new charts, old charts, and kaizen

I had someone ask me for charts for the Sanctus I'd written a few years ago. Liturgical churches have traditional call-and-response prayers and songs, and one of the most common is the Sanctus, which is where the congregation sings the passage, beginning with "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord," that has been part of Christian celebrations for centuries.

Churches do this every week, and so over the years there have been bunches of settings written, so you don't get sick of the same one over and over again. Put together with other traditional prayers and quotes — Gloria, Kyrie, the Doxology, the Our Father — it's known as a liturgy setting, or a Mass (though the term Mass also just means the service itself, confusingly). Composers have done these settings by the hundred, most of them for showoffy classical choirs and orchestras, but some for everyday congregations to be able to sing.

So I've written a Gloria and a Sanctus and a Doxology and a Prayers of the People, and will probably fill it out with a Kyrie and an Our Father, just to make the set complete sometime.

Anyway, back to the Sanctus. I've always had it in the back of my head that I'd put together an easily marketable little pack for the Sanctus, that includes a lead sheet, a bulletin insert, a full sheet-music score for choir and accompaniment, and an mp3 for reference. I've done the same for my Doxology, and it's turned into a nice little seller. Why haven't I bothered to shape all that up for the Sanctus till now? Well, a church music director wrote to me, saying they'd heard it and loved it, and wondered whether I had those materials available.

Being the music marketer I am, I quickly whipped it up last night and today, all the while thinking it was good to finally have some impetus to do it, because it will no doubt sell to others.

As I was finishing up the package, I figured I had the original mp3 that I did years ago somewhere, so did a search for it. Sure enough, it was in a folder entitled "Sanctus package."

That's right, folks, I did do it all, two years ago. Phhhht. Ah well. I took a look at the pdf files I'd done in 2011. They were clear, professional, complete, and done to the highest standard — but they weren't as good as the ones I just did yesterday and today. In the space of two years, I've improved enough in my engraving tastes and choices that there's a marked difference.

2011's work was just great. But 2013's was better.

This is what the Japanese mean by their term kaizen, which usually applies to conscious efforts in constantly polishing and streamlining and improving. It turns out that just normal everyday effort can result in polish and improvement too. I'm pleased to see that just in two years my skills have gotten better and my tastes more exacting.

Meanwhile, if you're tired of your usual Sanctus, get in touch.