A question of hymns ...

[littlejohngael]

Hello All,

I'm a whistler, not a piper. ... Not that I wouldn't like to be, naturally. But I work for a non-profit, and the economy being what it is, well ... it really has no bearing on my request.

I've been handed the grand privilege of putting together a Sunday ceremony for a small gathering, and I need a good hymn for a procession of pipes. In reality, it'll probably only be one piper, but I'm sure that will be beautiful enough. And I may need two more hymns throughout the service. What hymns (besides Amazing Grace) are fairly easy and well known for pipers? (I did utilize the search function, but I didn't really glean anything good from it.)

Thanks in advance,

Little John

[MTGuru]

I need a good hymn for a procession of pipes.

You mean GHB?

[littlejohngael]

I need a good hymn for a procession of pipes.

You mean GHB?

Oh how naive of me! Sorry! Yes, GHB.

[MTGuru]

Just checking. There are lots of different non-uilleann pipes.

[CHasR]

What hymns (besides Amazing Grace) are fairly easy and well known for pipers? (

ive had to do all these at one point or another in church services. its not rocket science to fit them on ghb, but it depends on your particular piper as the wether or not theyre "well known/fairly easy'
(Im only providing the titles & not interested in debating their aesthetic merit, technical difficulties, appropriateness, etc.)

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
A MIGHTY FORTRESS
ABIDE WITH ME
BE JOYFUL MARY
BE STILL, MY SOUL
BE THOU MY VISION
COME THOU ALMIGHTY KING
COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE, COME
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS
FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH
GUIDE ME O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH
HERE I AM LORD
HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
HOW GREAT THOU ART
HYFRYDOL(Alleluia, sing to Jesus)
IMMACULATE MARY
IN THE GARDEN
IN THE DEEP MIDWINTER
JESUS LOVES ME
KUM BA YA
O DANNY BOY)
LOVE DIVINE, ALL LOVES EXCELLING
MORNING HAS BROKEN
NEARER MY GOD TO THEE
ODE TO JOY
O WALY, WALY
ON EAGLES WINGS
ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS
PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS
ROCK OF AGES
SALVE MARIA
THE CHURCH’ S ONE FOUNDATION
THINE IS THE GLORY
WE GATHER TOGETHER


also tunes such as
HIGHLAND CATHEDRAL
GOIN HOME
SKYE BOAT SONG
even
FLOWERS OF THE FOREST
may be suitable for the occasion.

[littlejohngael]

Woooooooow! Quite a list! Thank you, thank you!!

[CHasR]

Woooooooow! Quite a list! Thank you, thank you!!

CHasR says, "You're Welcome!".

[mathyou9]

Kingsfold is a nice tune. I've only heard it on smallpipes, but I imagine it would sound just as nice on a set of GHB.

And maybe CHasR already included it; I honestly don't know (I only know the tune name itself and not the actual hymns it's used in.)

[CHasR]

Kingsfold is a nice tune. I've only heard it on smallpipes, but I imagine it would sound just as nice on a set of GHB.

And maybe CHasR already included it; I honestly don't know (I only know the tune name itself and not the actual hymns it's used in.)

interesting!
It may be better known (at least on C&F) under the title 'Star of the County Down'.
(which ive played on ghb for years in a nice coupling with 'Sally Gardens" )
Pulled the closest hymnal, & (goshdarnit), there it was:
set with not one, not two, but three hymn texts!

[pancelticpiper]

I probably know more about adapting hymns to the GHB than most people, just because I've written a book (not yet published) of hymns for that instrument.

I collected a pile of hymnals, representing all the major Christian denominations (and many of the smaller ones) and went through them, going through the "tunes" indices to see which tunes were shared amongst various hymnals, to get a handle on which tunes were most widespread. I did this because every GHB hymn collection I've seen was written by a person coming from one narrow denomination, calling the tunes by the hymn names used in that denomination alone.

This is important because in traditional hymnody the tunes (melodies) and hymns (texts) float rather independantly and as many as 20 or so hymns might be regularly sung to a particular tune.

HFRYDOL, by the way, is the most widespread tune amongst the many hymnals I collected. (Tune names are spelt in all caps.)

Anyhow, I discovered than only a rather small number of tunes shared across several denominations fit perfectly on the normal gamut of the GHB.

Then there are tunes which require some note substitutions to fit, the culprit often being a required High B or High G#.

Then there are tunes which, no matter what key they're tried, don't fit well on the GHB. The resulting thing, with lots of octave substitution and note substitutions, is hardly worth playing.

SLANE (Be Thou My Vision, Bridegroom and Bride, and several other hymns) is one of them.

Then there are tunes which fit perfectly, if only pipers would play them in the right key. BUNESSAN (Morning has Broken) fits perfectly on the GHB in the key of G but pipers foolishly attempt the tune in A, in which key the critical notes High B and High G# are missing (as the GHB is ordinarly played).

[pancelticpiper]

So here's a list of the most common tunes, tunes shared across several denominations' hymnals, all of which fit perfectly onto the scale of the GHB. They're listed in the order of commoness (a tune which appears in 12 major hymnals is first, 11 is second, and so forth). This does NOT denote "popularity" as a hymn popular in one Methodist church might not be popular in the one down the street.

These are tune names, not hymn names. The same tune might be used for ten different hymns in ten different churches- heck, the same tune is often used for four or five different hymns in the same hymnal.

Following each tune name is the key in which it perfectly fits onto the normal gamut of the GHB. D is so common because D major is the only Major key which can be played in its entirety on the GHB without resorting to crossfingering.

HYFRYDOL A
CYM RHONDDA D
DIX D
OLD 100TH D
SAINT ANNE G
SAINT CATHERINE D
LYONS D
SAINT AGNES D
NEW BRITAIN D
NETTLETON G
AZMON D
SAINT CLEMENT D
KINGSFOLD Bm
EBENEZER/TON Y BOTEL Bm
SAINT MARGARET D
RHOSYMEDRE D
TALLIS CANON D
ARLINGTON A
FOUNDATION D
WEBB/MORNING LIGHT D
SAINT DENIO D
MARTYRDOM D
HANOVER D
SAINT COLUMBA A
HYMN TO JOY D
LEIBSTER JESU D
ENGLEBERG D/A
ST MICHAEL/OLD 134TH D
HAMBURG D
SIMPLE GIFTS D
VENI CREATOR A/D
WAREHAM D
BUNESSAN G
CONDITOR ALME A
O WALY WALY D
HIGHER GROUND D
WONDROUS LOVE A
MARTYN A

In addition, I've later come across these tunes, in no particular order, which fit perfectly on the normal scale of the GHB

BEREDEN VAG FOR HERREN
NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND Bm
WILDERNESS
ROYAL OAK
RENDEZ A DIEU D
LUCERNA LAUDEN
ALLEIN GOTT IN DER