Dan Schutte
28 December 1947
DANIEL LAURENT SCHUTTE was born in Neenah, Wisconsin, on 27 December 1947, son of Laurent J. Schutte and Marie G. Vanhimbergen, and raised in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. His love for music was inspired by his grandparents, who were skilled musicians. While at Marquette University High School, he played clarinet and saxophone in the school band, and he developed an appreciation for folk music through one of his teachers, Jesuit Father John Eagen, and through the music of Simon & Garfunkel and Peter, Paul & Mary. After initially considering medical school, he decided to pursue a calling as a Jesuit priest.
The St. Louis Jesuits
In 1970, he enrolled at St. Louis University, where he met and befriended fellow musicians John Foley, Bob Dufford, Roc O’Connor, and Tim Manion. John Foley had already started writing folk songs in a style Bob and Dan wanted to emulate. Another classmate, Bill Laird, was a kindred musical spirit, and one of their teachers, Father Barney Portz, helped foster their interest in writing for congregational singing. The men often led music at St. Francis Xavier College Church or Fusz Memorial Chapel, and they wrote new music for the Catholic church during a key moment post-Vatican II when the liturgy was being offered in English for the first time and Catholic worshipers and publishers were seeking suitable materials. The group became known as the St. Louis Jesuits.
In 1972, the group expressed an interest in compiling their songs. Schutte carefully hand-drew all of the scores, and they also set about recording the songs so people could hear how they were intended to be performed.
Some of these recordings were done in the basement studio at Fusz Memorial, some in the living room of the family of fellow Jesuit and pianist Ralph Caccioppo. Others were recorded live during Fusz chapel liturgies. In the end, the final thirty pieces were recorded in four days in a small, commercial basement studio out in the suburbs. When the recordings were complete, Bob Dufford and John Foley spent two weeks at the studio editing and sequencing the songs for the album.[1]
All of this had been done without a publishing or recording contract. After contacting several publishers, they connected with Ray Bruno of North American Liturgy Resources (NALR) and received the help they needed to bring the project to fruition. The resulting songbook and 4-disc LP set were called Neither Silver Nor Gold (1974), featuring art by Donald-David Fehrenbach. But by that point the men had parted ways; Schutte and O’Connor graduated from St. Louis University in 1973 and became high school teachers on a Sioux reservation at Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge, South Dakota; Bob Dufford was teaching at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska; John Foley and Tim Manion were still in St. Louis, and Foley had released his own album, Ways to Get Through (1973), with John Kavanaugh. Schutte composed his first mass setting, the “St. Louis Jesuit Mass,” in 1973.
Given the success of their first album, the men reconnected in the summer of 1975 to write more songs. The resulting material was recorded for their album Earthen Vessels (1975). Some of their songs started to circulate via NALR’s Songs of Praise and Reconciliation (1975). Another gathering of the St. Louis Jesuits followed in the summer of 1976, which led to another album, A Dwelling Place. That fall, Schutte moved to Berkeley, California, to enroll in the Jesuit School of Theology (Graduate Theological Union), working toward a Master of Divinity. In the summer of 1977, the group pooled together songs they had written for Advent and Christmas, and this became Gentle Night. Also that year, their songs provided the foundation for the first of a series of songbooks called Glory & Praise, published by NALR (three volumes of songbooks became a hymnal in 1984). In 1978, the group took a break from writing and recording, but they supported Foley in the production of his solo album, Wood Hath Hope. Schutte completed his M.Div. in 1979 and started working toward a Master of Liturgy at Berkeley.
In the spring of 1980, Schutte finished his coursework for the Master of Liturgy, but not his thesis, and all five men were granted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania (Foley in absentia). The St. Louis Jesuits did not fully reconvene again until the summer of 1980. The resultant project would become Lord of Light (1981), and it included Schutte’s new folk hymn, “Here I am, Lord.”
Lord of Light would be followed by another pause in activity for the St. Louis Jesuits. Foley in particular had begun music studies in London and was working on an oratorio called Book of Glory. In the fall of 1980, the other four were given an opportunity to study music composition at Seattle University with Father Kevin Waters; prior to this, their music training had been informal. Schutte finished his thesis for the Master of Liturgy in 1982, then left for Milwaukee to become director of liturgy at Marquette University. Tim Manion lost interest in writing and performing, and the group became more difficult to reassemble, but they eventually agreed to pool their compositions together for one last album, The Steadfast Love (1985).
Writing and Recording Independently
The following year, 1986, Schutte decided to leave the Jesuit order (the Society of Jesus). He later recounted this decision to biographer Mike Gale:
Leaving the Jesuits was the most difficult decision I have ever made in my life; it wasn’t that I was angry at the Society of Jesus or didn’t love the priesthood. Rather, there was a great need for intimacy in my life that was so strong that I knew that I would be losing myself if I did not pay attention to it. I was terrified of leaving; I had no idea how I was going to do that, but I knew there was a part of my soul that needed it. I needed to get out of that structure.[2]
Prior to this, the ownership of his copyrights and all of his royalties had gone to the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, but now they belonged to him. This helped him financially while he transitioned out of teaching at Marquette University into becoming director of music at Immaculate Heart of Mary, a parish church in Milwaukee. He served there for a year, then took a similar position at Our Lady of Lourdes, Milwaukee. Around that time, his publisher, North American Liturgy Resources, was acquired by Oregon Catholic Press (OCP). His independence from the St. Louis Jesuits allowed him the creative freedom to write music in his own style. He released his first solo album, Lover of Us All, in 1989. In 1993, he became director of music of the Corpus Christi parish, Milwaukee, and he released his second solo album, Drawn by a Dream. His second mass, the “Mass of God's Promise” was completed in 1996 (revised 2010), and another solo album followed in 1997.
San Francisco and SLJ Reunion
In 1999, Schutte was made director of liturgical music and composer-in-residence at the University of San Francisco. After having been separated from the St. Louis Jesuits for over a decade, a notable turning point came in 2001, when the group was invited to perform for the 25th anniversary of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in Washington, D.C. Four of the men, minus Tim Manion, were placed at the end of the program, and when they came on stage and began singing “City of God” from Lord of Light, they were amazed to see and hear the crowd join together as though the song was still fresh in everyone’s minds and hearts. The powerful moment spurred the men to re-evaluate the state of the group. Roc O’Connor was especially eager to facilitate discussion, which eventually led to a gathering in October 2003, a meeting with OCP in 2004, and eventually another album, Morning Light (2005), including Manion. A commemorative book, The St. Louis Jesuits: Thirty Years, followed in 2006, as did an album of instrumental arrangements by Schutte, One Lord of All, and honorary Doctor of Music degrees for all five men from Creighton University (Omaha, NE).
Additional Works
Schutte continued to issue collections of his own material, varying between releases of new songs, or instrumental arrangements by composers such as Tony Eiras or Bob Harrold, or anthologies of previously released material. In 2009, he produced his first devotional book, Walking the Sacred Path: Spiritual Exercises for Today, “loosely based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola,” with a companion CD of related songs. That year, he also issued Here I Am, Lord: 30th Anniversary Edition, an anthology of previously released songs with a new recording of the title track, and he was granted another Doctor of Humane Letters, this time from the University of San Francisco. In 2013, he embarked on a concert tour with Steve Angrisano and Curtis Stephan, in an effort to represent three generations of Catholic songwriters, and they issued an album, Age to Age: Generations of Faith. Following a series of revisions to the official Roman mass in 2011, Schutte composed a new setting, “Mass of Christ the Savior” (2013), which was issued in parallel with a Spanish edition translated by Jaime Cortez.
The five St. Louis Jesuits reunited again in November 2018 at Chaifetz Arena for the bicentennial celebration of St. Louis University. The following year, on 29 September 2019, they offered what was billed as their final reunion concert, held at Powell Hall, St. Louis University, and it included some of their old friends from the St. Francis Xavier College Church Choir, who had sung on some of their early albums. The related album, Coming Home (2019), was not a live recording of the event but a reissue of older recordings in the order they were performed for the reunion. The university granted honorary Doctor of Music degrees to all five men in 2021.
by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
13 September 2022
Mike Gale, The St. Louis Jesuits: Thirty Years (Portland, OR: OCP, 2006), p. 29.
Mike Gale, The St. Louis Jesuits: Thirty Years (Portland, OR: OCP, 2006), p. 131.
Featured Hymns:
Discography:
St. Louis Jesuits
Neither Silver Nor Gold (1974) with songbook
Earthen Vessels (1975) with songbook
A Dwelling Place (1976) with songbook
Gentle Night (1977) with songbook
Lord of Light (1981) with songbook
The Steadfast Love (1985) with songbook
Lift Up Your Hearts (1996) compilation
May We Praise You (1997) compilation
Let Heaven Rejoice (1997) compilation
Morning Light (2005) with songbook
One Lord of All: Instrumental Music
Based on the Songs of the St. Louis Jesuits (2006)
Instrumental arrangements by Dan Schutte
Coming Home (2019) compilation
Dan Schutte
Lover of Us All (1989) with songbook
Drawn by a Dream (1993) with songbook
Always & Everywhere (1997) with songbook
Glory in the Cross (2001) with songbook
Here I Am Lord: Anthology 1970–1985 (2001) with sheet music
You Are Near: Instrumental Music for Quiet Reflection (2003)
Arrangements by Tony Eiras
Prince of Peace (2004) with songbook
All My Days: Instrumental Music for Quiet Reflection (2006)
Orchestrated by Bob Harrold
God’s Holy Gifts (2007) with songbook
Table of Plenty: Anthology 1985–2000 (2008)
O Holy Mary (2009) with sheet music
with Christopher Walker, Colin Mawby, M.D. Ridge
Walking the Sacred Path (2009) with devotional book
Here I Am, Lord: 30th Anniversary (2009)
To Praise You (2012) with songbook
God with Us (2012) with devotional book
Age to Age: Generations of Faith (2013)
with Steve Angrisano and Curtis Stephan
Mass of Christ the Savior (2013) with songbook
Misa Christo Salvador (2013)
From Ashes to Glory (2014) with devotional book
Love and Grace (2018) with songbook
Mass Settings:
St. Louis Jesuit Mass (1973)
Mass of God’s Promise (1996, rev. 2010)
Mass of Christ the Savior (2013)
Related Resources:
Mike Gale, The St. Louis Jesuits: Thirty Years (Portland, OR: OCP, 2006).
Julie O’Connor, “Group that transformed Catholic music is back on tour,” Religion News Service (11 May 2006): https://religionnews.com/2006/05/11/group-that-transformed-catholic-music-is-back-on-tour/
Dan Schutte, Hearn Innovators Series Lecture, Baylor University (Feb. 2018): YouTube
“The St. Louis Jesuits are ‘Coming Home’ for final live concert,” St. Louis University (11 July 2019): https://www.slu.edu/news/2019/july/stlouis-jesuits-coming-home.php
“Here I Am, Lord: Dan Schutte reflects on a lifelong commitment to helping people experience the presence of God through music,” Pastoral Music, vol. 44, no. 1 (Nov. 2019), pp. 20–24.
Dan Schutte & Roc O’Connor, “Roc O’Connor and Dan Schutte discuss songwriting and Roc’s new collection, ‘All Shall Be Well,’” OCP Music (2020): YouTube
“Honorary degree recipient: The St. Louis Jesuits,” St. Louis University (7 Aug. 2021): https://www.slu.edu/news/social/honorary-degree-stl-jesuits.php
Carlton R. Young, “Daniel Schutte,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology: http://www.hymnology.co.uk/d/daniel-schutte
Daniel L. Schutte, Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/person/Schutte_DL
Dan Schutte Music: https://www.danschuttemusic.com/
Oregon Catholic Press (OCP): https://www.ocp.org/en-us/