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to the Website for
40 Free Harmonizations
of
24 Familiar Hymn Tunes
(34 pages)
Table of Contents
| Aberystwyth | Joseph Parry | (2 Verses) |
| America | (International Anthem Tune) | (2 Verses) |
| Antioch | George Frideric Handel | (1 Verse) |
| Austria | Franz Joseph Haydn | (1 Verse) |
| Azmon | Carl Gotthilf Glaser | (2 Verses) |
| Bourbon | Freeman Lewis | (2 Verses) |
| Brother James Air | James Lieth MacBeth Bain | (3 Verses) |
| Bunessan | (Gaelic Folk Melody) | (2 Verses) |
| Coronation | Oliver Holden | (1 Verse) |
| Deus Tuorum Militum | (Grenoble Antiphoner) | (2 Verses) |
| Diademata | George Job Elvey | (1 Verse) |
| Duke Street | John Hatton (attr.) | (2 Verses) |
| Easter Hymn | (Lyrica Davidica) | (1 Verse) |
| Ellacombe | (German Origin) | (1 Verse) |
| Ellers | Edward John Hopkins | (1 Verse) |
| Gelobt Sei Gott | Melchior Vulpius | (2 Verses) |
| Gloria Patri | Henry W. Greatorex | (1 Verse) |
| Hankey | William G. Fischer | (2 Verses) |
| Hanover | William Croft (attr.) | (1 Verse) |
| Hyfrydol | Rowland Hugh Prichard | (2 Verses) |
| In Babilone | (Dutch Folk Melody) | (2 Verses) |
| Italian Hymn | Felice de Giardini | (1 Verse) |
| Kingsfold | (English Folk Melody) | (3 Verses) |
| Kremser | (Dutch Folk Melody) | (2 Verses) |
Notes
The hymn tunes assembled here come from Latin, Swiss, German, French, Dutch,
English, American, and other varied folk hymn traditions spanning over four
centuries of musical and liturgical tradition. In many instances, hymn
tunes serve as a bridge between sacred and secular practices within world
cultures, as evidenced by folk melodies or lilts borrowed by hymnodists and
adapted to sacred use – or the reverse, when hymn tunes become
popularized by noted performers or in film scores. It is not unusual
for a single tune to become attached to more than one hymn text, thus tunes
have developed brief names for convenient identification. Various hymnal
publications have occasionally coined new names for established tunes later
adapted to new texts. Oftentimes there lurks a tale – real or fanciful
– behind the naming of hymn tunes: the name of a composer, a town,
city or country, or a family name will frequently surface, or more abstruse
christenings linked to specific sacred texts, sects or denominations,
faiths or creeds. It is not unusual for the composer of a hymn tune to
be unknown or anonymous, or to find a tune title linked generically to a
manuscript, hymnal or songbook publication.
These free harmonizations are
intended as alternative organ accompaniments to be assigned to specific
verses in support of congregational hymn singing. They are for the
most part written in traditional four-voice harmonized textures and are
technically conservative in their demands at the console. The melodies are
featured prominently in all settings.
There are four generic categories of
layout and voicing present: 1.) the hymn melody appears as a solo in
the soprano line, accompanied by two voices in the left hand on a secondary
manual and a bass line in the pedal; 2.) the hymn melody is a solo in
the tenor register, accompanied by the right hand on a secondary manual,
with bass line in the pedal; and 3.) the hymn melody sounds in the soprano
register and is harmonized freely in lower voices and played on one manual
(with or without pedal). In some instances where there are two or more
settings for the same tune, one of the verses can be used as a hymn
introduction and another for an intermediate or final verse.
Occasionally a slower tempo can be effectively applied to a concluding verse
to dramatize a particularly bold text, as will be deduced from the nature of
some of the harmonizations included herein.
The settings that feature a solo
melody in the soprano or tenor voice can be rendered effectively on an
instrument with multiple manuals and pedal by means of terraced dynamics.
In some instances, a tune will benefit from registration on a bold solo reed
(or reeds in chorus), with or without divisions coupled in support. A
solo reed can be deployed effectively for a soprano cantus firmus at
16' and 8' pitches; use of an 8' pitched tenor cantus firmus
will often be enhanced by the addition of 4' (and 16') pitch(es).
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Hymn Tune Free Harmonizations
Volume 2
