Oxford Hymn Settings for Organists: Autumn Festivals

Rebecca Groom te Velde earned degrees in organ performance from Seattle Pacific University and the University of Western Ontario, also studying composition and church music. She continued her studies in Germany on a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service. An active performer and clinician on service-playing, she holds the Associate Certificate from the American Guild of Organists. She has published organ music with Oxford University Press and Darcey Press and choral compositions with Santa Barbara Music Publishing. She is organist of First Presbyterian Church, Stillwater, and adjunct instructor of organ at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.David Blackwell read music and studied the organ at Edinburgh University, where he gained his FRCO, and for many years worked in music publishing, becoming Head of Music Publishing at Oxford University Press. He has published anthems and carols with OUP, is co-editor of Carols for Choirs 5 (2011), and has published organ pieces in Oxford Service Music for Organ (OUP, 2010), compiled and edited by Anne Marsden Thomas. He is also co-writer of OUP's award-winning String Time books.

The subtitle of this collection . . . hints at the variety of its contents: twenty composers from England and the United States, including the editors, contributed setting of hymn tunes for all parts of the service . . . Most settings are three pages long, can be played on a two-manual instrument, and are well within the reach of intermediate-level organists. Groom te Velde and Blackwell comment that even though " . . . in many cases the raw material may be quite modest . . . often composers have crafted something telling and inventive that offers something new and useful." After playing through the contents of this book, I fully endorse this statement. Every piece is solidly crafted using a variety of techniques . . . The layout and editorial notes in the introduction are superb . . . Highly recommended.