"Oh Most High"
Written by Mia Tepper & Edward Jerlin
© 2001 & 2007 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing/Mia Tepper - All Rights Reserved
"Be Still"
Written by Mia Tepper & Edward Jerlin
© 2001 & 2007 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing/Mia Tepper - All Rights Reserved
"Blessed Assurance"
Music by Phoebe P. Knapp, Lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby
Arranged by Mia Tepper & Edward Jerlin
© 1873 Public Domain
Concluding our series focusing on the talented singer/songwriters I've
had the privilege of working with over the years, August's offering
features Mia Tepper, who was the worship leader at our church
from 2002-2003, between Espen Overgaard and Jessica Cole,
also serving as our choir director from 2001-2003.
The recordings featured here were (are?) to be part of a
CD project that Mia & I were working on together called
"Fearfully & Wonderfully Made",
which included a mix of original music & re-workings/arrangements
of a number of our favorite hymns & worship songs.
First, about the CD project "Fearfully & Wonderfully Made"...
I confess that I saved this one for last in this series because of the emotion involved in revisiting this music after almost six years.
Mia & I began working together on this music in June 2000. Mia's ideas for the project & the writing & selection of the music were already well under way by the time I came on board. She had just given a concert at our church featuring music she planned on recording for "Fearfully" -- to this day one of the most riveting & emotional vocal performances I have ever heard. After the concert, having no clue that she & her accompanist were about to part ways, I told her to give me a call if she ever needed a piano player.
While my role in this project began primarily as accompanist, it soon expanded into one of collaborator as we began re-assessing each song's role in the project, weeding out a few, adding & writing some new ones, & of course, I began putting my own stamp on some of the musical arrangements, mostly with Mia's approval. ;-) After much rehearsing & re-arranging, recording of the songs proceeded slowly, time permitting. In May of 2001, we had a choir concert at our church that featured most of the material for "Fearfully".
After the events of September 11, 2001, I stopped playing music for a time, also putting "Fearfully" on hold. I knew that if I worked on this during that time period, I'd always associate this music with what was going on. The "vibe" on the recordings would suffer also.
In December, my sister Susan, knowing me, knowing how I wasn't playing music, & knowing how I wasn't dealing with things very well, got me a bass guitar for Christmas, saying, "I figured you needed a new toy to play with." She couldn't have been more right. I'd talked for years of learning to play bass. Susan gave me the nudge to actually do it. For some reason, while the piano continued to be drudgery & perfunctory, I delved into playing bass & soon I began adding bass guitar parts to the "Fearfully" songs. Soon, I was actually finding some joy making music again & I began working on the CD in earnest again. This lasted about 3 weeks; then Susan died unexpectedly of a heart attack. I remain convinced that the post-9/11 stress contributed to her passing. It was after this that I pretty much lost a year of my life mourning her & what I had before 9/11.
Long story made shorter, the entire CD project eventually got put on a semi-permanent hiatus. It seemed to me that whenever I began working on this music again, roadblocks went up & majorly bad things would happen to derail it. After much prayer, I set it aside, semi-burying it. I know Mia was disappointed by the decision & I felt terrible about abandoning it, but something in me needed to move on or away from it.
In 2005, Mia moved to Pennsylvania after her marriage to Mitch Tepper. I don't think either of us expected this music to ever see the light of day. It was only after looking back on all the music I've done over the years & praying about how to go about getting it out there & coming up with this "Monthly Offering" idea that it made sense to include some of the music from "Fearfully" as part of this.
. . .
Revisiting this music after all this time has been a bit emotional for me, which came as a bit of a surprise. I expected that the music would take me back to a difficult period in my life, but what I didn't expect was how much I would end up enjoying listening to it kind of from the "outside looking in" & rediscovering some "old friends", so to speak.
"Oh Most High" is a song that was written by Mia prior to my involvement in "Fearfully" & one that has undergone quite a few musical changes after I got ahold of it. :-)
It is probably my favorite track on the album, which is why whenever I came back to this project, I usually went to this song first. After listening to the lyrics, I can understand now why I couldn't give my all to it after 9/11 & my sister's death. The lyrics come from a place I was incapable of going for a long time.
Now, they bring great comfort to me & I can sing & feel them truthfully. Having been through a fire of sorts, I'd like to think that I will now always be able to enjoy & sing a song like this regardless of my circumstances. I've had great fun finishing this one off this past month.
Enjoy!
"Be Still" was the last piece of music I wrote before 9/11/01 and was to be the last piece of music I would write for a long time. I was playing it at church prior to a "Fearfully" rehearsal & decided to play it for Mia. She really liked it & after learning the melody, put lyrics to it, which we then worked together on.
As with "Oh Most High", the lyrics again speak to me now in a way that I simply was not hearing in 2001-2002. If only I'd taken comfort in these words instead of dismissing them! I could write a book about the healing that has happened since then & what the Lord has done in my life.
A short piece of music, I've long considered this to be one of the prettiest melodies I've ever written, requiring little ornamentation or embellishment.
Pastor Jim & I are thinking of using it for our next CD "On Broken Wings".
Enjoy!
"Fearfully" features a number of our favorite hymns & "Blessed Assurance" is probably the one that has come out the best. We bounced a lot of ideas off each other while arranging this one.
Mia gives an incredible performance here, one of her best among many. I also feel comfortable saying that I consider this recording to be one of the classiest performances on piano I've ever done -- every note, phrasing & flourish chosen with utmost care.
Enjoy!
now both in full-time ministry. Mia is teaching at a transition
high school grades 9-12 for kids going through drug and alcohol
recovery. She is also the Worship Administrator of a new church
called New Life Christian Ministries. She plans on starting a
new choir soon called the Butler Tabernacle Singers, rekindling
the flame that began with the Staten Island Tab Singers.
Mia & Mitch Tepper:
Mia can be reached via email by clicking here.
Comments & feedback are always welcome at our guestbook.
Thank you, God bless, & a continued very Merry Summer to you & yours.
To download the music, RIGHT CLICK and choose "Save Target As":
"Oh Most High" MUSIC 4:42
"Be Still" MUSIC 2:16
"Blessed Assurance" MUSIC 6:00
To download the lyrics, RIGHT CLICK: and choose "Save Target As":
"Oh Most High" LYRICS
"Be Still" LYRICS
