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Among the many needs today’s church pianists face is the need for piano arrangements in flexible, varying lengths. At times you need just one verse of a hymn; at other times you need a medley of hymn tunes that blend together seamlessly. The fresh approach of this book is intended to meet these needs by providing the option of truncating or expanding these arrangements in various ways.

To make these works as flexible as possible, optional start and stop points are notated within each arrangement. In some cases “Short endings” are inserted that can help you find a convenient stop point quickly; or you can ignore the short endings and use the “Long ending” which may have an extra verse, or a reference back to an earlier part of the arrangement. It also makes it easy to use an entire arrangement as a prelude or offertory, then an excerpt later during the service or as a postlude or reprise.

Sometimes you need a contemplative, gentle work to underscore a prayer, invitation, or Communion service; other times you need something bright, full, and upbeat. This book includes familiar hymns arranged in a variety of styles to please today’s churches and meet the needs you face in planning for every contingency within the time constraints placed upon you.

This book is comprised of arrangements that are suitable for Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter, Pentecost, and Communion services. Some focus on one hymn, others blend together hymns that have a similar theme. The texts to at least one verse of each hymn are provided at the beginning of the arrangement, so that you can contemplate the meaning of the words as you play. This also provides a convenient resource for churches that typically project the texts used during the service.

These arrangements are moderately easy to prepare in minimal rehearsal time and are designed to lay comfortably under the fingers for most church pianists. The songs are organized in such a way as to provide a nice flow and a mixture of styles to be used for various Worship Services before and after Easter. The entire book would provide a lovely springtime concert play list, with complementary key signatures from one song to the next.