The Road to Resurrection: Organ Music for Lent & Easter Thursday, January 25, 2024
recommended by Christopher B., Organ Music Specialist
From Ash Wednesday to Easter arr. Craig A. Penfield
This is surely one of the most useful books created for the church organist. The long period of Lent leading to Easter requires special music for special services, and this collection fills the need. Craig Penfield has written ten pieces specifically for each Sunday in Lent, plus Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and, of course, Palm and Easter Sundays. All pieces are relatively brief and are set at the intermediate level. Perfect for every church organist! Titles include: “Prelude for Ash Wednesday,” “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” “A Lenten Psalm,” “Forty Days and Forty Nights,” “Sanctus,” “Agnus Dei,” “Hosanna!,” “The Last Supper,” “Golgotha,” and “Toccata for Easter.”
Lent and Easter Miniatures for Organ arr. Nigel Williams
New Zealand composer Nigel Williams presents these short and practical organ arrangements of familiar hymns tailored for the Lent and Easter seasons. These miniatures are easy to prepare and are perfect for seasonal voluntaries, especially when preparation time is short. Each piece, lasting no more than three minutes, maintains melodic clarity, and offers diverse moods suitable for preludes, postludes, offertories, and interludes. Titles include: “Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound,” “Guide My Feet,” “Jesus, Still Lead On,” “Forty Days and Forty Nights,” “All Glory, Laud, and Honor,” “My Song Is Love Unknown,” “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” “The God of Abraham Praise,” “Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain,” “Now the Green Blade Riseth,” “The King of Love My Shepherd Is,” “Voluntary on Ellacombe,” “This Joyful Eastertide,” “Toccata on Easter Hymn,” and “At the Lamb’s High Feast.”
Lamb of God arr. David Cherwien
Practical settings of hymns virtually every congregation sings. Titles include: “Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” “Lamb of God, Pure and Sinless,” “Lord Jesus, Think On Me,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
Hymns of the Cross arr. Janet Linker
Six meditations for Lent or Communion. Titles include: “Ah! Holy Jesus,” “Were You There?,” “Pastorale on In the Cross,” “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed,” “In the Hour of Trial,” and “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.”
The Road to Resurrection arr. Roberta Rowland-Raybold
Roberta Rowland-Raybold takes us on a journey through Lent, Holy Week, and Easter in this collection of organ settings for the Paschal story. Thoughtful and expressive, these settings are useful organ voluntaries for this holy time of the liturgical year. Titles include: “Lift High the Cross,” “O Lord, throughout These Forty Days,” “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed,” “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” “Sing, My Tongue,” “Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow,” “Easter Vigil Contemplation,” and “Day of Arising.”
Lent Mosaics arr. Jacob B. Weber
Continuing his “Mosaics” series, Jacob B. Weber provides six new preludes on familiar hymns for the time of Lent. These settings ponder the Passion of our Lord through intricate and serious writing and will help set the tone for worship during this penitential season. The collection features an ornamented AN WASSERFLÜSSEN BABYLON; a flowing HAMBURG; a somber HERZLIEBSTER JESU; a straightforward JESUS KREUZ, LEIDEN UND PEIN; a fugue on JESU, MEINES LEBENS LEBEN; and a pulsing O MEIN JESU, ICH MUSS STERBEN.
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About the Author:
Christopher B. grew up in eastern Kentucky in a musically diverse family, and began playing organ at the age of 12. He majored in vocal performance with minors in keyboards and conducting at Marshall University and later received a Master of Theological Studies in congregational ministry from Trinity Lutheran Seminary. Christopher has served as a church music director and organist for more than 20 years, presently serving as Director of Music and Worship Arts/Organist at Church of the Master United Methodist in Westerville, OH.