Music

“The great master Bach, then Irving Berlin, and now Janice Kapp Perry have mastered the ability to create two independent melodies which when sung together create something truly extraordinary.” (Michael Ballam, 2012)

Introduction

It made me laugh to hear my simple double-melody songs mentioned with the masters, but I do thank Michael Ballam for his kind words and for even recording one of my double-melody songs, “My Mother, My Daughter” (which he changed to “My Father, My Daughter” so he could record it with his daughter). Many people have asked if I “invented” the double-melody song idea but of course I didn’t. And I don’t know who did. But when I was just beginning to compose I heard a song that was written and recorded by one of my favorite composers, Janeen Brady, and the idea instantly fascinated me. I knew I wanted to write such a song someday.

The day finally came when I sat down to write my first double-melody song and I confidently approached the task, but soon realized that it was a rather complicated procedure. Each melody has to stand on its own and not sound like it was just written to harmonize with the other. Also the rhythm had to be varied or the words would just all be jumbled when they are sung together-when one melody is being held out, that’s when the opposite melody should be moving, which allows the listener to understand both sets of words. Both melodies must be superimposed on the same harmonic structure to allow them to be sung at the same time. My learning curve was huge, and through the years as I wrote other such songs, I learned more and more each time. Creating these double-melody songs has been a very happy part of my songwriting career and I would like to share the stories behind three of them. Imagine my joy when each of them was later recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!

Love is Spoken Here

Sometimes ideas for a song come at unusual times and in unusual places. “Love is Spoken Here” definitely had an unusual beginning. My husband Doug and I attended a party in honor of an outgoing stake presidency, and during a lull in the activities I said to him, “Please help me come up with an interesting idea for a song. I want to enter the Ensign songwriting contest and the deadline is just two days away.”

“How long have you know about this?” he asked.

“Well, just this one . . . year,” I admitted. He rolled his eyes but said he would try.

As we were leaving our host’s home that evening, Doug pointed to a beautiful cross-stitch sampler above the kitchen sink: “Love is Spoken Here.” “There’s your title,” he said, “go to it.” I loved the idea! I tried to discover who had coined the phrase but could not. The thought reminded me of the home I had grown up in, and I decided to write about two things that gave me a feeling of peace and security in that home-hearing my mother’s prayers each day, and feeling the power of my father’s priesthood. I wrote one verse about each of them which could be sung over a common harmonic structure. This was my first experiment with counter melodies.

The piece did well in the contest and was published in the Ensign. A few years later a Primary teacher from Texas wrote to say, “We’ve enjoyed learning your song Love is Spoken Here’ and are writing to ask permission to make the title into a cross-stitch sampler.” That seemed only fair.

It had come full-circle from a cross-stitch sampler, to my song, to the Ensign, to a Primary in Texas, and now back to a cross-stitch sampler.

Love is Spoken Here

Words & Music by Janice Kapp Perry
Mormon Tabernacle Choir

First Verse:
   I see my mother kneeling
   With our family each day

   I hear the words she whispers

 As she bows her head to pray
   Her plea to the Father
   Quiets all my fears
   And I am thankful
   Love is spoken here

Second verse:
   Mine is a home where ev’ry hour
   Is blessed by the strength of priesthood pow’r
   With father and mother leading the way
   Teaching me how to trust and obey
   And the things they teach are crystal clear
   For love is spoken here

Sing both verses together
  I can often feel the Savior near
   When love is spoken here

Love Is Spoken Here recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the album by the same title can be found at Deseret Book , iTunes, and Amazon.

Mother, Tell Me the Story

When we were preparing to record our first album of children’s songs, I thought it would be nice to include a lullaby. I was enjoying the idea of having two different melodies sung separately and then together, and thought this would be a natural format for a mother/child exchange at bedtime. My favorite childhood bedtime memories are of my mother lying beside me on my bed telling faith-promoting stories and assuring me of her love. Peaceful sleep always followed such sweet moments.

When “Mother, Tell Me the Story” was published in the Primary Children’s Songbook, I was asked to write an optional verse that spoke of Jesus’ nearness and His watching over us as we sleep. I’ll include both verses here. A sublime arrangement of this song can be found on the Mormon Tabernacle’s new CD “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” (arranged by Mack Wilberg).

[Click here to listen to “Mother, Tell Me the Story]

 

Mother, Tell Me the Story
Words & Music by Janice Kapp Perry
Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Child:
   Mother, tell me the story that
   That I love to hear
   Tell me of heaven
   And why I came here

   Mother, tell how you love me
   And gently speak
   And then I’ll go to sleep

Mother:
   Child, I am here
   Can you feel that heaven is near
   Sleep, sleep, a love-watch I’ll keep

   To protect you through the night

Both parts sung together

Optional verse:

Child:
   Mother*, tell me of Jesus
   And how He is near
   Tell how He loves me
   And I will not fear
   Mother, tell how His Spirit
   Brings comfort and peace
   And then I’ll go to sleep

Mother (or Father)
   Child, He is there
   In His love you never need fear
   Sleep, sleep, a love-watch He’ll keep
   To protect you through the night

* alternate word: Daddy

Mother, Tell Me the Story recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the album “Teach Me to Walk in the Light” can be found at <a target="_blank" href="https://deseretbook.

A Child’s Prayer

People often ask me which of the songs I’ve written is my favorite, and I never feel any hesitation in answering, “A Child’s Prayer.” In LDS Living magazine’s January 2013 issue they announced the results of an extensive poll and published the “100 Greatest LDS Songs of All Time” and I was amazed to see that “A Child’s Prayer” was #1. I know the song is no musical masterpiece, so I can only assume that there are lots of people out there who ask themselves on certain challenging days (as I do): “Heavenly Father, are you really there?” and then are comforted by the answer, “Pray, He is there, speak, He is listening.” This song holds a special place in my heart. We are all human and occasionally wonder, in difficult times, if the Lord is really hearing our pleas for help. I hope the song answers that question.

I have received many interesting letters through the years from people who have had a variety of experiences with this song. One mother related that when her son needed an MRI, they could not get him to lie still until she promised to entertain him with Primary songs. He said, “OK, I’ll go first,” and started singing “A Child’s Prayer” which made the doctor a little teary. Another mother wrote that her son had broken off two of his back teeth and the dentist had tried for so long to get the roots out that the boy was completely unnerved. The dentist felt he should send the boy home and try again later. The mother had a prayer with her son and then asked him if he would let the dentist try one more time while she sang “A Child’s Prayer.” The boy agreed, the mother started singing, and the procedure was completed.

A mother from Phoenix wrote to say that she had had her husband sing this piece for her in the final stages of her four childbirths! On the lighter side, a grandmother said that when her two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter was asked to say the blessing on the food, she folded her arms and began, “Heavenly Father, are you really there?”

I have heard this song performed in many settings, including funerals, and I also experienced singing it with my friends in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at general conference. For that occasion, Brother Craig Jessop, then Associate Director of the Choir, asked me to expand the song. I added eight lines at the beginning of the song to set the stage for the child’s prayer, and a few lines were added to the ending.

A Child’s Prayer
Words & Music by Janice Kapp Perry
Mormon Tabernacle Choir

A. Adult:
   Night time, quiet time
   Loved ones gather at day’s end
   I hold them close, I help them know
   That God will always be their friend
   Then just before I say goodnight
   My little one kneels by my chair
   I close my eyes, I dim the lights
   And listen to this simple prayer:

B. Child:
   Heavenly Father, are you really there
   And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer
   Some say that heaven is far way
   But I feel it close around me as I pray

   Heavenly Father, I remember now
   Something that Jesus told disciples long ago
   “Suffer the children to come to me”
   Father, in prayer I’m coming now to Thee

C. Adult:

   Pray, He is there
   Speak, He is list’ning
   You are His child,
   His love now surrounds you
   He hears your prayer
   He loves the children
   Of such is the kingdom
   The kingdom of heav’n

Sing parts B and C together

Sing parts D and E together

D. Heavenly Father, are you really there? Please hear my prayer

E. He hears and answers ev’ry child’s prayer

A Child’s Prayer recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the album “Peace Like a River” can be found at Deseret Book, iTunes, and on Amazon.

When the Music Committee of the Church was selecting songs for the Children’s Songbook I was asked to write a double melody song about the Word of Wisdom, an assignment I relished! I read John A. Widstoe’s book, The Word of Wisdom, from front to back hoping I would find a perfect, succinct listing of the promises to those who live this principle. Sure enough, toward the end of the book he listed the promises as, “A clean body, a clear mind, a spirit in tune with the Lord.” This was a perfect summary for children, and even fit nicely with the musical line I had written-truly a tender mercy.

The Music Committee felt that the double melody format was an effective way to help children learn to sing harmony. I was also asked to write a song about the four steps of prayer for the Children’s Songbook and that lent itself easily to the double melody format.  I titled the song, “I Pray in Faith.” I have always believed that when we combine a simple gospel truth with an appealing melody it becomes one of the greatest teachers our children will ever have. I can think of no more palatable way for children to learn the gospel than by repeated singing of gospel principles set to music.

In 2011 I began to think about combining all of our double melody songs on one CD. I thought we must have nine or ten of them by now, but when I started listing them I found we had sixteen.

The time to put this collection together seemed right.We gathered all of our double melody songs from different albums and released our new CD, “Beloved Double Melodies of JKP,” at the end of 2011. We hope you will enjoy hearing them, and singing them with the instrumental CD that is included along with the vocal CD. Remember also that the sheet music can be printed from the instrumental CD. As we travel through the church doing programs we often hear instrumentalists playing the double melodies on violin, flute, and other combinations.

Beloved Double Melodies of Janice Kapp Perry with her recordings of the three featured songs can be found HERE on her website. Note that the 2-CD set comes with the Vocal CD, the Instrumental CD, and the piano/vocal songbook in pdf format included on the Instrumental CD.