Creative Minds’ Music’s Musings

I have now completed my goal to record as audio the last of my performances that were (formerly) MIDI-only.

The first two pieces are Bach 2-part Inventions (Invention #1 and Invention #4) that I studied with Mrs. Edwin Jones while I was in junior-high school.

The third piece is the Bach Prelude in Bb #21 from Vol. 1 of Preludes and Fugues that I played briefly while in college.

The fourth is Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C# minor (Op. 3, No. 2). As a child I remember hearing my Mother play this piece. She said it imitated the church-bells of Moscow. She also told me that she had seen Rachmaninoff perform live in concert sometime during her college years. I believe that she taught me the Prelude when I was in the seventh grade. The featured art is the front of her sheet-music copy of the Prelude.

The fifth piece is a Brahms Intermezzo that I learned sometime after my college years.

The sixth piece is Kurt Kaiser’s arrangement of I Know a Fount that I played several times for church services over the years.

The seventh and last recording is my arrangement of Bill Gaither’s Something About That Name that I made about 1999.

Snowy Christmas Scene – Oil painting by Margaret Morgensen Owen

Each of the carols that I have chosen for 2012’s Christmas-music project have a long and rich history. The youngest of these pieces was written in 1868. As I worked on this annual labor-of-love, I have thought often of my Mother, whom we lost early in 2012 – and, who likely first taught me each of these pieces. For this reason, I decided to use one of her paintings as accompanying art. I say a prayer of thanks for her life and for her love of Christmas and its music — that I have seemingly “inherited…”

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Latin Hymn, 12th Century)
My arrangement of this hymn features oboe, clarinet, viola, miscellaneous strings, piano, and chimes in a multi-verse rendition of one of the oldest-known carols.

Chaconne on “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks” (1592)
This arrangement for pipe-organ is by Betty Sue Shepherd, who was a professor of music at Samford University during my student-time there. My sister studied piano from her for four years.

Angels From The Realms of Glory (1867)
My arrangement of this old-but-not-as-old-as-the-others hymn features a baroque-like brass ensemble that alternates phrases and verses with hand-bells, pipe-organ, strings: violins 1, violins 2, viola, cello, and string bass.

O, Little Town of Bethlehem (1868)
My arrangement of this hymn is more sparse than the others. It features piano with synthesizer-padded-background a little more prominently than the other arrangements. The first verse uses solo violin. Flute and clarinet play the second verse with piano taking the third verse. The fourth verse features my near-favorite – a solo alto-ranged, stringed-instrument.

Prelude, Fugue, and Toccata on “Adeste Fidelis” (1751)
This pipe-organ arrangement is by David Lowe, who was the organist at First Baptist Church (Huntsville, AL, USA) in the mid-1970’s and played organ for my sister’s wedding. Over the years, while serving as organist here-and-there, I have performed this arrangement (in public) six (6) times from 1989 to 2001.

I hope that you enjoy this selected collection of arrangements. Merry Christmas, 2012.