This is a fairly simple arrangement of the tune put to “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” It is intended to for unaccompanied saxophone, but that should not stop other instrumentalists from giving it a try. If you want to see a transcription for your instrument, just send me an email and I’ll see what I can do.
The opening melody I have here was directly inspired by the original melody. The delicate line contrasts nicely with the powerful tune and accompanies some of the more abstract pictures of Christ’s power. Specifically, “Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball.” Keep in mind that the entire arrangement is to function as a single unit and let all the music and poetry mix together in your head. The bottom line is that Christ is powerful, holy, and Lord.
Below is the part of the text which inspired the arrangement:
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!
This is a fairly simple arrangement of the tune put to “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” It is intended to for unaccompanied saxophone, but that should not stop other instrumentalists from giving it a try. If you want to see a transcription for your instrument, just send me an email and I’ll see what I can do.
The opening melody I have here was directly inspired by the original melody. The delicate line contrasts nicely with the powerful tune and accompanies some of the more abstract pictures of Christ’s power. Specifically, “Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball.” Keep in mind that the entire arrangement is to function as a single unit and let all the music and poetry mix together in your head. The bottom line is that Christ is powerful, holy, and Lord.
Below is the part of the text which inspired the arrangement:
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!
This arrangement of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” was written for my saxophone playing friend, another Caleb, and me to play are our church’s christmas eve service in 2012. But besides simply wanting to write pleasant Christmas music to get into the season, I’d also been wanting to experiment with playing a saxophone through a delay effect. This means that whatever is played gets played back which enables a musician to play a saxophone duet with him/herself. At first I wanted to keep this strict and only write notes that could actually be performed by a single instrumentalist with a computer. However, the duet benefitted greatly from having moments of unisons and harmonies to give the listener a break from the constant chasing effect that results from a duet like this. So while it is still written with this delay idea in mind, this arrangement of “O Come Emmanuel” has ended up being a fairly traditional and yet a very unique twist on this ageless Christmas carol.
Below are two verses from “O come Emmanuel” on which the music is focused:
“O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
“O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.”
This is one of my favorite christmas carols. This was a joy to work on, and I hope it’s a joy to play.
My arrangement of What Wondrous Love Is This? for solo saxophone opens with a clear and unembellished statement of the melody. This is then followed by a short theme which I’ve designed to represent the overwhelming joy that Christians have in response to the wondrous love being depicted in the text. This theme is reiterated after every statement of the melodic material, and the arrangement culminates with the full version of the theme as high in pitch and volume of which each instrument is comfortably capable. The arrangement ends with another simple statement of the melody but with a repetitive and embellished ending that focuses on the text, “And through eternity, I’ll sing on.”
Below is the text I kept in my mind as I wrote this saxophone solo:
What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.
I wrote this wedding music for piano with an accomplished pianist in mind. However, this detail should not stop anyone from attempting it. I set out to create a broadly usable piece to be used towards the end of wedding preludes and I hope that I have done this well enough to appeal to most performers. The only questionable challenge is that there are some wide intervals throughout the work. I am able to reach a major ninth with ease and therefore wrote many without a second thought. If this is not the case for you, please feel free to change a few notes using your best judgement.
There are three hymns woven throughout this work. The sample above contains an arrangement of “O Perfect Love”. The other two are “Take my Life and Let It Be” and “Be Thou My Vision”:
These samples are taken from my album, Purpose. Click here for more information.
Additional information
I wrote this wedding music for piano to be premiered for my friends, Pam and Ryan, at their wedding for prelude. The danger with this role in a program is that the beginning material is either easily missed, or it rudely interrupts conversations. I have attempted to use this problem to the performer’s advantage by utilizing John Cage’s philosophy: Any sound you hear during the performance is part of the music. While I disagree with Cage on many points, I do believe that there is something to be had with the idea of artistic noise. I actually want the audience to passively participate in the performance by talking at a respectful volume until the piece starts to unfold it’s main themes more clearly. It is the performer’s job to play beneath their mummer and crescendo as they decrescendo by becoming interested. I have yet to see it actually work out that way, but it’s a nice idea…
Since I was writing for a wedding, I have obviously written a piece about marriage. I’m am very passionate about the issue of divorce, and am strongly against divorce outside of marital unfaithfulness and even then only in extreme cases. This work is a charge to any bride and groom to fulfill their oaths to one another out of unconditional love no matter what their situation is. The harsh section of this piece represents the more unpleasant parts of marriage; but this section is fleeting and resolves quickly by returning to the original themes depicting unconditional love and faithfulness. The main take away I want people to have is that the love within marriage unites two people so intimately that the darker parts of the relationship are nullified.
