Treasury of Daily Prayer Music

I was reading the daily office in the Treasury of Daily Prayer this morning, and lamenting the fact that I can't read music and thus can't chant the offices of Matins and Vespers the way they really ought to be done.

So I decided to search on Google to see if there was any mp3 or CD or what have you of the music that goes with the TDP versions of the offices. Sadly, nothing turned up.

I then tried to find a program that would allow me to input the music into my computer and generate a midi of it... heh, those do exist but most cost money and really would require me to actually understand what the heck I'm doing, which if I did would mean I could read music and thus really would not need to do it in the first place.

Then I thought of searching on the Concordia Publishing House web site. Nothing there either.

So then I sent an email to a certain CPH editor there who has a blog called Cyberbretheren letting him know my desperate desire for such a product.

I wrote:

I love TDP! I would like to sing Matins, Vespers and Compline with my family but I can't read music. I can sing though! It would be extremely helpful if you, or someone somewhere, put out a CD of the basic tunes for the Daily Office, also for the various Psalm tones. That way those of us who do not read music, and that is most of the people I know, could sing the services and that would make us even happier with TDP.

What is the chance of such a product being produced? I'd be willing to pay actual money for it O:-)

He promptly wrote back to me, within minutes:

Hi Larry,

Your wish is our command [this time, at least!].

We have the Concordia Theological Seminary Kantorei recording all the services in the Treasury and we hope to be able, if all goes well, to release it this Pentecost.

Woo Hoo! This will be awesome! I'm ready to order it as soon as it's ready to be released. Since he didn't specifically say not to I'm posting about it here. :-) God is good.

As this unamed editor dude said to me in another email :

"I’m fired up about this project. Can you imagine how beautiful it is going to be to hear these men chanting the daily offices? Wow. I’ll mention it all over creation as soon as I can!"

Wow indeed.