Musically Speaking

Friday FIVE: May 22 - The Oratorio Before Elijah

On May 22, 1836, Felix Mendelssohn premiered his oratorio St. Paul in Düsseldorf to immediate acclaim. One hundred and ninety years later, one chorus from it still stops people in their tracks. In this episode, I reflect on what made St. Paul significant in his time, what How Lovely Are the Messengers does with a text from Romans 10, and why a group of fourth through tenth grade boys in West Monroe, Louisiana, sang it better than they may have known. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. Here’s the recording of “How Lovely are the Messengers”: https://youtu.be/wE5Ngf9_uqo [https://youtu.be/wE5Ngf9_uqo] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE Revisited: March 28 - A Place in the Choir

This week’s episode briefly discusses the role of the choir when it comes to congregational singing in worship. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: May 8 - The Hymnal as Teacher

For generations, church hymnals did more than preserve songs. They quietly taught ordinary people how to read music. A passing remark from country singer Ella Langley sparked this one, and this episode explores how the act of singing from the page, week after week, formed musical instincts most people never knew they had. I reflect on the shift from hymnals to lyric screens and ask what role the church should play in forming musically literate worshipers today. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. https://jarrodrichey.substack.com/p/music-on-the-screens-in-worship [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com/p/music-on-the-screens-in-worship] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: May 1 - Two Minds, One Harmony

On May 1, 1786, Mozart conducted the world premiere of The Marriage of Figaro in Vienna. 240 years later, it remains one of the most performed operas on earth. In this episode, I reflect on what made Mozart’s approach to opera revolutionary: music so precisely tailored to each character that you cannot swap their melodies. And in the opera’s very first scene, before the plot has barely begun, Mozart does something even more remarkable. He lets two characters sing in harmony to tell you something the text never says. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.Here’s John Mason Hodges’ talk at New Saint Andrews College on this exact subject: https://youtu.be/9OSFCcvtcFc [https://youtu.be/9OSFCcvtcFc] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Friday FIVE: April 24 - Breath and Pipes

In this episode, I reflect on why the pipe organ shaped Christian worship for centuries and what it still teaches us today. From Mozart’s description of it as “the king of the instruments” to its role in strengthening congregational singing, the organ models corporate worship: many voices unified under one guiding hand. More than nostalgia, it is theological architecture, breath turned into sound, reminding us that worship is proclamation, not private meditation. The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com [https://jarrodrichey.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]