Hymn Miniatures for Organ

Following the success of Hymn Miniatures 1 Rebecca Groom te Velde presents a second collection of twenty-eight practical arrangements for organ. These short pieces each based on a well-known hymn tune are ideal for use as service interludes hymn introductions communion meditations and short preludes offertories and postludes. Suitable for use throughout the year te Velde's accessible arrangements will prove invaluable to the church musician looking for fresh repertoire to enhance services.Austrian Hymn - TrioAbbot's Leigh - IntradaAsh Grove - DeclamationBesançon - DanceCarlisle - DeclamationCrucifer -FanfareDarwall's 148th - MeditationDivinum mysterium - MeditationEbenezer - TrioEngelberg - FanfareGelobt sei Gott - IntradaFoundation - MeditationGrande Isle - MusetteHanover - MeditationIn Babilone - PastoraleIn dulci jubilo - MusetteLaudate Dominum - MeditationLlangloffan - MeditationLyons - TrioMonkland - DuoMorning Hymn - DuoPuer nobis nascitur - PastoraleSt. Columba - MeditationSt. Denio - MeditationSt. George>'s Windsor - MeditationSt. Peter - MeditationTruro - IntradaUnser Herrscher - Meditation

Nine Hymn-Tune Voluntaries For Organ includes arrangements of favourite hymns including Nun Danket Old Hundredth St Albinus Quam Dilecta Saffron Waldron St Fulbert Winchester Old and Melcombe. The volume is equally divided into opening and concluding voluntaries.Twentieth century British composer Alec Rowley was also an Organist pianist and dedicated teacher. Many of his compositions are miniatures and works appropriate for amateur musicians though he also gained renown through his large-scale works performed at the Promenade Concerts and elsewhere.

Thomas Hewitt Jones' Carnival. Composed 2010. Written for Martin Neary President of the Organists Charitable Trust. These five short works are all extracted from the excellent Little Organ Book from the Organists Charitable Trust edited by Martin Neary and first published by Novello in 2010. This is a wonderful resource of 11 mainly new works by British composers all of moderate difficulty and well-defined character. Iain Farrington’s Bluesday is full of delicious harmonies with a bold climax framed by a gentle beginning and ending. David Bednall’s Fanfare is a joyful work that would bea good recital opener or festival voluntary with a chance to unleash the big reeds. The simplicity of the title of Howells’s Cradle Song belies a richness and warmth that make this a moving miniature. John Rutter’s evening prelude from 1979 on the plainsong hymn Te lucis ante terminum is tender and clear with some surprisingly plangent harmonies. Thomas Hewitt Jones’s Carnival is an outburst of festivity and bravura. All these pieces are very much worth playing though organists interested in more than two of them would be better served purchasing a copy of the original anthology which is still very well priced (Little Organ Book Novello 9781849386814 £9.95). - Sunday by Sunday

A new engraving of Thomas Attwood's delightful miniature Come Holy Ghost this piece is suitable for Whitsundtide or for general use. Thomas Attwood (1765-1838) is perhaps best known as the composer of such charming miniatures as Come Holy Ghost which is in essence a simple threeverse hymn. Its elegant melody first sung by soprano then by a chorus (or quartet and chorus) is reminiscent of Mozart’s delicate masterpiece Ave verum corpus.This is perhaps unsurprising Attwood took composition lessons from Mozart in Vienna and one of his contemporaries quotes Mozart as saying: ‘He partakes more of my style than anyscholar I ever had; and I predict that he will prove a sound musician.’ Attwood worked closely with the royal family throughout his life. He taught music to the Prince of Wales was appointed composer and eventually organist to the Chapel Royal and organist at St Paul’s Cathedral (he is buried under the organ there). He wrote the anthem I was glad for the coronation of King George IV.

The Novello Book of Classic Anthems brings together some of the finest sacred choruses ever written. The collection includes miniature gems including Edward Elgar’s Ave verum corpus Henry Purcell’s Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our hearts and Thomas Attwood’s Come Holy Ghost and established choral favourites such as Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus Henry Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn and Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s Blessed be the God and Father. It also covers a number of dramatic extended anthems suitable for both church choirs and choral societies such as Edward Naylor’s Vox dicentis: clama John Stainer’s I saw the Lord and Wesley’s Ascribe unto the Lord and twentieth-century classics such as William Harris’s Bring us O Lord God Patrick Hadley’s My beloved spake and Edgar Bainton’s And I saw a new heaven. All the pieces have been re-engraved and some such as Haydn’s The heavens are telling and Brahms’s How lovely are thy dwellings have newly arranged accompaniments specifically designed for the Organ. This collection of nineteen anthems covers a wide range of moods and festivals and offers a delightful concert programme in itself as well as an essential addition to any choir’s library.