Temple

This is an arrangement for the primary song, "Families Can Be Together Forever."  As mentioned on a prior blog post, I wrote it for my daughter's upcoming temple wedding and it has special meaning for me.  I wrote a extra verse and inserted it between verse 1 and 2.  When creating the arrangement, I tried to use musical ideas from the soundtrack from "The Theory of Everything." I was so moved by it.   It was also my attempt at a Janice Kapp Perry-esque type of song-taking 2 melodies-singing them separately, then having them sung together. The arrangement has 4 pages.  I posted the parts with the bass line of the arrangement just so the choir could kind of follow along with it.  I know I need to buy some better software-I'm running on fumes here with my dinosaur computer and dinosaur notation software. My daughter really enjoyed her gift and I enjoyed making it for her.

The Lord is My Shepherd

This is my latest arrangement for "The Lord is My Shepherd".  It was my attempt to write a "Hymplicity" type of arrangement where you can pretty much sing the song from the hymn book as written.  In this case it is only the soprano and alto parts that can be sung with this arrangement.  First verse-women sing soprano and alto.  2nd verse- men sing soprano and alto parts an octave lower.  The alto part is pretty much the same except for 2 notes that are indicated by the asterisks*. 3rd verse- men and women sing together either soprano or alto.  In the 3rd verse the altos have a couple of F naturals to watch out for and we hold the lyrics that are circled for longer to go along with the arrangement.  I know it's a little confusing.  It was for the choir, but I think it was a nice offering.

I really do like the arrangement and like most of my pieces-I wanted it sung with great pathos-dramatic crescendos and diminuendos. At the end I just had the choir fade out instead of cutting them off.  It was nice touch to create a more reverent feel.

This latest music was my meager attempt to be like King David and worship God with psalms.  Through my study of the Old Testament, I have learned to love King David and echo the sentiment of many of the OT writers-to seek for a heart like David, trusting the Lord in all things.  While singing this hymn, "The Lord is My Shepherd" last year, I was moved by the wonderful lyric and sentiments contained therein.  Especially coming to the 3rd verse about being richly blessed, even amidst affliction-"With perfume and oil though anointest my head-Oh what can I ask of thy providence more?"  I feel that way.  What more can we really ask for?  He has given us everything.

Reverently and Meekly Now

This is my attempt at a Hymplicity type of arrangement.  I wanted the choir to be able to use their hymnbook but adjusted some of the parts. It is still a little dissonant, but I like it.   The first two lines are sung melody (vs. 1 men, vs. 3 women, vs. 4 both men and women).  The next 2 lines are sung in parts as illustrated in the scanned picture. The hymn was intended to be sung for our Easter Special Musical Number (but we did it last week.  This is one of my very favorite sacrament songs because the lyrics are written as if the Savior is speaking directly to us.  When we performed it, we did not do vs. 2 about the sacrament.  We also had the organist play bass pads underneath the piano music.  I just instructed her to pick out some of the bass notes.  This added great power and depth to the number and had the sustaining, legato feel that I was going for.  When I wrote the arrangement I was visualizing a kingly procession-like we are going down the aisle trying to approach the throne of God.  I wanted the speed to go at about 60-slow-reverent, stately etc.  I think it helps us feel the power of the last verse since we can only approach God the Father through the great intercessor, Jesus Christ.  I loved this song last week and I appreciated the opportunity to praise God during this glorious Easter Season. 

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