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!
The real recording of Tear of Ambiguity is being released on an event page of the Facebook site on Thursday, November 15. Invite some friends to the event and come listen to this special release of one of my first compositions.
Along with this new recording, I will be releasing the revised score to Tear of Ambiguity as well. I’ve been meaning to do this for a very long time and have finally gotten around to it. It will also be available on the 15th.
Special thanks to Cornerstone University for allowing me to use their 6 foot Yamaha grand player piano. The recording (while being a real piano) was actually still made by a machine. A few years ago I was at Cornerstone, and I had an opportunity to program some of my work into the player function of a grand piano. Using 5 carefully place microphones to capture the sound, I let the piano execute the programming and I had a recording. Technology really is amazing…and this is old technology too!
A big thank you as well to my teachers and peers who helped me to polish and revise the score to this work. The people surrounding me at that point in my life were the ones who helped get this whole thing started.
The real recording of Tear of Ambiguity is being released on an event page of the Facebook site on Thursday, November 15. Invite some friends to the event and come listen to this special release of one of my first compositions.
Along with this new recording, I will be releasing the revised score to Tear of Ambiguity as well. I’ve been meaning to do this for a very long time and have finally gotten around to it. It will also be available on the 15th.
Special thanks to Cornerstone University for allowing me to use their 6 foot Yamaha grand player piano. The recording (while being a real piano) was actually still made by a machine. A few years ago I was at Cornerstone, and I had an opportunity to program some of my work into the player function of a grand piano. Using 5 carefully place microphones to capture the sound, I let the piano execute the programming and I had a recording. Technology really is amazing…and this is old technology too!
A big thank you as well to my teachers and peers who helped me to polish and revise the score to this work. The people surrounding me at that point in my life were the ones who helped get this whole thing started.
Writing this flute solo was the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity of facing the challenge of writing something that needed to be played by someone new to an instrument (Lily had been studying flute for about two years). This forced me to figure out ways to create sounds that were easily produced but were still new and interesting. What made the process much easier was the fact that Lily was already able to have a strong and full sound on the lower register of the flute (quite an accomplishment for her short time studying the instrument). So I focused on bringing out the contrast between the different registers while also creating complex harmonic implications to draw as much attention as possible to every sound being made throughout each line. This process yielded the opening melody, which reminded me of wind gently blowing across a field of flowers. Between that and Lily’s name, Matthew 6:28-30 (NIV) immediatly came to mind:
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
So I then wrote the rest of the flute solo based on the emotional process a person might go through when hearing Jesus’ words during a difficult time in life.
On Memorial Day, May 28, 2012, my wife’s high school flute student, Lily, premiered this flute solo. This premier performance can be viewed below:
Nothing I write is ever easy and this piece is no exception. Lily did a fantastic job of rising to the occasion! Hats of to her and my wife for working so hard in pulling it off so decisively!
While originally being written as a flute solo, Consider the Lilies (not so coincidentally) works very nicely for the alto saxophone as well! I’ve included a preview of the score in the sample below as well.
