Three Hymn Tune Settings: French Horn and Accomp.: Part

SKU: AU.9781506496047

ISBN 9781506496047. 9 x 12 inches.

This collection by David Maxwell features three hymn tune settings and three original compositions for organ written with a range of styles from chromatic and lyrical to complex and triumphant. The three tunes included are LOBE DEN HERREN, MIT FREUDEN ZART, and NICAEA.

SKU: PR.165001000

ISBN 9781491129241. UPC: 680160669776. 9 x 12 inches.

Commissione d for a consortium of high school and college bands in the north Dallas region, FOR THEMYSTIC HARMONY is a 10-minute inspirational work in homage to Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon,patrons of the Fort Worth Symphony and the Van Cliburn Competition. Welcher draws melodic flavorfrom five American hymns, spirituals, and folk tunes of the 19th century. The last of these sources toappear is the hymn tune For the Beauty of the Earth, whose third stanza is the quatrain: “For the joy of earand eye, For the heart and mind’s delight, For the mystic harmony, Linking sense to sound and sight,”giving rise to the work’s title.
This work, commissioned for a consortium of high school bands in the north Dallas area, is my fifteenth maturework for wind ensemble (not counting transcriptions). When I asked Todd Dixon, the band director whospearheaded this project, what kind of a work he most wanted, he first said “something that’s basically slow,” butwanted to leave the details to me. During a long subsequent conversation, he mentioned that his grandparents,Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon, were prime supporters of the Fort Worth Symphony, going so far as to purchase anumber of high quality instruments for that orchestra. This intrigued me, so I asked more about his grandparentsand was provided an 80-page biographical sketch. Reading that article, including a long section about theirdevotion to supporting a young man through the rigors of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition fora number of years, moved me very much. Norwood and Elizabeth Dixon weren’t just supporters of the arts; theywere passionate lovers of music and musicians. I determined to make this work a testament to that love, and tothe religious faith that sustained them both. The idea of using extant hymns was also suggested by Todd Dixon,and this 10-minute work is the result.I have employed existing melodies in several works, delving into certain kinds of religious music more than a fewtimes. In seeking new sounds, new ways of harmonizing old tunes, and the contrapuntal overlaying of one tunewith another, I was able to make works like ZION (using 19th-century Revivalist hymns) and LABORING SONGS(using Shaker melodies) reflect the spirit of the composers who created these melodies, without sounding likepastiches or medleys. I determined to do the same with this new work, with the added problem of employingmelodies that were more familiar. I chose five tunes from the 19th century: hymns, spirituals, and folk-tunes.Some of these are known by differing titles, but they all appear in hymnals of various Christian denominations(with various titles and texts). My idea was to employ the tunes without altering their notes, instead using aconstantly modulating sense of harmony — sometimes leading to polytonal harmonizations of what are normallysimple four-chord hymns.The work begins and ends with a repeated chime on the note C: a reminder of steeples, white clapboard churchesin the country, and small church organs. Beginning with a Mixolydian folk tune of Caribbean origin presentedtwice with layered entrances, the work starts with a feeling of mystery and gentle sorrow. It proceeds, after along transition, into a second hymn that is sometimes connected to the sea (hence the sensation of water andwaves throughout it). This tune, by John B. Dykes (1823-1876), is a bit more chromatic and “shifty” than mosthymn-tunes, so I chose to play with the constant sensation of modulation even more than the original does. Atthe climax, the familiar spiritual “Were you there?” takes over, with a double-time polytonal feeling propelling itforward at “Sometimes it causes me to tremble.”Trumpets in counterpoint raise the temperature, and the tempo as well, leading the music into a third tune (ofunknown provenance, though it appears with different texts in various hymnals) that is presented in a sprightlymanner. Bassoons introduce the melody, but it is quickly taken up by other instruments over three “verses,”cons tantly growing in orchestration and volume. A mysterious second tune, unrelated to this one, interrupts it inall three verses, sending the melody into unknown regions.The final melody is “For the Beauty of the Earth.” This tune by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872) is commonly sung atThanksgiving — the perfect choice to end this work celebrating two people known for their generosity.Keeping the sense of constant modulation that has been present throughout, I chose to present this hymn in threegrowing verses, but with a twist: every four bars, the “key” of the hymn seems to shift — until the “Lord of all, toThee we praise” melody bursts out in a surprising compound meter. This, as it turns out, was the “mystery tune”heard earlier in the piece. After an Ivesian, almost polytonal climax, the Coda begins over a long B( pedal. At first,it seems to be a restatement of the first two phrases of “For the Beauty” with long spaces between them, but it soonchanges to a series of “Amen” cadences, widely separated by range and color. These, too, do not conform to anykey, but instead overlay each other in ways that are unpredictable but strangely comforting.The third verse of “For the Beauty of the Earth” contains this quatrain:“For the joy of ear and eye, –For the heart and mind’s delightFor the mystic harmonyLinking sense to sound and sight”and it was from this poetry that I drew the title for the present work. It is my hope that audiences and performerswill find within it a sense of grace: more than a little familiar, but also quite new and unexpected.

SKU: BT.DHP-1064014-020

9x12 inches. English-German.

The French composer Louis Bourgeois lived from c.1510 to 1560. Bourgeois was cantor in Geneva and, commissioned by John Calvin, he composed melodies for metrical (rhyming) versions of the psalms. After completing about a hundred one-part psalms, he made some four-part arrangements, which were denounced and even resulted in his imprisonment for a day. Later, Bourgeois published a number of psalm collections, and judging from his book Le droict chemin de musique he was also an excellent educator. The melodies Bourgeois composed, are (contrary to Gregorian chants) particularly suitable for community singing. This applies to his hymn tune Saint Michael, which is why this melody hasbeen used for various texts, written for many occasions. John Blanken made this arrangement for a wedding ceremony: an occasion in which faith and trust play a large - if not the largest - role. Hence the title Hymn of Faith. The arrangement contains four verses of the hymn. After a majestic opening the hymn follows twice, the second verse being embellished in the tenor register. After a short interlude verse three follows, played by a quartet. The majestic opening is then repeated as a modulation into the fourth verse, which concludes the work in a brilliant tutti.

De melodieën van de France componist Louis Bourgeois (ca. 1510-1560) zijn heel geschikt voor volkszang - zo ook de hymne ST Michael. Niet voor niets is deze melodie gebruikt voor vele liedteksten voor uiteenlopende gelegenheden. JohnBlanken maakte dit arrangement voor een trouwdienst, een gelegenheid waarbij vertrouwen een grote rol speelt, vandaar de titelHymn of Faith. Het arrangement herbergt vier vrezen. Na een majestueuze opening volgt de hymnetwee keer, waarbij het tweede vers wordt omgespeeld in het tenorregister. Na een kort tussenspel volgt vers drie in een zetting voor kwartet. De opening wordt herhaald als modulatie naar het vierde vers, waarmee het werk in eenstralend tutti afsluit.

Der Komponist, Kantor und Pädagoge Louis Bourgeois lebte im 16. Jahrhundert in Genf und komponierte Psalm- und Kirchenliedmelodien, die sich besonders gut für den Gemeindegesang eigneten. Die vorliegende Bearbeitung einer seiner Melodien schrieb John Blanken für eine Hochzeitszeremonie - ein Anlass, bei dem Glaube und Vertrauen eine große Rolle spielen: Daher der Titel Hymn of Faith. Ein wunderbares Stück ernste“ Musik, das zu vielen Gelegenheiten passt.

SKU: BT.AMP-421-030

English-German-French- Dutch.

British composer Philip Sparke was asked to write this arrangement of Hymn to Frei for the Norwegian Brass Band Frei Hornmusikk . Sparke had already used part of this hymn by a composer well-known in the home region of the band in The Saga of Haakon the Good. In A Norwegian Hymn, three verses of the tune can be heard: the first is performed by various soloists, followed by a quieter second verse, before the third verse brings the piece to a triumphal close. A beautiful piece, which is also excellent to use to work on musicality with bands in lower divisions.

Philip Sparke arrangeerde Hymne to Frei voor de Noorse Brass Band Frei Hornmusikk. In A Norwegian Hymn zijn ook drie verzen uit zijn eerdere werk The Saga of Haakon the Good te horen. De eerste wordt uitgevoerd door diverse solisten, gevolgd door een rustiger tweede couplet. Het derde deel brengt het werk naar een triomfantelijk einde. Een mooi werk waarmee u uitstekend kunt werken aan de muzikaliteit van orkesten in de lagere divisies.

Der britische Komponist Philip Sparke schrieb im Auftrag der Frei Hornmusikk aus Norwegen diese Bearbeitung der Hymn to Frei aus der Feder eines bekannten Komponisten aus der Heimatregion dieser Brass Band. Sparke hatte Teile dieses Kirchenlieds bereits zuvor in The Saga of Haakon the Good verwendet. Eine schönes Stück, dass sich außerdem sehr gut für Brass Bands niedrigerer Klassen eignet, die an ihrer Musikalität arbeiten wollen.

Le compositeur britannique Philip Sparke fut commandé d’écrire cet arrangement de Hymn to Frei pour la fanfare norvégienne Frei Hornmusikk. Sparke avait déj intégré une partie de ce cantique, écrit par un compositeur connu dans la région natale de cette fanfare, dans « The Saga of Haakon the Good ». On peut entendre trois couplets de la mélodie dans A Norwegian Hymn : le premier joué par plusieurs solistes, suivi par le deuxième qui est plus tranquille, avant que le troisième ne conclue la pièce d’une façon triomphante. Un morceau magnifique qui est aussi idéal pour travailler sur la musicalité des ensembles des divisions inférieures.

SKU: SU.80101112

This work is a set of three preludes on hymn tunes familiar in the Lutheran church. The three preludes are on the tunes Dorothy (Love in Christ is Strong and Living), Nun komm der heiden heiland, and Stricken, Smitten, Afflicted. The preludes are highly usable in worship service settings and present the tunes clearly and creatively.
16 pages
Published by: Zimbel Press.