Hymns
In reading the response that Epigrammarian the Discordant had about hymns, I decided to write up some of my thoughts about hymns in general and more random ramblings. First of all, I really enjoyed what he had to say about them. I've had the opportunity for the past year and a half to be in charge of all of the music. So I've had my experiences and my sisters to go off from.
Some of these I do think vary from ward to ward as far as what's played and what isn't. At this point, I've probably played through every hymns several times, so I am familiar with all of them from a musical standpoint. The words are a different story. Being an instrumentalist more often than not, I tend to ignore the words too much, and focus on the music. So here's my two cents on all of the hymns. As a general rule for all hymns, take the tempo up about 20 clicks.
#1 The Morning Breaks - Never played or rarely to my knowledge. I think I did it once in sacrament. Main reason is the range, the song is fairly easy, but how many in a congregation can belt out a high F.
#2 The Spirit of God - In my home ward it was way overplayed quite a few years ago, yet to me it seems this song is now used for more sacred and special occasions than as a sacrament hymn.
#3 Now Let Us Rejoice - I usually don't mind this one too much, although I can't stand singing the base parts pedal tone, or the alto part. It gets annoying. I don't mind the tenor voice so much. On another note, this song's tempo is off by a large margin. It should be in 6/8 timing. So quarter note about 160 to avoid the bogging down as Epigrammarian mentioned.
#4 Truth Eternal - I can't say I have an opinion about this one, largely because I can't hear the melody or harmonies in my head as I'm listening to the Pixies right now. Standard run of the mill stuff, from what it looks like. Although it is one I can honestly say people don't do.
#5 High on the Mountain Top - Played often enough to be familiar with most people. Tastefully done, something other than a typical base part. I feel this one's done about the right amount.
#6 Redeemer of Israel - Easy and overdone.
#7 Israel, Israel, God Is Calling - Same as above.
#8 Awake and Arise - I have a story to go with this one. As a youth, they allowed me to choose the hymns for a stake priesthood meeting. Well, I decided to be funny and choose this as the intermediate hymn. This is why you don't let little immature kids choose what to do in a program. I was supposed to play piano too, but I found this one beyond my level at the time. Now I look at it and it's a joke. It isn't played often enough though. I think two times in my lifetime I can remember. Both times I chose it.
#9 Come, Rejoice - Good one, not done often enough. Ignore where it says in unison. I say this for anything unison though.
#10 Come, Sing to the Lord - Melodically and harmonically not too pleasing to me. Pretty standard hymns, although it's another that's never played. I think I've done it once.
#11 What Was Witnessed in the Heavens - Here's a good story for this one. I chose this to sing back in March. Our organist didn't show up for church, so I had to sit down at the piano and play and let some girl conduct for me. Well the piece starts with just the men singing and I was sightreading. So I hack through an intro, and the chorister starts us off, and since she didn't start off with the men's part, no one entered. So while sightreading through the piece,(or better yet, playing it for the first time within the past year) I started to sing out at the top of my lungs before the congregation finally caught on. Needless to say, I made a ton of mistakes trying to keep everything together. Not a bad one, and some range issues too.
#12 'Twas Witnessed in the Morning Sky - I'm listening to Weezer now, so I can't hear it in my head. It looks interesting enough to offer some merit. Yet another one never played.
#13 An Angel from on High - I do enjoy this one. It has a change of meter, and makes it more fun, with some decent harmonies. I feel it should be played more often.
#14 Sweet Is the Gospel Brings - This is a nice little ditty. This may get some playing time in wards, not a hard melody, and I think it's pretty recognizable.
#15 I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly - I gotta respect Ralph Vaughan Williams as the first composer to seriously write a tuba concerto with orchestra. So I give this one my approval. Nice little melody, easy, recognizable, and I think it's done about right, that or I recognize it right off hand more than others. Epigrammarian(who shall now be known as Epi so I don't have to write it out every time) felt it was underplayed so if you don't know it, get your ward to do it. It definitely should be done.
#16 What Glorious Scenes Mine Eyes Behold - Harmonically very typical, very few jumps within the melody, easy. I doubt it's played often enough.
#17 Awake, Ye Saints of God, Awake! - Another one that's pretty typical, although he does do some things out of ordinary. Range is a little high. I think this one is played a little bit.
#18 The Voice of God Again is Heard - This one should be recognizable to most people and is probably played the right amount.
#19 We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet - As I said, I should pay attention to lyrics more often, but more often than not, this is overplayed. It isn't even harmonically interesting, so it must be the lyrics and somewhat the melody.
#20 God of Power, God of Right - Also pretty typical of hymns. Although the V of V doesn't follow the typical principles of threes. Also if you look at true voice leading, it does have its mistakes, but not like anybody's going to notice that.
#21 Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice - Sung often enough. Really no need to comment.
#22 We Listen to a Prophet's Voice - This is one that the primary sang a few years ago and learned all the verses to. So I'd say it receives the right amount of singing time that it should.
#23 We Ever Pray for Thee - I don't believe this one is sung very often. I may have heard it in sacrament, can't remember.
#24 God Bless Our Prophet Dear - A few jumps, so if unfamiliar, the congregation will really need someone to follow. That's the problem with leading music, I have to sing the melody and never harmony so everyone knows what they're supposed to be singing. Anyway, I rarely hear this one too.
#25 Now We'll Sing with One Accord - This is one of two I actually needed to use a piano before I could say anything about it. I quite like this one. Now that my memory has come back to me, I'm fairly sure I've done this in sacrament meeting. The melody is familiar enough in parts. I just needed to make sure the end of the third and fourth lines weren't messed up. I'd say it's underplayed though.
#26 Joseph Smith's First Prayer - One that's known, although I've had bad experiences with it. Like a companion that wanted to sing it at 1rst discussions and was incredibly flat the entire time and kept dropping keys.
#27 Praise to the Man - This I feel is overdone. I enjoy it, but it's also one that is played over and over. One of it's redeeming qualities is that it's a Scottish folk song, possibly a drinking song as well, and works well for other things as well. Actually a lot of church songs I can picture being drinking songs once the lyrics have been changed. It's also a melody that I've heard outside of LDS culture, though as with most folk songs, there are slight alterations of the melody.
#28 Saints, Behold How Great Jehovah - I think I've done this song several times in sacrament. I really do enjoy it. I'm not sure if it is considered underplayed or overplayed in other areas. I think it gets some amount of time.
#29 A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief - I feel it is played about the right amount. If not then overplayed. But I do enjoy it, although I've yet to remember hearing all seven verses. If I think about it, I don't believe I've done this in sacrament yet.
#30 Come, Come Ye Saints - At least where I'm at, I haven't heard it so many times that it's gotten annoying, so I have no qualms against this one. I wait, I do have one. During the bicentennial when they introduced the orchestra with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I didn't particularly care for the arrangement. It was very much more geared to the choir than the orchestra, but I'm a very biased person too, so that's not too surprising, considering how new the orchestra was. Most of the music from that I didn't care for too much. It's improving though. It does have the redeeming quality of having different meters. We American's are so square and everything has to be 4/4 or 3/4 or some other common meter. We never change things up as far as our culture goes. I know there are exceptions and I could name some, but in general.
#31 O God, Our Help in Ages Past - A little typical hymn. Obviously rarely played. I don't know if I've done it or not. It's so typical of these little ones to sound very much alike.
#32 The Happy Day at Last Has Come - Nice joyful little piece. Underplayed.
#33 Our Mountain Home So Dear - Another one that wouldn't be played that often. Looks like it could get bogged down if too slow. Although he does better in the 3rd phrase as far as the harmony goes.
#34 O Ye Mountains High - I think I've done this once. I can see that if ever played a lot, it could get old quick. But not bad once in a while.
#35 For the Strength of the Hills - It's played often enough that I think it's recognizable and played about the right amount.
#36 They, the builders of the Nation - I think this one's played about the right amount too. I enjoy it.
#37 The Wintry Day, Descending to Its Close - I actually considered this one back at the beginning of spring. I had to decide against it. My organist would have had a heart attack and the congregation would be at a loss. Much the same as Epi was saying. Perhaps I can find a several talented individuals to do a quartet while I play it for a special number.
#38 Come, All Ye Saints of Zion - This is yet another one that I feel gets the right amount of time during meetings.
#39 O Saints of Zion - I think this one also is known and sang the right amount.
#40 Arise, O Glorious Zion - I don't think this is as well known as the ones mention before, it might be played now and again, but not often enough. The piece doesn't seem voice friendly though.
#41 Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise - Nice melody, just from listening to that in my head, I believe it's underplayed. I might have done it once in sacrament meeting, but I don't remember.
#42 Hail to the Brightness of Zion's Glad Morning! - Based on the name alone, I already don't like it without even looking at the music. Why can't they give pieces actual name of what they're about instead of giving the first line as the title of the piece. That's basically a cop-out. I really don't care for it. Somebody can call me out on that if they want, but I feel way too many hymns have the first line as a title regardless of what the contents talking about. This is a rant for all hymns in general, this just happens to have a worse name than usual. It's rarely sung to my knowledge.
#43 Zion Stands with Hills Surrounded - I've done this one once. It has a okay melody. Almost reminds me of a kid's song. The opening motif at least. I think it does get sung though, not quite sure.
#44 Beautiful Zion, Built Above - I don't care too much for the song. I started to say why, but it ended up being really, really conceited, so I'll just leave it at that. I think it gets played though.
#45 Lead Me into Life Eternal - This is another pretty typical short ditty. Enjoy it, sing it at least every now and again, and move on.
#46 Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken - I think I've done this hymn twice since I've taken this calling. I do enjoy it. It should be sung more often. As far as the comment about this being Haydn, I just want to make mention that this is the only song by Haydn in the LDS Hymnal. I wish he were an exception, but the hymnbook does leave out a lot of decent songs that could be used. On a side note, I'm probably the only person who has spent sacrament meetings studying the hymns, meters, rhythms, composers, authors, harmonies, etc.
#47 We Will Sing of Zion - See #45.
#48 Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion - AABA form, uses the principle of 3 that I mentioned earlier. Should be really easy for a congregation to pick up because of it, but I'm pretty unfamiliar with it, outside of sitting here sight singing it. So it probably should be sung more often.
#49 Adam-ondi-Ahman - If I remember correctly, this was done during general conference, I thought it was very nice. I agree that it needs to be played more.
#50 Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise - I know I've done this at least once in sacrament, and just last week, I was playing it for prelude in institute. It's a nice melody, perhaps a little hard for congregations to pick up the melody as there are quite a few leaps in it. It probably doesn't get played as often as it should.
#51 Sons of Michael, He Approaches - Doesn't sound too bad in my ear. Perhaps a little hard for congregations, but looks fun from my perspective to do. I think it would be considered underplayed though, for a reason. I don't many congregations singing that high. I do like how the composer allowed for more complexities in the music while leaving the melody simple for the congregation.
#52 The Day Dawn Is Breaking - I feel this one is done enough. A couple of problems. Learn to write it in 6/8. It will flow much better. In this case, 80 for dotted quarter. If you chose to have the chord structures and harmonic motion more than once every four measures(okay I'm exaggerating), then your tempo will work, otherwise pick it up a notch.
#53 Let Earth's Inhabitants Rejoice - For some reason this piece isn't flowing naturally for me. Frankly, I think it's better to take in 1/1 with the tempo at about 60. Just by looking at it, you know it isn't played in sacrament meeting near enough.
#54 Behold, the Mountain of the Lord - Not a bad little melody, he did break some voice leading rules quite blatantly that leads to some bad harmony, In general I like the harmony, just the way he written it. I think it should be played more.
#55 Lo, the Mighty God Appearing! - This one sounds familiar to me, and I think it does get some playing time. I could be wrong on this though.
#56 Softly Beams the Sacred Dawning - This one doesn't get playing time because of the fact that it is in D-flat. I believe it is the only one to have that many. I played it a couple of times, but I'm not sure if I've used it in sacrament. This hymnbook has been made so user friendly. If you find an old hymnbook, other more unfamiliar keys are used and the difficulty of pieces was much harder. This is probably one of the last remnants of that era.
#57 We're Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord - We Own the Lord? I'll blame this on my illiteracy and incompetence of not knowing what he's talking about and move on to the music. The harmonies are nice and different, some sequences make it easier to learn, don't believe it's played though.
#58 Come, Ye Children of the Lord - A melody that is well-known, so I believe this one does get playing time as it is familiar with more than just LDS.
#59 Come, O Thou King of Kings - The harmonies in this rub me the wrong way. I think it's just too much parallel motion for me. This tends to hold true for the sunshine songs too. I does get played though. Probably the right amount.
#60 Battle Hymn of the Republic - This is the most fun hymn to play in minor really loud and fast. I have fond memories of a vocal major and I playing all the hymns in minor while she's belting out the melodies very dramatically. The Relief Society meeting that was going on down the hall didn't really like us at that point. I think it gets overplayed, though its redeeming quality of being awesome in minor makes up for it in my book.
#61 Raise Your Voices to the Lord - Another very typical short hymn.
#62 All Creatures of Our God and King - I really enjoy this one a lot. It's one of my favorites as far as harmony. As much as I enjoy it, I've only done it once during sacrament, and unfortunately, I had a performance the same day and couldn't attend church to lead one of my favorites.
#63 Great King of Heaven - see #61
#64 On This Day of Joy and Gladness - It sounds joyful and glad, but also goes high for a congregation, hence I don't think it gets played as it should. I really doesn't look too bad though.
#65 Come, All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth - I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The rhythm is quirky, and I can't decide whether I like it or not. Everything else about it is pretty standard. I think I've done this in church once.
#66 Rejoice, the Lord Is King! - Very well known, might be to the point that it's overplayed. That might just be the fact that I've done it more than a couple time in sacrament. I do like it.
#67 Glory to God on High - Another one that is known. It's okay. Probably played the right amount.
#68 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God - Latro changed this song for the rest of my life by his thoughts on the title. So much that I couldn't resist seeing how well it would actually work and playing around with it. So without further delay:
1rst version: This version is the one that can be sung during sacrament meeting without interrupting the song. I don't recommend the pianist or organist trying to follow it, just the occasional singer. I'm not sure how Latro's been singing it, but this is how it's been running through my mind. I'm sorry it's not clearer, I'm still new at this picture stuff, don't have proper tools and converted these so many times that they're pretty screwed.
2nd version: The previous example doesn't do Latro's words justice as they pass by in a fleeting second. So something had to be done about it. So we can just let each syllable have it's own quarter note.
3rd version: Let's face it, singing it that last way was boring and monotonous. And the phrasing of it is absolutely terrible. I was trying to decide how I could stay true to the composer's intent while adding Latro's words, and keep the phrasing somewhat decent. Note: this is impossible. I had to give 'ideological' it's own phrase. By the time you actually finish singing it, you've probably already forgotten what it started with. This must be why you never see any really large words in hymns. But here's what I finally came up with. I just elongated the form and included two extra phrases, making it A,B,A,B,A,B,C,D,E,F,B, instead of A,B,A,B,C,D,E,F,B. That's probably not correct, but I'm just using the formatas as the form, just to make it easy. So anyway, I'll quit saying what I was thinking and just post it.
#69 All Glory, Laud, and Honor - Pretty typical, although a little high. This would be why nobody knows it. The starting interval also seems a little weird, outside of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Start, very few songs open with a fifth. And even then twinkle has no pickup, this has a pickup that starts on the I and goes to V. Weird.
#70 Sing Praise to Him - Doesn't sound too bad, rhythmically, not many congregations would be able to follow it without a strong organist and conductor.
#71 With Songs of Praise - Seems pretty typical, I can't say I've ever done this in sacrament or not. So it's probably underplayed.
#72 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - I like it, although it does go a little high. I think it's done the right amount. Enough to be known, and not overdone.
#73 Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice - Fairly simple hymn, easy melody, not known though. I don't remember doing this one or not.
#74 Praise Ye the Lord - Another pretty typical hymn with no real defining features.
#75 In Hymns of Praise - Nice little melody, not difficult and I believe it is actually played. I wanted to see about when this piece was written, but they left the dates of the author and composer.
#76 God of Our Fathers, We Come unto Thee - This one is recognizable if just for the end. Easy and doable, I think it's played the right amount.
#77 Great Is the Lord - I think this would work better if a little lower in pitch. I can't belt out anything higher than an E, so an F, I think would be out of the question for a congregation.
#78 God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand - Story time. My organist really likes this one. After weeks of torment doing new and obscure hymns, when I had this one for sacrament, the volume was ten times louder and the speed was fast enough that I barely could keep up with him. This one should be done more often.
#79 With All the Power of Heart and Tongue - Doesn't seem like a bad one. I think it's done every now and again. I'm sure I've done it.
#80 God of Our Fathers, Known of Old - This is the second it the first 85 hymns that I'll need a piano. It looks decent. I think the beginning it alright. I'm hesitant to say anything about it till I hear the 9th and 10th measures. I can't hear it in my head, and it is analyzable, I just am not sure about its sound. I may get back to this one later.
#81 Press Forward, Saints - I do enjoy this one. It might be overdone in some places, but I think it tends to be done the right amount.
#82 For All the Saints - More story time. I was attending my sister's ward down in Berea when she assigned this as one of the songs. Well she realized afterwards that verses 1, 2, and 5 are separated from 3 and 4. So the bishopric announced that they're just doing 1, 2, and 5. The organist was also scared of trying to play this piece and left to go practice at home. I decided to play prelude, and the guy just assumed that I'd play all of sacrament, so I got to sightread this number for them. Surprisingly the congregation did very well for having never heard it before. It should be sung more often, and with all five verses.
#83 Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah - This one should be well-known but not overplayed. Nice little melody and you do get some fun things in the base part.
#84 Faith of Our Fathers - I think this one is usually done as well. It seems okay.
#85 How Firm a Foundation - This is probably overplayed if anything. As a side note, there are different versions to this song. I was checking out a Baptist version of it, and the chord structures seemed relatively the same, but the melody had it's differences. I wished I had a chance to hear it, but we were performing with the tuba-euph ensemble.
#86 How Great Thou Art - We actually sang this last week. Pay attention to whether the congregation actually sings the correct rhythms. It's absolutely butchered, and there's not too much you can do to prevent that.
This concludes my views of the first fourth of the hymnbook. I'll do the rest throughout the month. Another reason I'm doing this is so I can see different aspects of the hymns and compare them as a whole so I can go ahead and make out the sacrament hymns for next year over the break. The past year, I really didn't keep a good balance of what was being sung, so hopefully this will help me decide what to use.
Some of these I do think vary from ward to ward as far as what's played and what isn't. At this point, I've probably played through every hymns several times, so I am familiar with all of them from a musical standpoint. The words are a different story. Being an instrumentalist more often than not, I tend to ignore the words too much, and focus on the music. So here's my two cents on all of the hymns. As a general rule for all hymns, take the tempo up about 20 clicks.
#1 The Morning Breaks - Never played or rarely to my knowledge. I think I did it once in sacrament. Main reason is the range, the song is fairly easy, but how many in a congregation can belt out a high F.
#2 The Spirit of God - In my home ward it was way overplayed quite a few years ago, yet to me it seems this song is now used for more sacred and special occasions than as a sacrament hymn.
#3 Now Let Us Rejoice - I usually don't mind this one too much, although I can't stand singing the base parts pedal tone, or the alto part. It gets annoying. I don't mind the tenor voice so much. On another note, this song's tempo is off by a large margin. It should be in 6/8 timing. So quarter note about 160 to avoid the bogging down as Epigrammarian mentioned.
#4 Truth Eternal - I can't say I have an opinion about this one, largely because I can't hear the melody or harmonies in my head as I'm listening to the Pixies right now. Standard run of the mill stuff, from what it looks like. Although it is one I can honestly say people don't do.
#5 High on the Mountain Top - Played often enough to be familiar with most people. Tastefully done, something other than a typical base part. I feel this one's done about the right amount.
#6 Redeemer of Israel - Easy and overdone.
#7 Israel, Israel, God Is Calling - Same as above.
#8 Awake and Arise - I have a story to go with this one. As a youth, they allowed me to choose the hymns for a stake priesthood meeting. Well, I decided to be funny and choose this as the intermediate hymn. This is why you don't let little immature kids choose what to do in a program. I was supposed to play piano too, but I found this one beyond my level at the time. Now I look at it and it's a joke. It isn't played often enough though. I think two times in my lifetime I can remember. Both times I chose it.
#9 Come, Rejoice - Good one, not done often enough. Ignore where it says in unison. I say this for anything unison though.
#10 Come, Sing to the Lord - Melodically and harmonically not too pleasing to me. Pretty standard hymns, although it's another that's never played. I think I've done it once.
#11 What Was Witnessed in the Heavens - Here's a good story for this one. I chose this to sing back in March. Our organist didn't show up for church, so I had to sit down at the piano and play and let some girl conduct for me. Well the piece starts with just the men singing and I was sightreading. So I hack through an intro, and the chorister starts us off, and since she didn't start off with the men's part, no one entered. So while sightreading through the piece,(or better yet, playing it for the first time within the past year) I started to sing out at the top of my lungs before the congregation finally caught on. Needless to say, I made a ton of mistakes trying to keep everything together. Not a bad one, and some range issues too.
#12 'Twas Witnessed in the Morning Sky - I'm listening to Weezer now, so I can't hear it in my head. It looks interesting enough to offer some merit. Yet another one never played.
#13 An Angel from on High - I do enjoy this one. It has a change of meter, and makes it more fun, with some decent harmonies. I feel it should be played more often.
#14 Sweet Is the Gospel Brings - This is a nice little ditty. This may get some playing time in wards, not a hard melody, and I think it's pretty recognizable.
#15 I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly - I gotta respect Ralph Vaughan Williams as the first composer to seriously write a tuba concerto with orchestra. So I give this one my approval. Nice little melody, easy, recognizable, and I think it's done about right, that or I recognize it right off hand more than others. Epigrammarian(who shall now be known as Epi so I don't have to write it out every time) felt it was underplayed so if you don't know it, get your ward to do it. It definitely should be done.
#16 What Glorious Scenes Mine Eyes Behold - Harmonically very typical, very few jumps within the melody, easy. I doubt it's played often enough.
#17 Awake, Ye Saints of God, Awake! - Another one that's pretty typical, although he does do some things out of ordinary. Range is a little high. I think this one is played a little bit.
#18 The Voice of God Again is Heard - This one should be recognizable to most people and is probably played the right amount.
#19 We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet - As I said, I should pay attention to lyrics more often, but more often than not, this is overplayed. It isn't even harmonically interesting, so it must be the lyrics and somewhat the melody.
#20 God of Power, God of Right - Also pretty typical of hymns. Although the V of V doesn't follow the typical principles of threes. Also if you look at true voice leading, it does have its mistakes, but not like anybody's going to notice that.
#21 Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice - Sung often enough. Really no need to comment.
#22 We Listen to a Prophet's Voice - This is one that the primary sang a few years ago and learned all the verses to. So I'd say it receives the right amount of singing time that it should.
#23 We Ever Pray for Thee - I don't believe this one is sung very often. I may have heard it in sacrament, can't remember.
#24 God Bless Our Prophet Dear - A few jumps, so if unfamiliar, the congregation will really need someone to follow. That's the problem with leading music, I have to sing the melody and never harmony so everyone knows what they're supposed to be singing. Anyway, I rarely hear this one too.
#25 Now We'll Sing with One Accord - This is one of two I actually needed to use a piano before I could say anything about it. I quite like this one. Now that my memory has come back to me, I'm fairly sure I've done this in sacrament meeting. The melody is familiar enough in parts. I just needed to make sure the end of the third and fourth lines weren't messed up. I'd say it's underplayed though.
#26 Joseph Smith's First Prayer - One that's known, although I've had bad experiences with it. Like a companion that wanted to sing it at 1rst discussions and was incredibly flat the entire time and kept dropping keys.
#27 Praise to the Man - This I feel is overdone. I enjoy it, but it's also one that is played over and over. One of it's redeeming qualities is that it's a Scottish folk song, possibly a drinking song as well, and works well for other things as well. Actually a lot of church songs I can picture being drinking songs once the lyrics have been changed. It's also a melody that I've heard outside of LDS culture, though as with most folk songs, there are slight alterations of the melody.
#28 Saints, Behold How Great Jehovah - I think I've done this song several times in sacrament. I really do enjoy it. I'm not sure if it is considered underplayed or overplayed in other areas. I think it gets some amount of time.
#29 A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief - I feel it is played about the right amount. If not then overplayed. But I do enjoy it, although I've yet to remember hearing all seven verses. If I think about it, I don't believe I've done this in sacrament yet.
#30 Come, Come Ye Saints - At least where I'm at, I haven't heard it so many times that it's gotten annoying, so I have no qualms against this one. I wait, I do have one. During the bicentennial when they introduced the orchestra with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I didn't particularly care for the arrangement. It was very much more geared to the choir than the orchestra, but I'm a very biased person too, so that's not too surprising, considering how new the orchestra was. Most of the music from that I didn't care for too much. It's improving though. It does have the redeeming quality of having different meters. We American's are so square and everything has to be 4/4 or 3/4 or some other common meter. We never change things up as far as our culture goes. I know there are exceptions and I could name some, but in general.
#31 O God, Our Help in Ages Past - A little typical hymn. Obviously rarely played. I don't know if I've done it or not. It's so typical of these little ones to sound very much alike.
#32 The Happy Day at Last Has Come - Nice joyful little piece. Underplayed.
#33 Our Mountain Home So Dear - Another one that wouldn't be played that often. Looks like it could get bogged down if too slow. Although he does better in the 3rd phrase as far as the harmony goes.
#34 O Ye Mountains High - I think I've done this once. I can see that if ever played a lot, it could get old quick. But not bad once in a while.
#35 For the Strength of the Hills - It's played often enough that I think it's recognizable and played about the right amount.
#36 They, the builders of the Nation - I think this one's played about the right amount too. I enjoy it.
#37 The Wintry Day, Descending to Its Close - I actually considered this one back at the beginning of spring. I had to decide against it. My organist would have had a heart attack and the congregation would be at a loss. Much the same as Epi was saying. Perhaps I can find a several talented individuals to do a quartet while I play it for a special number.
#38 Come, All Ye Saints of Zion - This is yet another one that I feel gets the right amount of time during meetings.
#39 O Saints of Zion - I think this one also is known and sang the right amount.
#40 Arise, O Glorious Zion - I don't think this is as well known as the ones mention before, it might be played now and again, but not often enough. The piece doesn't seem voice friendly though.
#41 Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise - Nice melody, just from listening to that in my head, I believe it's underplayed. I might have done it once in sacrament meeting, but I don't remember.
#42 Hail to the Brightness of Zion's Glad Morning! - Based on the name alone, I already don't like it without even looking at the music. Why can't they give pieces actual name of what they're about instead of giving the first line as the title of the piece. That's basically a cop-out. I really don't care for it. Somebody can call me out on that if they want, but I feel way too many hymns have the first line as a title regardless of what the contents talking about. This is a rant for all hymns in general, this just happens to have a worse name than usual. It's rarely sung to my knowledge.
#43 Zion Stands with Hills Surrounded - I've done this one once. It has a okay melody. Almost reminds me of a kid's song. The opening motif at least. I think it does get sung though, not quite sure.
#44 Beautiful Zion, Built Above - I don't care too much for the song. I started to say why, but it ended up being really, really conceited, so I'll just leave it at that. I think it gets played though.
#45 Lead Me into Life Eternal - This is another pretty typical short ditty. Enjoy it, sing it at least every now and again, and move on.
#46 Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken - I think I've done this hymn twice since I've taken this calling. I do enjoy it. It should be sung more often. As far as the comment about this being Haydn, I just want to make mention that this is the only song by Haydn in the LDS Hymnal. I wish he were an exception, but the hymnbook does leave out a lot of decent songs that could be used. On a side note, I'm probably the only person who has spent sacrament meetings studying the hymns, meters, rhythms, composers, authors, harmonies, etc.
#47 We Will Sing of Zion - See #45.
#48 Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion - AABA form, uses the principle of 3 that I mentioned earlier. Should be really easy for a congregation to pick up because of it, but I'm pretty unfamiliar with it, outside of sitting here sight singing it. So it probably should be sung more often.
#49 Adam-ondi-Ahman - If I remember correctly, this was done during general conference, I thought it was very nice. I agree that it needs to be played more.
#50 Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise - I know I've done this at least once in sacrament, and just last week, I was playing it for prelude in institute. It's a nice melody, perhaps a little hard for congregations to pick up the melody as there are quite a few leaps in it. It probably doesn't get played as often as it should.
#51 Sons of Michael, He Approaches - Doesn't sound too bad in my ear. Perhaps a little hard for congregations, but looks fun from my perspective to do. I think it would be considered underplayed though, for a reason. I don't many congregations singing that high. I do like how the composer allowed for more complexities in the music while leaving the melody simple for the congregation.
#52 The Day Dawn Is Breaking - I feel this one is done enough. A couple of problems. Learn to write it in 6/8. It will flow much better. In this case, 80 for dotted quarter. If you chose to have the chord structures and harmonic motion more than once every four measures(okay I'm exaggerating), then your tempo will work, otherwise pick it up a notch.
#53 Let Earth's Inhabitants Rejoice - For some reason this piece isn't flowing naturally for me. Frankly, I think it's better to take in 1/1 with the tempo at about 60. Just by looking at it, you know it isn't played in sacrament meeting near enough.
#54 Behold, the Mountain of the Lord - Not a bad little melody, he did break some voice leading rules quite blatantly that leads to some bad harmony, In general I like the harmony, just the way he written it. I think it should be played more.
#55 Lo, the Mighty God Appearing! - This one sounds familiar to me, and I think it does get some playing time. I could be wrong on this though.
#56 Softly Beams the Sacred Dawning - This one doesn't get playing time because of the fact that it is in D-flat. I believe it is the only one to have that many. I played it a couple of times, but I'm not sure if I've used it in sacrament. This hymnbook has been made so user friendly. If you find an old hymnbook, other more unfamiliar keys are used and the difficulty of pieces was much harder. This is probably one of the last remnants of that era.
#57 We're Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord - We Own the Lord? I'll blame this on my illiteracy and incompetence of not knowing what he's talking about and move on to the music. The harmonies are nice and different, some sequences make it easier to learn, don't believe it's played though.
#58 Come, Ye Children of the Lord - A melody that is well-known, so I believe this one does get playing time as it is familiar with more than just LDS.
#59 Come, O Thou King of Kings - The harmonies in this rub me the wrong way. I think it's just too much parallel motion for me. This tends to hold true for the sunshine songs too. I does get played though. Probably the right amount.
#60 Battle Hymn of the Republic - This is the most fun hymn to play in minor really loud and fast. I have fond memories of a vocal major and I playing all the hymns in minor while she's belting out the melodies very dramatically. The Relief Society meeting that was going on down the hall didn't really like us at that point. I think it gets overplayed, though its redeeming quality of being awesome in minor makes up for it in my book.
#61 Raise Your Voices to the Lord - Another very typical short hymn.
#62 All Creatures of Our God and King - I really enjoy this one a lot. It's one of my favorites as far as harmony. As much as I enjoy it, I've only done it once during sacrament, and unfortunately, I had a performance the same day and couldn't attend church to lead one of my favorites.
#63 Great King of Heaven - see #61
#64 On This Day of Joy and Gladness - It sounds joyful and glad, but also goes high for a congregation, hence I don't think it gets played as it should. I really doesn't look too bad though.
#65 Come, All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth - I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The rhythm is quirky, and I can't decide whether I like it or not. Everything else about it is pretty standard. I think I've done this in church once.
#66 Rejoice, the Lord Is King! - Very well known, might be to the point that it's overplayed. That might just be the fact that I've done it more than a couple time in sacrament. I do like it.
#67 Glory to God on High - Another one that is known. It's okay. Probably played the right amount.
#68 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God - Latro changed this song for the rest of my life by his thoughts on the title. So much that I couldn't resist seeing how well it would actually work and playing around with it. So without further delay:
1rst version: This version is the one that can be sung during sacrament meeting without interrupting the song. I don't recommend the pianist or organist trying to follow it, just the occasional singer. I'm not sure how Latro's been singing it, but this is how it's been running through my mind. I'm sorry it's not clearer, I'm still new at this picture stuff, don't have proper tools and converted these so many times that they're pretty screwed.
2nd version: The previous example doesn't do Latro's words justice as they pass by in a fleeting second. So something had to be done about it. So we can just let each syllable have it's own quarter note.
3rd version: Let's face it, singing it that last way was boring and monotonous. And the phrasing of it is absolutely terrible. I was trying to decide how I could stay true to the composer's intent while adding Latro's words, and keep the phrasing somewhat decent. Note: this is impossible. I had to give 'ideological' it's own phrase. By the time you actually finish singing it, you've probably already forgotten what it started with. This must be why you never see any really large words in hymns. But here's what I finally came up with. I just elongated the form and included two extra phrases, making it A,B,A,B,A,B,C,D,E,F,B, instead of A,B,A,B,C,D,E,F,B. That's probably not correct, but I'm just using the formatas as the form, just to make it easy. So anyway, I'll quit saying what I was thinking and just post it.
#69 All Glory, Laud, and Honor - Pretty typical, although a little high. This would be why nobody knows it. The starting interval also seems a little weird, outside of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Start, very few songs open with a fifth. And even then twinkle has no pickup, this has a pickup that starts on the I and goes to V. Weird.
#70 Sing Praise to Him - Doesn't sound too bad, rhythmically, not many congregations would be able to follow it without a strong organist and conductor.
#71 With Songs of Praise - Seems pretty typical, I can't say I've ever done this in sacrament or not. So it's probably underplayed.
#72 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - I like it, although it does go a little high. I think it's done the right amount. Enough to be known, and not overdone.
#73 Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice - Fairly simple hymn, easy melody, not known though. I don't remember doing this one or not.
#74 Praise Ye the Lord - Another pretty typical hymn with no real defining features.
#75 In Hymns of Praise - Nice little melody, not difficult and I believe it is actually played. I wanted to see about when this piece was written, but they left the dates of the author and composer.
#76 God of Our Fathers, We Come unto Thee - This one is recognizable if just for the end. Easy and doable, I think it's played the right amount.
#77 Great Is the Lord - I think this would work better if a little lower in pitch. I can't belt out anything higher than an E, so an F, I think would be out of the question for a congregation.
#78 God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand - Story time. My organist really likes this one. After weeks of torment doing new and obscure hymns, when I had this one for sacrament, the volume was ten times louder and the speed was fast enough that I barely could keep up with him. This one should be done more often.
#79 With All the Power of Heart and Tongue - Doesn't seem like a bad one. I think it's done every now and again. I'm sure I've done it.
#80 God of Our Fathers, Known of Old - This is the second it the first 85 hymns that I'll need a piano. It looks decent. I think the beginning it alright. I'm hesitant to say anything about it till I hear the 9th and 10th measures. I can't hear it in my head, and it is analyzable, I just am not sure about its sound. I may get back to this one later.
#81 Press Forward, Saints - I do enjoy this one. It might be overdone in some places, but I think it tends to be done the right amount.
#82 For All the Saints - More story time. I was attending my sister's ward down in Berea when she assigned this as one of the songs. Well she realized afterwards that verses 1, 2, and 5 are separated from 3 and 4. So the bishopric announced that they're just doing 1, 2, and 5. The organist was also scared of trying to play this piece and left to go practice at home. I decided to play prelude, and the guy just assumed that I'd play all of sacrament, so I got to sightread this number for them. Surprisingly the congregation did very well for having never heard it before. It should be sung more often, and with all five verses.
#83 Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah - This one should be well-known but not overplayed. Nice little melody and you do get some fun things in the base part.
#84 Faith of Our Fathers - I think this one is usually done as well. It seems okay.
#85 How Firm a Foundation - This is probably overplayed if anything. As a side note, there are different versions to this song. I was checking out a Baptist version of it, and the chord structures seemed relatively the same, but the melody had it's differences. I wished I had a chance to hear it, but we were performing with the tuba-euph ensemble.
#86 How Great Thou Art - We actually sang this last week. Pay attention to whether the congregation actually sings the correct rhythms. It's absolutely butchered, and there's not too much you can do to prevent that.
This concludes my views of the first fourth of the hymnbook. I'll do the rest throughout the month. Another reason I'm doing this is so I can see different aspects of the hymns and compare them as a whole so I can go ahead and make out the sacrament hymns for next year over the break. The past year, I really didn't keep a good balance of what was being sung, so hopefully this will help me decide what to use.
posted by Trueblat at 9:59 AM
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