Spirituals are hymns too - Balm in Gilead

Or at least similar enough to be in the hymnal.

I wasn't satisfied with singing "Balm in Gilead" in unison this past Sunday. So we didn't. Here:

Available here

Balm in Gilead harmonization by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

So there's the harmony we sang. And here's the introduction I wrote but didn't play:

PDF link

It will tie fingers in knots. I simply didn't have time to practice it, because I was busy with a flute choir. No, I wasn't playing the flute... but more on that later, once I've had time to parse the recordings.

The introduction is actually entirely playable on a single manual (or on the piano, for that matter) if you don't mind a little voice-crossing, and if that's the case then the left hand can help the right with the lower notes and save some jumping around. Or you can play it as a full on, two-manual-and-pedal trio.

Back to the usual work, which hopefully means more writing and more posting - at least for now. Recitals approach in March, choir concert in April, and Easter happens sometime between the two.

Introduction on Balm in Gilead by Mike Cutler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.