Hi all

Here's another question for the Organists on the Forum.

Do you use Last Verse re-harmonisations?

And if you do, are they improvised on the spot or do you use a printed edition?

Cheerio mates...

I've had some fun listening to inventive reharmonisations/bizarre interludes in my time. It often depends on the congregation - how tolerant they are. It is perfectly acceptable to maybe change some harmonies slightly if people are singing in unison and know the tune well. Slightly more adventurous reharmonisation is usually most effectively done in the last two lines of a stanza rather than all the way through. Quite subtle changes can often make a much bigger impact rather than playing a musically and logically unrelated series of altered chords.
Preparing last verse reharms is never a bad idea. It is still hard to beat (on the whole) David Willcock's last verse/descant reharms of Christmas Carols (as found in carols for choirs). Doing fancy pants stuff almost always sounds pretentious and is wholly unnecessary. It is usually quite gratifying, from a personal point of view, to hear both choir and congregation come in/not come in in verses because the organist with his/her head up their 32ft chimney flue decided to 'improvise' a four bar interlude on the overblown carhorn 8' stop.

Just some thoughts..

Dangermouse

I use them at Christmas when there is sufficient numbers of people to carry the tune while I am playing something else. They don't work at other times of the year - people just get confused. The only one I use reguarly is the 'Let's Praise! last verse arrangement of 'Lord for the Years'.
David

I have the Noel Rawsthorne book (?100 Last Verses) which occasionally gets dusted down and is quite good.

I improvise some occasionally if I'm feeling bold or the tune seems "easy" to reharmonise.. Nothing worse though than getting too far into a modulation and realise you can't get back again to fit the tune !!

It does upset certain quire members if I decide to strike out on something different. They seem to want advance notice (as if starting the last verse with a big fat unison note is not enough) ... but the nature of these things is it's done on the spur of the moment !

Martin How's "Helmsley" (i.e. Lo he comes with clouds descending) which is found in an RSCM volume of last verses is the best of all. Absolutely spectacular if you're happy with the modulation into G flat major near the end

In addition to Rawsthorne's 200 L.V. I use Harrison Oxley's Last Verse in Unison... I particularly like his re-arrangement of Monk's Gate - It's stunning what he does when the words are then fancies fly away... Congregation and quire comment on how the organ seems to fly with the fancies!

Although I know I am biased Him Indoors plays hymns like no-one else I've ever heard.

He is absolutely the tops at word-painting and hymns just come alive under his tender loving care...so each verse is harmonised differently and with different registrations,dynamics, you name it, he does it.

But it does NOT come over as pretentious because he's doing it for the words and the music, not for himself.

I still can't get all the way through 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind' the way he plays it but I have to laugh when little tweety birds start flying around in 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'....

Can somebody explain what they mean by "reharmonising"? Is this just an organist's term?

QUOTE (Cyrilla @ May 24 2005, 10:05 PM)

Although I know I am biased Him Indoors plays hymns like no-one else I've ever heard. He is absolutely the tops at word-painting and hymns just come alive under his tender loving care...so each verse is harmonised differently and with different registrations,dynamics, you name it, he does it. I still can't get all the way through 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind' the way he plays it but I have to laugh when little tweety birds start flying around in 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'....

I wish I could play the organ like that! When I play hymns they sound like - well hymns I suppose, but when my organ teacher used to show me how to play things it was fantastic. I will never forget him playing 'We three Kings' one Christmas. I was playing for a service last Sunday in a church I'd never been in before and the minister said I made hymns sound like music..... I should add that his organist has just retired and he is looking for a replacement!

QUOTE (freda_bloogs @ May 24 2005, 06:55 PM)

Can somebody explain what they mean by "reharmonising"? Is this just an organist's term?

Perhaps it is an organist's term since we use it frequently as part of our vocabulary. Anyway, it refers to using a different set of harmonies for the same tune - it is mostly reserved for the last verse of a hymn - though not always!
Some of us do it on the spot and others use printed texts for it.
When well done, it gives the congregation and quire an extra lift to take the hymn home as it were.

QUOTE (grand choeur @ May 24 2005, 11:51 PM)

QUOTE (freda_bloogs @ May 24 2005, 06:55 PM) Can somebody explain what they mean by "reharmonising"? Is this just an organist's term? Perhaps it is an organist's term since we use it frequently as part of our vocabulary. Anyway, it refers to using a different set of harmonies for the same tune - it is mostly reserved for the last verse of a hymn - though not always! Some of us do it on the spot and others use printed texts for it. When well done, it gives the congregation and quire an extra lift to take the hymn home as it were.

It is worth mentioning that during the reharmonised last verse, the choir will be in unison (with the congregation) and there may also be a descant.

This can sound spectacular and provide welcome contrast if there are 6 or even more verses. I generally prefer all verses to be performed - whoever heard of publishing a poem but only selecting verses 1,2,5 and 6?

Having said that, our own National Anthem is (like the UK anthem) a prayer set to music. Some extracts of the lyrics follow:


Verse 1: "God of Nations at thy feet, in the bonds of love we meet..." We sing this verse

Verse 2: "From dissension, envy, hate, And corruption guard our State.." Never sung

Verse 3: "Peace, not war, shall be our boast, But, should foes assail our coast,
Make us then a mighty host, God defend our Free Land.
Lord of battles in thy might, Put our enemies to flight" Never sung

Verse 4: "From dishonour and from shame Guard our country's spotless name" Never sung - but I think it would be a good verse for almost any country!!

Verse 5 "May our mountains ever be freedom's ramparts on the sea...." We sing this verse as verse 2.


There are lots of other examples in traditional hymn books. Where number of verses ends up 3 or less, it is probably not worth reharmonising the final verse - in my opinion.

@George Burrell - Is that the New Zealand National Anthem?

Here are links to some organs:

Washington National Cathedral (USA)
http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/music/g...reatorgan.shtml

Kings College Cambridge Organ
http://www.organsandorganistsonline.com/kings.htm

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (USA)
http://www.crpc.org/2000/Departments/Music...organspecs.html

QUOTE

Although I know I am biased  Him Indoors plays hymns like no-one else I've ever heard.

Ooooh yes, I can second that.

I can never sing "O Lord my God" without remembering his version ....

It depends on the hymn of course - but I like to make the last verse a bit different. Small-ish changes I'll do on the fly. A big last verse I'll usually prepare beforehand.

With modern worship songs it can sound effective to take the last verse up a key.

Maggie

QUOTE (maggiemay @ May 25 2005, 10:52 AM)

With modern worship songs it can sound effective to take the last verse up a key.

Our organist sometimes does that, to comic effect! I expect both him and the organ to rise up out of the ground, lights on the organ flashing away, as the Willis instrument morphs into a Wurlitzer, and the choir remove their robes to reveal sparkly gold dresses as they start a routine of high-kicking dances

If done well, different harmonies to a last verse unison hymn can be very effective, really heightening the effect of the words.

One fab organist I know also does word-painting when accompanying psalms at evensong. Most disconcerting to have the sound of lambs frolicking and bleating coming down the church

QUOTE (Deborah @ May 25 2005, 11:07 AM)

I expect both him and the organ to rise up out of the ground, lights on the organ flashing away, as the Willis instrument morphs into a Wurlitzer, and the choir remove their robes to reveal sparkly gold dresses as they start a routine of high-kicking dances

Don't joke - I've seen this in one church!!!
David

QUOTE (Cyrilla @ May 24 2005, 10:05 PM)

Although I know I am biased Him Indoors plays hymns like no-one else I've ever heard. He is absolutely the tops at word-painting and hymns just come alive under his tender loving care...so each verse is harmonised differently and with different registrations,dynamics, you name it, he does it. But it does NOT come over as pretentious because he's doing it for the words and the music, not for himself. I still can't get all the way through 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind' the way he plays it but I have to laugh when little tweety birds start flying around in 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'....

Sounds great Cyrilla, wish I could hear him play!

Going up a key on the last verse can work as long as it doesn't happen *every* time I have heard people do it for pretty much every song, and it gets to sound unbelievably cheesy.

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ May 25 2005, 11:28 AM)

Going up a key on the last verse can work as long as it doesn't happen *every* time I have heard people do it for pretty much every song, and it gets to sound unbelievably cheesy.

Going up a key in the last verse (and bellowing) is commonly known as the Barry Manilow method

QUOTE

Going up a key on the last verse can work as long as it doesn't happen *every* time  I have heard people do it for pretty much every song, and it gets to sound unbelievably cheesy.

Oh! yes. I wasn't advocating doing it every time. Heaven forbid

Maggie

QUOTE

One fab organist I know also does word-painting when accompanying psalms at evensong.

great fun if not overdone.

To my knowledge though, no organist has yet managed to convey the sound of a moth fretting a garment.

QUOTE (Cyrilla @ May 24 2005, 06:05 PM)

Although I know I am biased  :P  Him Indoors plays hymns like no-one else I've ever heard.

Erm... Joke's over now and I will stop pretending - Him Indoors? Who or What is that?

(Retires to corner with tail tucked between legs and a crate of eggs running down his sullen visage)

Don't joke - I've seen this in one church!!!
David
sorry i messed up the quote thing



Good grief

QUOTE (Deborah @ May 25 2005, 11:07 AM)

One fab organist I know also does word-painting when accompanying psalms at evensong. Most disconcerting to have the sound of lambs frolicking and bleating coming down the church

*gulp* that sounds VERY familiar, Deborah!! You don't know Him Indoors too, do you???

(Grand choeur - it's just my daft way of referring to my husband!)

He thanks you for your kind remarks, Maggie! (I just discovered the other day that you played the organ for his first wedding - EEEK - small world, as they say! )

Thanks also to sarah-flute - I'll have to get him to play his tweety birds on to a CD sometime - only got him playing 'serious stuff' at the moment.

I just have the GREATEST respect for organists. I have great trouble just co-ordinating two hands, let alone two feet, different manuals, stops and pistons AND making all these mechanics into MUSIC...