Product Description
As years come and go, one increasingly recalls memories of
earlier times. One of the most vivid and cherished memories I have while
growing up is of Sunday mornings, going to church, sitting in the same pew each
week with my grandmother, hearing and singing the beautiful hymns of our faith,
and then returning home to the aroma of beef slowly roasting in the oven. My
father directed the church choir, my mother and older brothers sang in the
choir, so the wonderful music of our faith was instilled in me from an early
age. This medley, and others in the series, are arrangements of many of my
favorite hymns from those early years, many of which have been lost in more
recent editions. For this series, I have mostly elected to use the older texts
as that is the way they were first written and the way I first learned them. (See below for more comment on the texts in
this set.) There is a reverence and beauty in the language enriching the
vocal/choral tone which, I believe, is lost in contemporary, conversational, or
politically correct syntax. I shudder to think of the day when a penitential
phrase such as "Hear thou my prayer, O Lord" is rendered as
"Hey, God-dude, listen up - I'm talkin' atcha!" I have also opted not
to include the many wonderful hymns and carols which are associated with the
major festivals of Christmas and Easter as those are commonly found in other
collections. A caveat: I have no delusions, and I offer no pretenses, that
these settings are great art. They are simply expressions of faith which I hope
may bring a small measure of joy to other church musicians. The hymns in this
set are "Children of the Heavenly Father," "Day by Day," "Thy Holy Wings," and "Beautiful
Savior."
A note on the texts in this set: Having grown up in a
Swedish Lutheran church, the grandson of Swedish/Norwegian immigrants, and
currently being choir director of another Swedish Lutheran church, these hymns
have a special place for me. This set was originally arranged for my church
choir with the first verse of each in Swedish. Being under copyright,
permission was obtained to use the more familiar English translations of the
first three songs for local use. For this edition, I have opted to create my
own texts for the first and third hymns while the second is a translation in
public domain. I have also provided a verse in English in lieu of the Swedish
for those Nordically challenged. The fourth hymn is not a Swedish melody but
for obvious reasons is a mainstay of the Lutheran hymnal. Like the other hymns,
the first verse is in Swedish while the other traditional verses are also
public domain.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.