Attributed to B. F. White, the tune BEACH SPRING first appeared in The Sacred Harp published in Philadelphia in 1844. The tune is named after the Beach Spring Baptist Church in Harris County, Georgia, where White lived. It is a strong, pentatonic tune cast into a rounded bar form (AABA).
See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.
Composed by Samuel S. Wesley, AURELIA (meaning “golden”) was published as a setting for “Jerusalem the Golden” in Selection of Psalms and Hymns, which was compiled by Charles Kemble and Wesley in 1864. Though opinions vary concerning the tune’s merits (Henry J. Gauntlett once condemned it as “secular twaddle”), it has been firmly associated with Samuel John Stone’s text “The Church’s One Foundation” since tune and text first appeared together in the 1868 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern.
See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.
Hyfrydol is a Welsh hymn tune composed by Rowland Prichard in 1844. It was originally published in the composer’s handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal Cyfaill y Cantorion (“The Singers’ Friend”). The best-known arrangement is probably that by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which he originally produced for his revision of the English Hymnal. Popular texts paired with this tune include William Chatterton Dix’s hymn Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!, Charles Wesley’s Love Divine, All Loves Excelling and Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Francis Harold Rowley’s (1854-1952) I Will Sing the Wondrous Story (1886), John Wilbur Chapman’s Our Great Savior (“Jesus, what a friend for sinners”) (1910), and Philip P. Bliss’ I Will Sing of My Redeemer (1876), as well as many other hymns from a variety of faith traditions.
See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.
Recordings:
Organ Ovations & Improvisations
Includes an improvised suite on the tune Hyfrydol by Tom Trenney.
Videos:
Kerry Beaumont – Improvisation on ‘Hyfrydol’ – Coventry Cathedral
Wm. Glenn Osborne – Prelude on ‘Hyfrydol’ – Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
Wm. Glenn Osborne – Postlude on ‘Hyfrydol’ – Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
Originally written by Hans Leo Hassler around 1600 for a secular love song, “Mein G’müt ist mir verwirret”, this chorale is often associated with the text “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” a text based on a medieval Latin poem often attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), but now attributed to the Medieval poet Arnulf of Louvain (died 1250). Paul Gerhardt wrote a German version “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden.” The tune was appropriated and rhythmically simplified for Gerhardt’s German hymn in 1656 by Johann Crüger. Johann Sebastian Bach arranged the melody and used five stanzas of the hymn in his St Matthew Passion. Bach also used the melody with different words in his Christmas Oratorio. The hymn was first translated into English in 1752 by John Gambold. The most widely used English translations were made by the American Presbyterian minister, James Waddel Alexander in 1830 and the English poet Robert Bridges in 1899.
See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.
Videos:
William James Ross – Free Fantasy on Herzlich tut mich verlangen – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, San Antonio, Texas
Paul Kayser – Passacaglia on “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden” – Dudelange, Luxembourg
Wilco Buitendijk – Improvisatie over ‘O haupt voll blut und wunden’ – Rodenrijs
The melody of the final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s final symphony, Symphony No. 9, is often associated with the English text “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” written by Henry van Dyke in 1907. Beethoven originally used portions of a poem by Friedrich Schiller (“Ode an die Freude”, first line: “Freude, schöner Götterfunken”). Beethoven’s tune (without Schiller’s words) was adopted as the Anthem of Europe by the Council of Europe in 1972, and subsequently the European Union.
See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.
Videos:
Vincent Dubois – Improvisation on Ode to Joy by BEETHOVEN – Reims Basilique St Remy
This penitential chant hymn is based on a 10th century Mozarabic Litany for the Lenten Season. It is considered to be in the Lydian mode.
See a list of other popular chant themes here.
Videos:
Lorenzo Bonoldi – Intermezzo on Attende Domine – Basilica di San Carlo, Milano
Lorenzo Bonoldi – Toccata, Adagio e Finale on Attende Domine – Basilica di San Carlo, Milano
Michele Johns is professor of music at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance, where she has taught church music skills and philosophy for over twenty years. She is the author of Hymn Improvisation
Because hymns and chorales form the cornerstone of most Protestant worship services, they are frequent subjects for organ improvisations. Examples can be found below in both liturgical and concert settings.
Videos:
Vincent Dubois – Improvisation on Ode to Joy by BEETHOVEN – Reims Basilique St Remy
Gerre Hancock – Final hymn and improvised Organ Voluntary on ‘Gott sei Dank’ – May 18, 2003 – St. Thomas
Pierre Pincemaille: Improvisation sur “Noi canteremo gloria a Te” (aka OLD HUNDREDTH) – Chignolo d’Isola, Bergamo, Italy
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Prelude
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Canon
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Intermezzo
William Porter – O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Fugue
Tom Trenney – “Duke Street”, April 28, 2013 at First-Plymouth Church
Tom Trenney – “Come Down, O Love Divine” – First-Plymouth Church
For more videos, see the master list of all videos on the website here.
Porter studied organ at Oberlin College and Yale University where he received the DMA degree in 1980. He taught harpsichord and organ at Oberlin from 1974 to 1986 and taught organ, music history and music theory at the New England Conservatory in Boston from 1985 to 2002. He has also taught organ improvisation at the Eastman School of Music and McGill University.
He has an article on North German Improvisational Practice in GOArt Research Reports Vol. 2 and an article on contrapuntal improvisation in the GOArt Research Reports, Vol. 3.
You can hear him on Spotify.
Recordings:
An Organ Portrait
Includes and improvised Magnificat setting.
Videos:
Three excerpts from a masterclass given by William Porter on Hymn-Tune Improvisations at the AGO National Convention in Washington, DC in July 2010:
William Porter – Hymn-Tune Improvisation Masterclass, Part I – Washington, DC
William Porter – Hymn-Tune Improvisation Masterclass, Part II – Washington, DC
William Porter – Hymn-Tune Improvisation Masterclass, Part III – Washington, DC
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 1
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 2
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 3
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 4
Smarano International Organ Academy Course Part 5
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Prelude
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Canon
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Intermezzo
O dass ich tausend Zunge hätte – Fugue
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: I (Theme and Plein jeu)
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: II (Scherzo)
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: III (Meditation)
Improvisation: Four Modal Variations on Salve Regina: IV (Introduction and Passacaglia)
