REVIEWS OF ORGAN MUSIC
Heather Martin Cooper
Step It Up! Volume Tree: Hymns from the Isles. Meirion Wynn Jones. GIA/WLP G-10273, $15.00.
Tis collection is the latest in a series intended to be “a step up” from the World Library Publications collection Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! Te earlier series was designed to provide instruction and materials for pianists who were called upon to play the organ, and the series as published at that point was reviewed in the May 2014 issue of Pastoral Music. In that review I wrote “What I like about this whole series is that it comes out of working with pianists from all over the country who found themselves in the same predicament: they were serving the [C]hurch, needed or wanted to learn organ, but did not know where to begin.” Tis next series has three volumes. Volume 1 has a mix of two to three pieces for each of the liturgical seasons and two general pieces. Volume 2 offers twelve trios based on seasonal chant melodies. Volume 3 was presented for review, and all twelve pieces are based on hymntunes from the British Isles which are also widely sung on our side of the pond. It is nicely done.
Ten Organ Chorales in the Schübler Tradition. Edited by Marilyn Perkins Biery. Augsburg ISBN 978-1-5064- 6921-8, $30.00.
Late in life, Johann Sebastian Bach commissioned his student, Johann Georg Schübler, to transcribe six cantata movements for organ. In this admirable new collection, Biery has transcribed and arranged ten
more cantata movements of Bach for organ solo. To be clear, these are brand new arrangements fashioned in the style of the six Schübler settings. One of the chorale melodies, HERR JESU CHRIST, DU HÖCHSTES GUT, is the cantus firmus for three of the ten pieces. Tough the source of each is a different cantata, these could be played as a set. Two of the remaining settings are of tunes still widely sung today: LOBE DEN HERREN and VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN. Te publisher’s website includes PDF samples and links to five videos of performances. Te collection is recommended for worship, study, and recitals.
Dance Prelude and Harmonizations on DUKE STREET. Michael Burkhardt. Flute and organ, with optional unison voices. MorningStar MSM 20-416, $15.00.
Te “Dance Prelude,” in compound duple meter, presents the tune in a lilting duet between the organ and flute. Te prelude may stand alone or precede the singing of the hymn. Burkhardt has provided three festive harmonizations to enhance the congregational song. A reproducible part for flute is included in the score.
Hymns of Praise Ten Let Us Sing, Volume 2: Seasonal Hymn Accompaniments for Organ with Minimal Pedal. Lynn Trapp. MorningStar MSM 10-439, $31.00.
Conventional playing of a four-part hymn on the organ requires the ability to play the bass part with the pedals and the upper three parts on the
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