How an Organist Writes a Fancy ‘Last Verse’ Arrangement for a Hymn Tune

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

This is my second podcast. In my previous podcast, I discussed a musicological topic – the career of the Glasgow Athenaeum School of Music’s second Principal (Edward E Harper), and his longer career as an organist. Today, I’ll continue the church organ theme, but this time I’m thinking about my own practice –  specifically, about how I write a last verse arrangement for a church hymn. Hopefully it’ll be helpful to anyone who didn’t have the benefit of harmony classes at uni!  I introduce chromatic harmonies, passing notes, suspensions and minor sevenths.

Listen to Podcast No.2:-

I’m sharing my harmonic analysis (more like an overview!) and audio examples separately from the podcast.

So, here is the harmonic analysis of Charles Steggall’s hymn, ‘Christchurch’:-

Christ Church, Lancaster Gate, London

And if you’d like to hear how I did my final arrangement, compared eight bars at a time with Steggall’s original, then you can hear it here:-

Organist Reveals All

Just a brief note.  I had criticism of my last blog posting’s title, which apparently didn’t make sense. Well, it did to me, but feedback is always useful.  I’ve tried to make today’s title clear and unambiguous.

However, I might observe that – much to my line manager’s amusement – the piece of my writing which has attracted the most interest was the double-entendre in my article about paratexts, back in 2015. In marketing terms, ‘sexy’ means something is appealing to readers, and paratexts do ‘reveal’ more about a publication than you might think:-

‘Sexy Bibliography (and Revealing Paratext)’, Library Review Vol.64, Iss.1/2, (2015), 154-161, http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/LR-09-2014-0104

(Now, that is an obscure and incomprehensible – but intriguing – title!)

Off-the-Shoulder Gown?

So, if I wanted to make today’s podcast have more crowd-appeal, and (crucially) attract more hits, then I really should have come up with a more intriguing title.  And I have!  How about, ‘Organist Reveals All’? I’ll wear my gown off-the-shoulder on Sunday!

One Organist to Another: “Have you got a ‘Last Verse’ for Groeswen?”

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
Neilston Parish Church

It sounds like a coded message between members of a secret fraternity, doesn’t it?  Nothing so scandalous, I’m afraid! Although, I’m told it doesn’t make sense.  So, let me explain.

But first, I must clarify: the image above is Neilston Parish Church, where I’m organist.  I can’t find a Creative Commons image of Groeswen Chapel, but you can see it at this link:-

People’s Collection, Wales

(Sensible Alternative Title: Writing a Fancy Harmony for the Last Verse of a Hymn)

Groeswen is a magnificent Welsh hymn tune composed by John Ambrose Lloyd (1815-1874), often used for the hymn, ‘All my hope on God is founded’.  It was one of the hymns chosen by the minister for today’s church service. Now then, organists like to play a more elaborate arrangement for the last verse of a conventional hymn, and there are books published that consist solely of such ‘last verse’ settings.

The Organist’s Playtime

However, my own two ‘last verse’ books don’t contain a last verse setting for Groeswen. I couldn’t do much about it on the spot, but I decided I’d have to write one later on today so that I’d have a setting for another time.  I have added some minor inflections, along with chromaticism and some chordal suspensions.  It is within the capabilities of a competent organist – no need to be a virtuoso.

And now I’m sorry that we’ve already sung it, so I’ll have to wait until we next use the hymn before I can play it! (It’s just a midi-file from Finale, I’m afraid – you’re not listening to a real organist playing it on a real pipe organ!) I’m putting my ‘last verse’ on ArrangeMe, in case anyone else would like to use it.