Comments on: Pause and Rest https://stlukesmtwaverley.unitingchurch.org.au/2015/10/pause-and-rest/ A Uniting Church community Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:44:45 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Katrina Dowling https://stlukesmtwaverley.unitingchurch.org.au/2015/10/pause-and-rest/#comment-395 Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:44:45 +0000 http://stlukesmtwaverley.unitingchurch.org.au/?p=940#comment-395 In reply to Michael.

Thanks Michael for the organist’s perspective! I love your image of the playing and singing of the hymn as a puzzle with many interlocking pieces.

]]> By: Michael https://stlukesmtwaverley.unitingchurch.org.au/2015/10/pause-and-rest/#comment-394 Fri, 23 Oct 2015 10:59:42 +0000 http://stlukesmtwaverley.unitingchurch.org.au/?p=940#comment-394 The role of the organist/musician in worship is to lead the congregation, by supporting and guiding their worship through song. From an organist’s perspective, the words of a given hymn are paramount.

When I am preparing a hymn for a service, I often ask myself “How would I like the congregation to sing this hymn?” This always involves a reflection on the words. The words determine how fast or slow the hymn should be played, the registration (sounds or stops) to be used, and the dynamics (louds and softs). In the case of registration and dynamics, these will often be different in each verse.

The penultimate piece in this puzzle is to phrase the hymn, by looking for where it makes sense to take a breath. In many cases this will be at the end of a line, but not always. There are many examples in Together in Song where the appropriate place for a breath is not the end of the line! The secret to finding the right place is to look for the punctuation. As for registration and dynamics, this may often be different in each verse.

The final part is then to put everything together, with music that matches the words in worship to God.

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