The Organ Forum

Hi all,

The Organ Edition of The Baptist Hymnal 2008 is now available.  I ordered a copy (even though it's pricey at $99.99) and received it yesterday.  Here are my initial reactions/impressions (in no particular order).

• The music is written as a vocal score; that is, a melody line with the organ accompaniment on the lower two staffs.  However, the words are NOT printed with the music.  They are grouped together at the end of the hymn/song.  This will make it hard to follow what verse the congregation is singing. 
• Due to way the music is written, many hymns are on three or four pages, which requires page turns.
• Also, the music itself is printed small.  It is smaller than the pew copy of the hymnal.  It is about the size of accompaniment lines (for piano) in choir pieces/books.
  
• The arrangements themselves are designed to blend with the optional orchestrations available.  However, the preface does say that with all the selections will sound fine when played with just piano and organ together.
• Each hymn/song does have an introduction written, although many times it is just the last line.  However, some of the intros are very nice.  On some of the praise choruses, the organ rests during the intro.
  
• Many times with the traditional hymns, the organ is not playing the "melody" all the time.  Sometimes it has other harmony notes in the right hand and jumps back and forth from harmony parts to melody.  Some of these are very pretty, while others are not.  Depending on your congregation's singing, this may or may not be a problem.
• The alternate harmonizations of the last verses of some hymns are very nicely done.
  
• Almost all of the praise songs/choruses have the organ just playing a "pad"; that is sustained chords, usually on strings, while other instruments play the main accompaniment.  However, there is a very nice organ arrangement of "In Christ Alone" where the organ actually plays the melody.
• There are some hymns, gospel songs, and praise songs that lend themselves to being played on the organ that are just arranged with "pads" as described above.  Some of these are in the 1991 edition arranged with organ playing melody.
  
• There are general suggested registrations.  However, on some of the praise songs and choruses are optional suggestions such as "Hammond B3 via MIDI" or "Strings via MIDI."
• I have also noticed that either the arrangers were not organists or the arrangements were transposed from a higher key.  This conclusion is based on the observation that two hymns in B-flat major have the pedal playing a low b-flat that is non-existent on the pedal board!    Both of these hymns are in lower keys than in the previous editions.  The hymns are "It Is Well with My Soul" and "Low in the Grave He Lay."
• Due to the expanded arrangements, it now takes two loose-leaf binders for the organ edition.  Volume 1 is songs 1 through 355 with volume 2 picking up with 356.

All in all, I do not regret my decision to purchase to organ edition.  However, it may be quite awhile before I use it for a service since there are no current plans to purchase the new hymnal at my church.  As with many churches now, my church is feeling the crunch of the downturn in the US economy.  When/if we adopt the new hymnal (which our music director would like to do), I do not know how the congregation will react to the new arrangements where the organ is not playing melody some of the time.  We do have a piano player, but I am the "stronger" musician at my church.

Well, enough of my ramblings now.

Later,

Allen

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Roland Atelier AT-90, Yamaha Electone 115D, Yamaha Clavinova CLP-970, Yamaha PSR-2100

Allen,

Thanks for the review of the organ edition. For a variety of reasons that's $100 I won't be spending!

Obviously it had to be priced high (I'm surpised it's not even more expensive) because they will sell so few of them, maybe a few thousand, as opposed to the potential sale of millions of the pew edition, should large numbers of churches adopt this hymnal.

It's disturbing to hear of pedal notes on the page that don't even exist on the pedalboard! Just another sign of how out of touch with organists our publishing house is. Last time I visited the Lifeway store there were only two or three organ collections on the shelf, amid the plethora of contemporary piano arrangements and praise brand jam books.

We all recognize that the organ is being marginalized in Baptist music today (and perhaps even more so in some other evangelical churches) and the trend shows little sign of changing. But to me it's just so wrong on so many levels.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading about the organ edition. I'm sure there is useful material in there, but it would have little appeal to me or my church's situation. We don't have an orchestra or praise band, and even if we did it would be so amateurish that it would be a detriment to worship rather than a help. For the present and the forseeable future we'll be sticking to piano and organ for congregational singing, and won't need any organ pads to drone along behind the guitars and drums! (Thank God.)

When you think about it, my cousin Yvonna might have more use for this edition than I would, if she could read music with more than one note on a staff. She's already accustomed to droning along behind Aunt Minnie's piano playing. 

Keep up the good work.

John

 

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Rodgers 890 at church.
Baldwin D422 at home.
Scads of old organs in the shop! H E L P !!!

I too was astounded about some of the keys that they lowered. It makes the Celebration Hymnal (in my opinion still the best hymnal) look tame. It's my opinion that there are songs that are meant to be sung in a certain key, not higher, not lower. One comes to mind. "All Hail the Power" is written in the key of F. Ick.

Hi all,

I just had another thought about why some of the keys were drastically lowered in the 2008 edition of the Baptist Hymnal.  It could be the average age of the congregations that sings traditional hymns is increasing.  I play regularly at an assisted living facility and occassionally at a senior center, so from experience I know that as a person ages there vocal range usually lowers.  This seems especially true for the the ladies.  The lowering of the keys could simply reflect older congregations.

Just more food for thought.

Allen

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Roland Atelier AT-90, Yamaha Electone 115D, Yamaha Clavinova CLP-970, Yamaha PSR-2100

Allen,

That's true. But vocal laziness is also a factor IMHO.

We've simply become a nation of spectators, barely able to utter a syllable of song, though we do fairly well with road rage and sporting events.

John

 

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Rodgers 890 at church.
Baldwin D422 at home.
Scads of old organs in the shop! H E L P !!!