‘Project Lyre goes live’

    

I think this is something like three years in the making, but one California Mason’s goal to return music to ritual work advanced one big step this afternoon when Project Lyre went live on Reverb Nation.

Geoffrey Schumann, of North Hollywood Lodge 542, has posted four compositions on the musician networking site:

The Exalted Jewel March

The Grand Theme

The Staircase

Time to Vote

The objective is to return That Elevated Science to the ambiance of lodges that are bereft of organists. Schumann previously made files available by request, but this endeavor seems to be for the benefit of the Masonic world. I think the grand lodge’s website will host the files later.

It is a lamentable fact that the fraternity suffers a shortage of musicians today. There’s no rule anywhere that stipulates organ playing for lodge life, but that evidently was the tradition for many years. Plenty of lodges today have a large keyboard instrument neglected somewhere on the north side. Other instruments could be played, but I suppose the power of a reed or electric organ really fills the room. (At Masonic Hall, a pipe organ occupies the west of the lodge rooms, behind the Senior Warden, and I don’t know where my lodge would be without Bro. Erik.)

Well done, Bro. Schumann!