Recently I shared this on another forum. It's appropriate to share it here.
About 20 years ago I created a small publication of hymn tune arrangements. In each instance I took tunes in traditional SATB vocal harmony and thinned them down to 3 parts. The soprano line remained unaltered, and as far as possible I left the bass part intact. Then I collapsed the alto and tenor parts into a single new alto part. This work derived in part from a time in the late 1970's when I created similar arrangements for a young beginner organist at my church so he could play manuals-only accompaniments to simple choir anthems while I conducted.
The finished product - a collection of 100 hymn tunes arranged in 3-part harmony - aims to provide beginner organists with a stepping-stone into service accompaniment while privately working to develop their skills with left hand and pedal independence.
SATB vocal texture transfers readily to the organ by taking the bass to the pedals and playing just the tenor part with the left hand, but this requires a degree of LH + Ped independence. Playing this texture with manuals only is problematic, especially if the interval between tenor and bass exceeds an octave. Sharing the tenor part between the hands to cover these stretches - like the LH + Ped situation - is a skill which takes time to develop.
My arrangements give the left hand just a single part to play. Meanwhile the right hand maintains the soprano line unaltered while also handling a new alto line which aims to incorporate the harmony previously inherent in the now-removed tenor part. This texture works particularly well on instruments with "automatic bass" - such as with Hauptwerk's bass couplers.
The book is out of print, but I've now created a PDF "e-book" version and uploaded it into Google Drive. Please feel free to download, print, use and share this book - with my compliments. All I ask is that you let me know - either via this forum or by email to ajg2011a@me.com - if you have availed yourself of this offer, and perhaps give a little feedback on how useful you may happen to find it (especially with beginner organists).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Andrew
About 20 years ago I created a small publication of hymn tune arrangements. In each instance I took tunes in traditional SATB vocal harmony and thinned them down to 3 parts. The soprano line remained unaltered, and as far as possible I left the bass part intact. Then I collapsed the alto and tenor parts into a single new alto part. This work derived in part from a time in the late 1970's when I created similar arrangements for a young beginner organist at my church so he could play manuals-only accompaniments to simple choir anthems while I conducted.
The finished product - a collection of 100 hymn tunes arranged in 3-part harmony - aims to provide beginner organists with a stepping-stone into service accompaniment while privately working to develop their skills with left hand and pedal independence.
SATB vocal texture transfers readily to the organ by taking the bass to the pedals and playing just the tenor part with the left hand, but this requires a degree of LH + Ped independence. Playing this texture with manuals only is problematic, especially if the interval between tenor and bass exceeds an octave. Sharing the tenor part between the hands to cover these stretches - like the LH + Ped situation - is a skill which takes time to develop.
My arrangements give the left hand just a single part to play. Meanwhile the right hand maintains the soprano line unaltered while also handling a new alto line which aims to incorporate the harmony previously inherent in the now-removed tenor part. This texture works particularly well on instruments with "automatic bass" - such as with Hauptwerk's bass couplers.
The book is out of print, but I've now created a PDF "e-book" version and uploaded it into Google Drive. Please feel free to download, print, use and share this book - with my compliments. All I ask is that you let me know - either via this forum or by email to ajg2011a@me.com - if you have availed yourself of this offer, and perhaps give a little feedback on how useful you may happen to find it (especially with beginner organists).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing
Andrew