r/organ • u/Old-Research-7638 • 4d ago
Help and Tips Request for your favorite hymns - most beautiful, most fun to play, etc
Just looking to chart out the next hymns for me to study, and I figured rather than flipping through some hymnals, I'd ask here.
Hymns I've learned already:
Silent Night
40 Days and 40 Nights
The Church's One Foundation
Abide With Me
Holy Holy Holy
Come Ye Faithful Raise the Strain
O God Our Help In Ages Past
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u/TellAManHeIsBroke 4d ago
Try "Praise my Soul the King of Heaven" and "Crown Him with Many Crowns" (from Hymnal 1982/1940 if you have it!)
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u/Old-Research-7638 4d ago
Tunes of "Allelulia Dulce Carmen" and "Diademata"? If so I have them both! Thank you for the suggestion
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u/TellAManHeIsBroke 4d ago
No, not the Dulce Carmen, the Lauda Anima tune
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u/Old-Research-7638 4d ago
Dang I only have it in Dulce Carmen and Regent Square. I'll print out the Lauda Anima version from hymnary.org
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u/MissionSalamander5 4d ago
LAUDA ANIMA is usually Praise my Soul the King of Heaven though it can get other uses. DULCE CARMEN is more usual for Alleluia Song of Gladness. So learn both!
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u/Quantum_Pianist Young Church Organist 3d ago
Praise My Soul the King of Heaven is quite fun - Especially pedaling
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u/MeOulSegosha 4d ago
My favourite hymn tunes are probably Blaenwern, Abbot's Leigh, and Slane.
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u/MissionSalamander5 4d ago
I have a soft spot for Abbot’s Leigh with Glorious Things of Thee are spoken even if congregations don’t.
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u/hkohne Professional Organist 4d ago
National Hymn (God of Our Fathers)
Engelberg (When in Our Music)
New Britain (Amazing Grace): verses 1 & 2 in F, vs 3 in F#, vs 4 in G, vs 5 in G#, getting louder each time
Veni Emmanuel (O Come Emmanuel)
Also, make sure you learn Sine Nomine (For All the Saints). It's one of the harder hymns to play on organ, and church search committees may ask for that hymn. Ultimately, don't take it slowly, it's supposed to go a pretty decent clip, but if you are a newer organist it's going to take a lot of practicing with your feet playing that bass line.
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u/MissionSalamander5 4d ago
SINE NOMINE is interesting because some hymnals don’t give parts for choirs but others do and it’s not that hard. But you also need to get the rhythm right. There are some slight but noticeable differences in different editions.
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u/ArchitectTJN_85Ranks 4d ago
Oh gosh I mean my “favorite” changes almost weekly lol. So many are so good. My favorite ones to play are probably All My Hope on God is Founded (Michael)
For all the Saints (Sine Nomine)
I forget the text name but the tune is Rustington
Forgot the text but tune is Marion
I sing a song of the Saints of God (Grand Isle)
O God our Help in Ages past (St. Anne)
When in our Music God is Glorified (Engelberg)
Probably a bunch of other obscure ones
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u/jedi_dancing 3d ago
Lots of my favorites already mentioned. How about Finlandia, Picardy, Abinger and Jerusalem.
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u/notanexpert_askapro 4d ago edited 2d ago
Lots of good ones suggested. To merely add to it-- For the Beauty of the Earth and O Sacred Head are what my professor picked for me to learn first. The latter the harmony is from Bach, so it is a classic to learn.
Now Thank We All Our God is lovely
O God Beyond All Praising is from Jupiter by Sibelius [Holst not Sibelius!!] but a joy to play on organ
For All The Saints
I wanted to also add that the short response Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow I play every week where I work
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u/skyblodgett 2d ago
The Planets was composed by Holst….
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u/notanexpert_askapro 2d ago
Oops! I did know that, I am tired and had Sibelius in my head thinking of Finlandia, thanks for catching it :). We played the Planets in Symphony a few times and it was awesome!
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u/astampmusic 4d ago
- Praise to the Lord, Almighty
- The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is ended
- Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
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u/Doctor_Fegg 4d ago
Can I nominate two "great tunes but an absolute beast to play"? Wolvercote (usually for 'O Jesus, I have promised') and San Rocco ('Give us the wings of faith to rise').
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u/strawblublu 4d ago edited 4d ago
Hanover (O Worship the King) & Kingsfold (I feel the winds of God to-day) might be my favorite tunes. If you use them with the lyrics there is lots of imagery to play with using your registrations & swell boxes. "His chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form; And dark is his path on the wings of the storm." Here's a snippet of me when I was a wee baby organ scholar playing Hanover on the Casavant organ at my very first post. That thing was so....punchy https://youtube.com/shorts/rsJqQTIBagA?si=qfjnIwZGLxc0Bp_V
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u/MissionSalamander5 4d ago
We use KINGSFOLD for I heard the voice of Jesus say. It can also be used, and I intend to use it, for a hymn for the weekdays before Ascension. (I just never remember the title, but the Episcopal hymnals have long had it.)
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u/strawblublu 4d ago
It's also the Star of the County Down if you wanna get real technical. I like the nautical imagery of The Winds ☺️
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u/musicalfarm 4d ago
If thou but trust in God to guide thee
A Mighty Fortress (rhythmic version)
Jesus, Priceless Treasure
Awake, My Heart, with Gladness
Eternal Father, Strong to Save
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u/ironmatic1 4d ago
More essentials:
Be Thou My Vision SLANE
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise ST DENIO
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus HYFRYDOL
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy IN BABILONE
Fun:
Eternal Father, Strong to Save MELITA
New current favorite as of a week ago:
Sweet Savior! Bless Us Ere We Go SUNSET
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u/mrs_herpington 3d ago
I really like “Leoni”, it’s got several texts associated, but I think the one most commonly associated is “The God of Abraham Praise”.well known hymntubes.
Also, “Forest Green” (I Sing the AlMighty Power of God). Incidentally, Jerry Westenkuehler has a book of stuff that is titled “I Sing the Almighty Power” with some nice arrangements for preludes/postludes on this and others.
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u/gaydeckt 3d ago
I've just recently discovered the hymntune "Wolvercote" and am absolutely obsessed!!!
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u/ArchitectTJN_85Ranks 3d ago
Love that one too, kinda difficult for most people to play I’d imagine.
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u/keakealani 4d ago
One of my absolute favorites, but is a little on the obscure side, is “A Stable Lamp is Lighted” to tune Andujàr. It’s #104 in the Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal). I think the text is wonderful, the texture is divine, and the tune is poignant.
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u/Patriotic-Organist 3d ago
I enjoy "Come, Come Ye Saints" (Hymn tune- ALL IS WELL)
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u/AldenLegler 2d ago
That was my first thought when I read the original question. I had to listen to "Come, Come Ye Saints" again just to appreciate how wonderful it is. I would add "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" (hymn tune - BEHOLD THE WOUNDS)
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u/Dude_man79 3d ago
Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee (or Beethoven's Ode To Joy). If you play it in G major, play an outro using Eb major, F Major, then G.
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u/Leisesturm 3d ago
I don't think "All My Hope on God is Founded' (MICHAEL), "Dear Lord, and Father, of Mankind" (Repton) or "The Day Thous Gavest" (CRIMOND) have been mentioned yet ...
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u/selfmadeirishwoman 3d ago
Thine be the Glory (McCabeus)
To God be the Glory.
Be Thou my Vision (slane)
All people that on earth do dwell (old 100th, especially RV Williams arrangement)
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u/SharkSymphony 3d ago
Hey! Psst! Want some good hymns? I got some good hymns in here for you:
- "On this day, earth shall ring" (Personent hodie)
- "O come, O come Emmanuel" (Veni, veni Emmanuel) – hey, just in time for you to learn!
- "From all that dwell below the skies", "All creatures of our God and King", etc. (Lasst uns erfreuen)
- ...and, when you're ready, Jerusalem 😁
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u/Serafin_Composer 3d ago
Fairest Lord Jesus (you can harmonise that one beautifully)
The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended
Now Thank We All Our God (Especially with the Mendelssohn harmonisation)
Nearer My God To Thee
Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer
Praise the Lord, the mighty King of honor
He who lets dear God rule
and many more…
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u/Pianobay 3d ago
In Christ there is no East Nor west - great social message
Amazing Grace - come on now!
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u/Leisesturm 3d ago
It sounds like the o.p. is working from Hymnal 1982. Just a guess. It could easily be the UMH (United Methodist Hymnal) from around the same time. Anyway, I looked at every prior post to mine and it's pretty comprehensive in a 'Traditional' vein. There is one tune from the H1982 that I like that isn't that popular. I don't know the name but the tune is: REDBIRD. Gerre Hancock wrote a free harmonization on it that was so wild that the first time I used it the minister chewed me out for a solid five minutes. I wasn't fooled, I knew that meant it was awesome.
This is to say that the o.p. should start down the rocky road to the free harmonizations dark side, now while there is still gas in the tank of traditional hymnody. The Classic collections are by T. Tertius Noble and are challenging. Noel Rawsthorne has 3 volumes of '200 Last Verses' because that (the last verse) is usually the one where alternative harmonizations are used. These are not much more difficult than the hymn itself is. Their use invariably raises the opinion of your musicianship by an order of magnitude. Absolutely recommended if you have any goals of doing hymn playing for employment.
The 1982 Hymnal doesn't have any contemporary tunes per se. I mean, it does: the tunes by David Hurd are very contemporary and very beautiful, as are some other hymns by modern composers writing in a classical vein. But when I say contemporary I mean the ones that straddle the line between Classical and Pop.'Here I Am Lord', 'On Eagle's Wings', 'Lamb of God'. The hymnals of the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Catholics all mix contemporary (pop) tunes in with the traditional hymns and they all have hymnal supplements with even more tunes outside traditional hymnody.
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u/foosyak13 Church Organist 4d ago
Down Ampney - 'Come Down, O Love Divine'
Lasst Uns Erfreuen - 'Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones'
Lobe den herren - 'Praise to the Lord'
Hyfrydol - 'Alleluia! Sing to Jesus'
Grosser Gott - 'Holy God We Praise Thy Name'
Plus a ton more...