Easy, yes? No! Hymn playing is
not easy. Our Anglican hymns are the only form of music that stops after
each verse, pause, what are we waiting for, restart together hopefully. At least that
seems to be the tradition. Thankfully most modern hymns are written with an
introduction (play-over) and a bridge to get you singing at the right
moment.
With so many amateur
organists, and I'm one, struggling to do our best Sunday by Sunday, there
is a real need for more help in this area. I am not looking here
to simplify the written music, others have done that; but I have set out to
make the complete hymn come over more easily for the congregation to sing.
Because I have done a lot of conducting I have learnt what works and what
doesn't. So I am in the process of writing an Organist's Companion, a
reference work to keep on the organ stand so that you can confidently start
and play your hymn knowing that the mechanics will work first time, every time. Here are
some examples:
1. All things bright and
beautiful
In this setting note that I jump from the refrain
to
the last half of the verse; then comes the familiar descending bass that
leads straight into the sung refrain. I have done this several times recently and it
has worked perfectly. Once going this hymn has automatic joins between verses and no
special bridge is needed.
2. Morning has broken -
BUNESSAN
Here I have just used a melody line
to
illustrate the point. In Morning has broken the problem is how to get
the vocal line started on each verse bearing in mind that the music is in
9:8 time and the verse starts on beat 7! A simple bridge makes it work a
treat:
Use the bridge between each verse as well as after
the play-over. Whatever you do, do NOT pause or rallentando at any
point.
The whole idea of this project is
to eliminate doubt, and one of the worst causes of that is the rallentando -
NEVER rallentando to end your play-over - it kills the tempo you have just
set. For many hymns it works to pause on the last note of the play-over but
count that carefully. My index makes suggestions how long that and any rest should be.
The idea is that
once the "metronome" is ticking, do not interfere with it! But
more and more I am finding that it is quite possible to run dynamically into
the verse without pauses or anything to get in the way.
Solo the big ones - and some of
the smaller ones too
Very often I have found that the
melody can get lost with all the harmonics of the play-over on a church
organ. So it helps to solo the tune on the Great or Choir organ while
playing a soft accompaniment on the Swell. For the big hymns the solo may be
a reed. (Remember that repeated notes need space between them - usually
equal to one half of the note value; repeated crotches become quavers with a
quaver rest between each.)
The End Product
I anticipate around 500
well-known hymns and worship songs will feature in the general listing with
basic instructions on suggested lines for the play-over and how long to hold
both the last note and the silent gap between verses. Of those an estimated
200 tunes (250 titles) will have more detailed instructions regarding the play-over
and/or bridge between verses.
Sometimes these will be fully written out, otherwise just the relevant parts
of the melody will be
provided as that should be all that is necessary. As at November 2012 all
have been completed. The relevant extracts will be sent shortly to
copyright holders. The volume is A4 and four-hole punched and the paper is
100-120gsm. Price will probably be in the range £35 - £40.
Expressions of interest or requests
for specific advice are invited
by email: clivesmusic@aol.com.
For more information see www.thecompletehymn.co.uk
