January 2017
Practical Organ Music
Collecting Ourselves
Christmas is over, but its spirit of Christmas will live on into the New Year. I say, “Keep celebrating!” The customs surrounding this beloved holiday encourage our living extravagantly its message, “Good will to all.” However, many of us manage to turn it into something more like, “Good eats to all,” and “Good gifts to all.” My January hangover begins when I get on the scales and the bills start arriving. That’s when it is time to tighten my belts—the one around my waist and the one around my wallet.
You may be a bargain hunter who loves shopping the after-Christmas sales. That’s when pre-Christmas prices drop dramatically, so it is easy to fill your shopping cart with booty before it all disappears. Don’t you wish that organ music would go on sale sometime?
I don’t have to tell you how expensive new music can be. For just this reason, many of us avoid looking at all the exciting things that publishers offer—the things that I share with you each month. How do you decide what to buy, and when to buy it? The best answer to this question lies in knowing what you need to complete your library of organ music. I recommend taking a look at the holes in your repertory. Are you weak in Advent literature? Are you tired of playing the same patriotic music every year? Have you played your favorite pieces so often the congregation can hum them with you? Strategic repertory planning means keeping a list of what you need, so you have a way of matching your needs with new volumes as they are issued. I keep a list of hymn tunes that I am short on. I keep another list—a wish list—of pieces I would love to buy if I could ever afford them.
Planning music purchases means making a budget, so you can look forward to the pleasure of learning and sharing new music regularly. (We have to keep things fresh for ourselves and for our congregation.) Most of us pay for music out of our own pockets. What a limitation that is! I certainly can’t afford to buy everything I need for service playing, so I must look beyond my financial limitations. Have you ever considered asking the church to include a small amount in next year’s fiscal plan? After all, most of your purchases are made on their behalf. A small amount this year could lead to another small increase next year.
Church people are generally a generous sort, and you already know several folks who would support you if asked. However, it does take a certain kind of courage to approach them and risk rejection. Here is an idea that might help: tell them you are starting a Book-of-the-Month Club (and why), then invite them to sign up for a month at ten or fifteen dollars. (Be sure to check with your supervisor before starting, just in case.) With just a little more creativity, you can plan an informal music event as a thank-you for their sponsorship. Serve some light refreshments, play a few new pieces, invite them to sing along, and watch them sign up for next year. People love to help worthy causes. And what is more worthy than the cause of good music?
Regardless of the amount we have to spend, let’s make the most of the money in our budgets. Bargain hunting starts with knowing what you need; then, looking for the best buys you can find. Smart bargain hunters know that buying in quantity reduces the per item price. It is easy to find music books that cost three or four dollars per song. Let’s see if we can reduce costs by considering mega-collections. Don’t be fooled by the higher price. Many of these volumes offer a wide variety of pieces as low as one dollar each. Take a look at these:
The Complete Organist, arr. Southbridge/Elliot (Lorenz 70/1493L) offers forty-six easy two-stave pieces for $40.00. That’s less than the advertised price! 150 Hymn Tunes (2 vols.) (Mayhew 1400500) offers easy, three-stave pieces arranged alphabetically by hymn tune. Here are contemporary arrangements of frequently used hymns, often transposed into several of the most commonly used keys. Oxford Service Music for Organ, arr. A.M. Thomas offers three volumes of manuals-only literature and three volumes with easy pedals. These are shorter works spanning the 16th through the 21st centuries. The Organist’s Bumper Collection (Mayhew 1450380) offers a wide variety of classic and modern compositions evenly split between hymn tunes and free compositions. At $25.00, this volume of 100 pieces is the best bargain yet at approximately twenty-five cents each.
Bargain hunters know that price isn’t everything: a low price for a poor product is never a good deal! Mega-collections are often gathered from the publisher’s best-received works, leaving you with the cream of their crop in one volume. How often have I found a favorite piece from years ago repackaged with other fine pieces in a new book? It takes years to build a useful library of organ music. Retrospectives are a useful shortcut for pianists transferring their skills to the king of instruments. Anyone willing to give the organ a try deserves a leg up. Mega-collections are an easy way to discover the wide variety of music that is available to you.
Here are some more resources to build an instant library. The Essential Collection for Organ, ed. Jane Holstein, Vol. 1 (Hope 8373) and Vol. 2 (Hope 8580) will fill the big hole in your library with easy to intermediate arrangements of standard hymn-tunes. Many favorite composers, including Hal Hopson, Douglas Wagner and Joel Raney, live between their covers. They are known for clear writing that speaks right to our listeners’ hearts. Essential Repertory for the Church Organist and More Essential Repertory for the Church Organist (Mayhew 1400536/7) stays on the classic side of things with offerings from 17th-19th centuries. Pieces are selected to stay between levels 4-8. The second volume includes some nice pieces from the 20th century British stable. You will not be saddled with unusable pieces here.
To build a library is to look to the future. Let’s search for pieces that will serve you well as your skills increase. The six volumes of Oxford Hymn Settings, arr. Groom Te Velde & Blackwell, are arranged by liturgical season. Here are a wide variety of recently written hymn tune arrangements holding to high compositional standards at an intermediate level. The editors have ensured “just right” lengths of two to three minutes each. New volumes continue to be issued, so come back to see what’s new. The same can be said for the Augsburg Organ Library, which is up to twelve volumes and growing. Not only are there books arranged by season, there are books arranged by special occasions such as, baptism and communion, weddings, memorials, even summer and autumn. Though the library is rooted in Lutheran hymnody, there is something for every tradition in each volume. Editors have chosen a variety of global hymns to illuminate. Truly, this is a comprehensive survey of late 20th century composers’ creative efforts. Burkhardt, Cherwein, Sedio, Wold, Albrecht and Ferguson live here. Challenges begin at the intermediate level, extending to the early advanced levels from time to time. Building repertory from volumes such as these will serve you well into your career, and add value to your own sense of musical accomplishment as you learn them.
Knowing what you need to build your library and planning a budget to fulfill your dreams are the first steps to professional success. You should dream big and enjoy the process of meeting your goals. Buying books one at a time is the obvious thing to do. Are you aware of the resources you can build through annual subscriptions? Two companies are working to uncover historic gems and to commission new works you can add to your library with absolutely no effort on your part.
The Organist’s Companion, Wayne Leupold Editions, ($44.95 per year) is issued bimonthly for a total of six volumes per year. Each volume contains 32 pages of easy to intermediate hymn tune preludes and newly revived classics, with both manuals-only and easy-pedal offerings. Editor Wayne Leupold lavishes as much attention to detail, both in his selection of material and in his editing, as he does to his many other projects. Over the course of the year, you will receive as wide a variety of music as any other mega-volume you can buy. You can access the subscription at http://www.wayneleupold.com.
The good folks at Lorenz Music offer subscriptions at three different levels of accomplishment. The editors are excellent at choosing hymn-tune material at specific technical levels. If you are a two-staver, The Organist is for you. If you are ready to tackle moderately easy, three-stave music, take a look at The Sacred Organ Journal. Intermediate organists will enjoy The Organ Portfolio. All three subscriptions are edited by Carson Cooman, whose high standards for composition come through regardless of which subscription you choose. Annual subscriptions go for $42.95 (12 issues) with an option for digital download as a bonus. You can access these subscriptions at
https://www.lorenz.com.
Mega-collections and subscriptions are a bargain hunter’s paradise. You can get more music for less, or, if you are like me, you can use the money you save to buy even more music! Does that make me a music hog? You bet it does–oink, oink!
P.S.
Thanks to the good folks at San Diego’s Organ Stop.com for opening their many drawers of music in the writing of this article.