A Small Contribution
Church musicians come in all sizes when it comes to background and training. Some have professional degrees in music, while others have developed their skills in the community. Not all keyboard players (in this case piano) feel comfortable with their hymn playing. They would like to offer striking hymn introductions and different harmonizations of the tune for various stanzas. These needs may be beyond their current skill set. The publication above has been created to help church musicians meet these challenges.
Augsburg Fortress Press has recently released their third volume of hymn introductions and harmonizations for church pianists, called Let it Rip! I was asked to provide material for two standard hymn tunes: Puer Nobis (“On Jordan’s Banks, the Baptist’s Cry”) and Ratisbon (“Christ Whose Glory Fills the Sky”). Each of my contributions features a hymn introduction and two alternate harmonizations that the pianist can use with selected stanzas.
This is not glamourous work; some composers are less interested in making contributions for reasons of time. But if this work provides a service to church musicians, I am willing to help. It is also a quick and easy way to keep up with your craft!
Let it Rip, Volume 3 is available directly from Augsburg Fortress Press in Minneapolis:
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