted videos of themselves playing Behnke’s three movements. Mark Koskamp was performing in a concert in the Indianola, Iowa, Presbyterian church. Todd Grivetti’s concert was in the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Herndon, Virginia.

The score didn’t indicate the difficulty level, but it did require some coordination. In each movement, Behnke had the right hand play the melody, then the left; in the final two sections, the foot then took over. In "Crying," the right hand played a descant, while the two hands played chords elsewhere.

The demands for a pipe organ and a capable musician may be one reason Behnke’s arrangement was mentioned by more churches in large cities than other versions of "Kumbaya." It was played in Chicago in 2010, Boston in 2012, Memphis in 2014, and Pittsburgh in 2018.

That the urban congregations mentioned in the post for 21 February 2019 didn’t schedule "Kumbaya" may or may not be part of a preference for a professionalized service. In Oklahoma City, Robert Fasol played with a string bass and percussion accompaniment.

All but two organists played all three parts of the six-minute long piece during the prelude, but musicians made aesthetic or pragmatic decisions when it ended the service. [6] The Methodist organist in Covington, Tennessee, play all three parts, but the musician at a Brethren conference for older adults, only played the "Singing" section.

In Sioux City, Iowa, the instrumentalist at the Covenant Christian Reformed Church played "Crying" for an Offertory dedicated to "remembering the children." The musician used "Singing" for the postlude. He or she omitted the short "Praying." [7]

In 2001, Behnke transcribed the "Singing" movement for handbells, [8] but no one on the internet mentioned playing it.

Performers
John A. Behnke
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none

Instrument: Steiner-Reck pipe organ, Concordia University Wisconsin chapel, [9] built in 1989 [10]

Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none

Todd Grivetti
Instrument: Martin Ott pipe organ built in 2009 [11]

Mark Koskamp
Instrument: Dobson pipe organ built in 1982 [12]

Credits
Desmond
African-American Spiritual
Setting by John A. Behnke
Copyright © 1993 MorningStar Music Publishers

Notes on Lyrics
There were none

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5

Movement 1. Someone’s Praying Lord
Time Signature: 4/4 with some 6/4 measures
Tempo: Quarter note = 80 beats per minute, freely
Key Signature: no flats or sharps
Length: 29 measures
Effects: I: Flute 4'. II: Flute 8'

Movement 2. Someone’s Crying, Lord
Time Signature: 4/4 and 2/4
Tempo: Quarter note = 92 beats per minute, cantabile
Key Signature: accidentals rather than permanent flats or sharps
Length: 46 measures
Effects: I: Flute 4'. II: Flutes or Strings 8'. Ped: Solo 4'

Movement 3. Someone’s Singing, Lord
Time Signature: 6/8 with passages in 3/4 and 4/4
Tempo: Quarter note = 96 beats per minute, lively
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Length: 114 measures
Effects: I: f. II: mf. Ped: f.

Notes on Performance
Todd Grivetti
Occasion: concert, 18 May 2013
Location: the organ was in the gallery at the front of the church
Microphones: none
Clothing: white shirt, black slacks and vest

Mark Koskamp
Occasion: recital marking his 30 years at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 17 November 2013

Location: the organ was behind the altar at the front of the church
Microphones: none
Clothing: dark suit and white shirt

Notes on Movement
Both Grivetti and Koskamp sat upright as they played. Each had scores with each movement printed separately, and put finished sections at their sides on benches during the pauses between movements.

Audience Perceptions
Churches that performed Behnke’s arrangement according to their church bulletins were, in chronological order:

Midland Seventh-day Adventist Church, Midland, Michigan, 22 March 2008, Preparation

Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Illinois, 22 August 2010, Prelude with "There is Balm in Gilead" and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"

First United Methodist Church, Covington, Tennessee, 26 September 2010, Postlude, Paulette Palmer, organist

Old South Church, United Church of Christ, Boston, Massachusetts, 19 August 2012, "The Gathering" prelude

Independent Presbyterian Church, Memphis, Tennessee, 26 January 2014, Prelude, Jennifer Velázquez, organist, "Praying" and "Crying" only

Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church, Coronado, California, 24 August 2014, Prelude, "Praying" and "Singing" only

Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, Abingdon, Virginia, 15 November 2015, Prelude

St. John’s Lutheran Church, Grinnell, Iowa, 7 May 2017, Prelude

First Presbyterian Church On the Square, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 3 September 2017, Prelude

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1 October 2017, Prelude, Robert Fasol, organist with string bass and percussion

First United Methodist Church, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, 13 May 2018, "The Church Gathers"

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 13 May 2018, Prelude

Covenant Christian Reformed Church, Sioux Center, Iowa, 29 July 2018, Offertory, "Crying," and Postlude, "Singing"

Individuals who performed "Kumbaya" for other occasions in chronological order were:
Linda Bryant, recital, Grinnell College, 2016

Church of the Brethren, seniors’ convention, Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, 4 September 2017, Postlude, "Singing" only

Organ Benefit Concert, First Baptist Church, Middletown, Ohio, 22 April 2014

Notes on Performers
Behnke was born in Evanston, Illinois, and attended a Lutheran high school [13] and college. His advanced music degrees were from Northwestern University. He taught at Concordia University Wisconsin [14] and played organ at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. [15]

After Trinity was destroyed by fire in 2018, one member of the congregation remembered, "not only was there good preaching from the pulpit, but the organist preached through his talent as well." [16]

Koscamp’s grandmother was a church organist and his mother taught him how to play piano. At Central College in Pella, Iowa, he studied math and music. During the week he worked for a financial advisor in Des Moines. On Sundays he played organ and directed the adult choir. [17]

Grivetti was raised in Richmond, Virginia, and earned his music certification from Shenandoah University. He taught music in a Sterling, Virginia, elementary school, [18] and was working on a masters in choral conducting from Florida State University in the summer. [19]

Availability
Sheet Music: John A. Behnke. "Variations for Organ on Kum Ba Ya." Saint Louis: MorningStar Music Publishers, 1993.

Album: John A. Behnke. For All Seasons, Volume 1. 1996. CD.

YouTube: Mark Koskamp. "Variations on Kum ba Yah." Uploaded by RBwebbie on 21 November 2013.

YouTube: Todd Grivetti. "Variations on Kum-Ba-Yah." Uploaded by Todd Grivetti on 7 October 2015.

End Notes
1. "MorningStar Music Publishers." Canticle Distributing website.
2. Canticle Distributing.

3. Concordia Publishing House is sponsored by the Missouri Synod. In 1974 the Synod’s president removed the president of Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis for teaching false doctrine. He and most of the faculty formed a competing seminary in Saint Louis that functioned until 1987. [20]

4. Charles Callahan. "Meditation of Kum Ba Yah." 1 in Spirituals for Keyboard. Fenton, Missouri: MorningStar Music Publishers, 1993. "Desmond." Linda Denham played the arrangement at Peekskill Presbyterian Church, Peekskill, New York, on 24 February 2013. It was used with the offertory by Immanuel Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, on 15 January 2017. Robert Haigler uploaded a version to YouTube on 25 September 2015.

5. Michael Larkin. "Kum Ba Yah." Saint Louis: Birnamwood Publications, 2006. "Based on Desmond." It was heard at New Castle Presbyterian Church, New Castle, Delaware, on 13 May 2018.

6. The retired Presbyterian minister mentioned in the post for 24 February 2019 told me the one time churches abbreviated hymns was if the sermon and run long and parishioners needed to get home. Even then, he said it wasn’t considered good form.

7. The church had no permanent musicians. A committee planned the liturgy, choral groups were temporary, and members took turns leading the singing.

8. John A. Behnke. "Kum Ba Yah. Someone’s Singing, Lord." Fenton, Missouri: Birnanwood Publications, 2001.

9. "For All Seasons, Vol. 1 by John A. Behnke." CD Baby website.
10. Pipe Organ List website. July 2012.
11. Pipe Organ Database website.
12. Dobson Organ Company website.
13. "About Me." John Behnke page on Weebly website.
14. "John Behnke." Hope Publishing website.

15. "Shepherd of the Bay Hosts Hymn Festival Sept. 30." Door County Pulse [Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin]. 21 September 2017

16. Christian Himsel. Quoted by Gary Achterberg. Ozaukee County News Graphic [Cedarburg, Wisconsin]. 17 May 2018. Reprinted as "Ties that Ran Deep" on Concordia University Wisconsin website. 17 May 2018.

17. "Mark Koscamp." Central Iowa American Guild of Organists website.
18. "Todd Grivetti." Church website.
19. "Todd’s Grad School Fund" Go Fund Me website.
20. Wikipedia. "Concordia Publishing House" and "John Tietjen."