Better accompaniment for "This Day Was Made by the Lord"?
  • Hi all,

    We are doing this for Easter and the part I was given is from Breaking Bread, which one I don't know since it's a copy. The number is 555, same title, by Christopher Walker, published by OCP. Anyway, the keyboard part is pretty sparse and the director said there might be a more "filled out" part available. If there is, where would I find it?

    Thanks!
  • I'm unaware of a more filled-out version (and don't see one available on the OCP site), but for a case like that, I'd just make something up based off the guitar chords anyway.
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,509
    The descants on both refrain and verses might be transcribed in, perhaps in the left hand.
  • I browsed YouTube and either something exists or they just wrote their own, because it's definitely not what I have in my part. Will probably have to just come up with something on my own...
  • This is published as an octave by OCP # 9065 and it has a more extensive accompaniment for organ, optional brass, timp, guitar, etc. Nice choir parts as well.
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Ask around and find out if a MD in the area has kept older editions of the keyboard accompaniment books. I've noticed over the years that the publishers are increasingly dumbing down their accompaniments to keep up with the sliding talent pool. As fewer classically trained organists are being employed, more parishes are hiring folk who play in the "fake book" style, using the guitar accompaniment books as lead sheets and making up their own accompaniments.

    This is just my opinion, and others may disagree, but even with the new Worship IV, many of the accompaniments seemed stripped down and rather pedestrian.
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  • I'm not an organist, just piano, but I am classically trained. @chapman thank you I will look into that!
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    FF, if you can't improvise in the "fake book" style m'bud David mentioned, I can flesh something out for you maybe tomorrow.
    Not to digress too far though, I've always been fortunate to have organists well-versed in improvisation, figured bass accompaniment and "pop/jazz" chordal nomenclature. Pianists as well. It is a skill set that serves a parish very well if one's repertoire is eclectic.
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  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Fidem - my comment was in no way intended as a swipe at you. I'm sorry if it came off that way. My point was that publishers seem less and less interested in publishing decent accompaniment settings, and fewer churches seem to care about hiring classically trained musicians.

    It becomes more and more difficult to find quality accompaniments, and too often we who are classically trained (and can recognize bad part-writing or voice leading) are left to the task of putting lipstick on the pig ourselves.
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  • Not taken that way at all! And that is definitely the problem. My part is painfully boring and does no justice to anything, really. Most of the larger anthems we do have big, showy parts so it was a surprise to have this handed to me, but it was the only part the director had.
    @melo: never had a reason to do much keyboard improv until this job, but I have learned a lot and I am getting better! Time is an issue and while I would love to write out what I've already been noodling in during rehearsals I don't see it happening. I just got hired for another job (non music but will take 20-30 hours a week of my time) in addition to at least three more orchestra concerts before Easter. Soooo yeah if you are so inclined to scratch something out for me that would be great!
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    "sliding talent pool"
    Well said, and we all know where the sliding ends up!
  • publishers are increasingly dumbing down their accompaniments to keep up with the sliding talent pool.


    Maybe not a "sliding talent pool." Maybe there are a lot of little itty-bitty parishes out there, and a couple people can maybe play an instrument, and they play OK. The small parish I attend is blessed to have a very good organist who sings very well. If we had a choir there would be no congregation left in the pews. The parish I attend up North when I have jobs up there *sometimes* has a musician on Sundays. Sometimes. And she's OK.

    But isn't this the point of the Common Psalm?

    The [Common Psalm] are intended to provide a resource for communities that wish to begin singing the psalm and they can replace the psalm given at any Mass. The texts are arranged according to the liturgical seasons. The intention of the compilers of the Lectionary is for communities to have a core repertoire of psalms that can be used at any occasion. It recommended to start with that a setting is used over a number of weeks or a season to allow the psalmist to gain confidence and for the community to get to know a particular psalm and be able to sing from their hearts.
  • In the recent GIA quarterly, an article talks about accompaniment. It points out that the usual middle range accompaniment vies for musical space with the middle range guitar chords. I wonder, without looking at the music, whether this may have been the intent, to clear space in the piano for the guitar.
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    RS, with all respect to the article' author, I tend to believe that "lowest common denominator" is the ethos regarding the utility aspect of what is provided the public consumer of sacropop accompaniment volumes. A decent, not even gifted, musician (be s/he an organist, pianist, guitarist), ought to be able to adjust to, and flesh out accompaniment strategies according to whatever ensemble combination (or none other than one instrument) they encounter at each occasion.
    Though I haven't yet been able to address FF's concern, as an arranger I am left to assume that the piano is the sole accompaniment provider. That affects how I would approach the three basic levels of arranging: the bass note movement, the comping (rhythmic and chordal middle ground) and the exposition of the melody even if further adorned with harmonic textures.
    Back in the day, the SLJ's and NALR tried an outreach strategy to provide not only viable but worthy organ accompaniments of their repertoire by having Sr. Theophane Hytrek arrange their tunes, presumably for "organ only" usage. It was disastrous. And that's not to say that organ has no provenance in SLJ style music. It means simply the "lipstick on a pig" approach will fail, and the "pig" is not necessarily unworthy.
    There's ensemble, and there's ENSEMBLE. Even if you don't totally respect the genre of a song, it doesn't mean you don't put your best foot forward. And if there's no ensemble physically, then the arranger ought to provide as fully-realized keyboard accompaniment on either instrument that best supports the text and melody. YMMV
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  • Melo: yes I am the only accompaniment for this day, and most days. And as I said before, I am learning some improv as I go. Sometimes it is easy to fill things in more, sometimes I'm too busy with life to deal with the problem. I do wish to put my best foot forward with this piece, and since we don't have the luxury of a big ensemble to help, I want to make it as nice as I can.