Elmo Scoggin, C. P. E. Bach, and Music in the Night
When I was in Seminary I never officially lived on campus. The Seminary owned a couple of “commuter dorms,” spaces with small bedrooms (or cubicles) for commuting students to spend a night or two each week. This fit schedules of working students well, and I was married and serving a church in Duplin County, NC.
There were many nights when I would have class beginning at 6:00 p.m., and I would not leave Wake Forest, NC until nearly 10:00 p.m. My drive home would last late into the night. It was a long drive at the end of a long day, but I had a calming presence on my ride home on those nights.
Elmo Scoggin was a Professor Emeritus at Southeastern Seminary when I was there, and he continued to live in Wake Forest. He had taken a job in his retirement, as a radio host on a local classical station, WCPE. WCPE is not an NPR station, it is a listener supported all-classical music station, 89.7 on the FM dial in NC. The station took it letters from J. S. Bach’s son, Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach. CPE Bach was also a musician and composer, one of J. S. Bach’s 20 (yes, 20) children.
At 10:00 each night, Dr. Scoggin would host the all-night radio show, Music in the Night, and he, along with the music, was my calming companion on my drive home. Elmo Scoggin was a kind, dignified gentleman, and he worked at WCPE many years before his failing health caused him to retire.
I still love WCPE, and even though I cannot pick it up on a normal FM radio, (although WCPE claims their signal can be picked up just southeast of Richmond) the station has made it easy for listeners all over the world to hear all-classical all-the-time. No advertisements. No politics. No news. It is a refreshing and beautiful offering to the world, and it is one of the only stations left in the country which has a live DJ twenty four hours a day seven days a week. I also love it when the announcer states that WCPE has a transmitter in Frog Level, NC. I love the name Frog Level, it makes me think of a North Carolina “place.”
There is a great WCPE app, available on iTunes or Google Play, and the app is free. You can also listen to WCPE on a computer. If you have a smart device, a Google or Amazon device, you can simply say, “hey google (or Alexa), play WCPE,” and it will begin.
My favorite part of the week on WCPE is Sunday mornings. WCPE has two programs consisting of sacred music, the first begins at 7:30. Sing for Joy is produced in Northfield, MN, on the campus of the Lutheran St. Olaf College. Pastor Bruce Benson is the host of Sing for Joy, the thirty minute program includes music that goes along with that Sunday’s lectionary readings. It is mainly hymns and choral anthems, and Pastor Benson does a wonderful job explaining the connections between the music and scripture for that day. It is a great program, you can even subscribe to their free mailed newsletter which is sent out monthly.
After Sing for Joy is over at 8:00 a.m., the program Great Sacred Music begins, and it lasts for several hours. You may hear some hymns on Great Sacred Music, but it is primarily organ works and extended choral pieces by the world’s great composers. Every Sunday you will hear a Bach Cantata, as well as pieces by the “big” composers, Beethoven, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. Sometimes Great Sacred Music gets a little “heavy,” but I always find joy in hearing the music that is chosen by a live DJ.
Fridays on WCPE is “all request,” and this past Sunday morning on Great Sacred Music all of the music had some reference to Mary, Mother of Jesus, in honor of Mother’s Day There is a weekly opera night on WCPE, featuring the show from the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, and there is still Music in the Night, even though Dr. Scoggin is no longer the host.
Elmo Scoggin died in October of 2011. After his retirement from Southeastern Seminary, he lived a quiet life in Wake Forest. He worked out at the YMCA and fished in local lakes and ponds. And of course, hosted Music in the Night. He wanted his death to be as quiet as his life, wanting no funeral, and at his request there was no obituary in the local paper. He was an Old Testament scholar, and archeologist, a kind gentleman, and a faithful disciple.
I invite you to become a listener of WCPE, especially on Sunday mornings. I’ve always listened on Sunday mornings, and during this time of social distancing it has meant that I have been able to listen a little more on Sunday mornings. It is a peaceful part of my life, and I invite you to give it a try.