Advent Hymn Arrangements

This past Sunday, the church choir in which Ashley and I sing took on Vivaldi's Gloria under the direction of Music Director Dr. James Douthit and Organist Dr. Bruce Frank.  It was wonderful! A few weeks ago, James asked if I would arrange the hymns that would be included as part of the service along with the Vivaldi.  We were very fortunate to have a chamber orchestra (strings, oboe, trumpet, organ) to accompany the Vivaldi, and without special arrangements, the instrumentalists would not have music to play during the hymns.

It was so much fun to work with these three wonderful hymns: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, and Jesus Comes With Clouds Descending.

I had a blast, and the sound of organ, choir, strings, trumpet, oboe and congregational singing was magnificent!  If you are interested in these arrangements (there are still two Sundays left in Advent!), I have included links to the scores below.  Contact me if you are interested in purchasing the scores and parts.  I would be happy to customize these for slightly different instrumentations, if needed.  Recordings will be forthcoming.

PDF Scores

• O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
• Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus
• Jesus Comes With Clouds Descending

Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm happy to report that my new wind ensemble consortium piece for winds and film is nearly complete!  The music is essentially done, there is just a bit of editing and orchestration left to do.  I'm very excited about the piece and looking forward to getting the music and film out to consortium members in January. The past few days I have been working on a new project - arranging a few Advent hymns!  I love Advent!  The church choir I am singing in will be singing Vivaldi's Gloria on December 9th, with strings and organ.  The Director asked if I would arrange the 3 hymns for the service for strings, organ, oboe, and trumpet (and congregational singing of course).   I'm having a great time with this - and I have the opportunity to work with some wonderful hymns (and wonderful musicians!).

I have been working on Jesus Comes with Clouds Descending which is quickly becoming one of my favorite hymns.   It is a soaring, powerful melody, and it doesn't hurt that the harmony is written by Ralph Vaughan Williams.  I've had the tune stuck in my head for about a week, and I think I could listen to this all day.  Among many, many other things, I'm thankful for this powerful and transformational music we have.