Sorry, engraving error on the last system has been corrected. Corrected PDF’s attached.

Today we observed Communion, which reminded me of this hymn that I wrote a year or so ago. It’s largely a meditation on John 6. The text of the chorus is shocking to our modern sensibilities, but they are simply the words of Jesus, slightly adapted for the song. Rather than trying to define exactly what Jesus meant in this passage, this…

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I believe this hymn is finally finished. Perusal score attached as a PDF. Also Audio recording and midi version.

The spirit of this piece is very penitential–it would be a very fitting Lenten hymn, although we could certainly use these reminders throughout the year. Another characteristics of the song is that it uses “we”, not “I”. It is a…

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Finalized (I think) version of this hymn. It’s fairly straightforward and pretty didactic–meant to show that non-Calvinists can sing about grace. 🙂 The hymn is pointedly doctrinal, not necessarily super poetic. The music is very joyful (and a little trite)–in the right context I think it could be very much enjoyed.

vs. 1 — God offers…

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Finalized version of this relatively new hymn. PDF’s (SN and RN) attached below, as well as a piano recording.

Blessings,

Gary

This super simple setting from Psalm 42 was inspired in part by the more reflective songs with responsive readings found in the Into His Presence collection. The short music musical refrain is intended to be used with the rest of the Psalm as a responsive reading (given with the score). I was able to try it out this weekend at our church camp…

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Thanks Ryan!

Abiding Peace Virtual School is currently offering an online Music Theory I class geared toward high-school students (or pretty much anyone else that’s interested). The material will include understanding notation and how it relates to real music. There will be some ear training as well, although we are severely limited by the nature of an…

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This is an older piece that I’ve recently re-engraved and tweaked/corrected some. I’ve attached two recordings, one sung by my cousin with the old version, and a rough organ rendering based on the current version. This song actually dates all the way back to 2015, when I wrote this tune for another text. At some point I will probably post…

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Hi Evan! I’m really liking the natural minor/modal feel of this piece. I wish I was more knowledgeable about modal writing. I love the sound, and occasionally dabble, but traditional major and minor are safer territory for me! 🙂

I do wonder if the voice-leading could be a little cleaner in a few spots. The bass and tenor movement in measure…

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Thanks for the feedback, Lyndon and Lynn! Good points all round. I definitely work out something better with a rhyme in that last stanza. In progress. 🙂

I think in this context that chord is functionally just a chromatic submediant (or bVI) expansion of the subdominant (Eb) harmony. It isn’t behaving as a Neapolitan ordinarily would, which…

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Thanks Lynn, I thought about that as well. One concern I have is that paralleling the rhythm in those measures could make it more “boxy”, or too predictable. But then, in a piece this short, consistency should probably be a higher priority than variety. Hmmm… I’ll muddle on this one a bit more.

Just noticed a sneaky parallel octave in…

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Very simple, reflective setting from Psalm 42. Intended to be used with the rest of the Psalm as responsive readings.

Any glaring issues? This is intended to be super easy to sing, suitable for school, youth, or church. Only two parts, so easier for small settings with less confident singers.

Curious about your thoughts on this hymn. I think the chorus could be pretty challenging for congregations to sing with the bII6/Neapolitan chord. The tuning would be critical.

Otherwise, it feels pretty intuitive to me. Maybe even a bit trite…

The text is unapologetically didactic and doctrinal. Verse 1, God’s grace is freely offered to all,…

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Here is a drastic new draft. Do you feel like this an improvement?

It’s a lot busier, but less dissonant. I kind of like it. I think.

I think this is what I am settling on. Thanks again for everyone’s input!

Thanks Rachel! Writing texts is pretty new for me.

The line referred to is based on Hebrews 2:15 which tells us Jesus came to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to say it than I have it here, but I haven’t thought of one yet. 🙂

So I have two new drafts of this piece. Draft two is a drastic rewrite which has some things I like, but I feel it loses the appropriate penitential character and cohesion of the original. Draft three only has a few minor changes and corrections from the original draft, and seems the most successful to me of the three.

Lyndon, thanks for…

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Thanks for the feedback, Lynn! Yes, the sharped re chords do give it a somewhat dated sound. I kind of like them though… 🙂 I’m not sure why, but I like the combination of them with the first measure’s falling alto line (and coincidentally that falling line is repeated in the bass in the very next measure).

Perhaps those chords don’t…

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Thanks all for the feedback! I’m hoping to spend some time on this this weekend.

I just noticed the missing third in the last beat of measure one–that was a mistake. That could be solved by just changing the bass of that measure to d, d, e, f. That’s probably the solution I’ll go with (although I kind of like the d being held with the…

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I just noticed the parallel fifths between soprano and tenor at the beginning of measure three and seven. Sigh. 🙂

Thoughts?

Thoughts?