Whistle music for church

dkehoe · Post by **dkehoe** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 6:34 am

Help! I'm trying to put together some hymns or other appropriate-for-church type music that is irish or otherwise celticish with parts for whistle (high or low), violin (aka fiddle), and piano (or not). I'm finding that there doesn't seem to be a lot of material that fits these rather vague specifications. Got any ideas, or know anyone who could help?

skendal · Post by **skendal** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 7:58 am

The hymnbook that my church uses (Canadian Anglican) has lots of hymns set to traditional tunes. For instance, the tune to the Star of the County Down is in it. Be Thou My Vision is another folk tune. There are several others. Look through your own book. You'd have to either just play the melodies in unison, letting the piano player play what's written in the book or adapt the parts in the book for harmony. If you use a D whistle, many would have to be transposed.

Steve

JMcCYoung · Post by **JMcCYoung** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 9:32 am

On 2001-10-05 09:58, skendal wrote:

(snip)

If you use a D whistle, many would have to be transposed.

Steve

Or used as an excuse to buy whistles in other keys.

This wouldn't necessarily require a new whistle for every key, though; see Dale's exceptionally useful:

http://www.chiffandfipple.com/whistlekeys.html

for what whistles you can use for which keys. Unfortunately (for one's bank account at least) the usable range of the second major scale may not work well for all tunes.

Plus, no one *here* would settle for just one whistle per key, would they? What a thought!

Last night at choir practice we sang music in D, G, F, A, Bb, and Eb. For better or worse (probably the former), none were ones I felt inclined to suggest to the director I accompany. It's Sacred Harp and Southern Harmony and traditional Irish tunes that make my fingers itch, and last night's were all modern except "How Great Thou Art." (See http://www.cyberhymnal.org/non/sv/ostoregu.htm for the Swedish original; the English is apparently still under copyright.)

John, still seriously considering a low F

Feadan · Post by **Feadan** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 10:26 am

The melody of "Morning Has Broken" is supposed to have Celtic origins and I believe is also included in UU hymnals.

[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-10-05 12:30 ]

dkehoe · Post by **dkehoe** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 12:27 pm

Thanks all. I knew about "Be thou my Vision" and "morning has broken". Those are in the Hymnal (United Methodist, that is). I also figured I would put the music into the appropriate key for the whistle, and let the chromatic instruments tough it out. I was looking for some less obvious choices however. Got any?

Mack.Hoover · Post by **Mack.Hoover** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 2:39 pm

"Come Thou Traveler" P 311 in the old Methodist Hymnal The Scottish melody for Burns "Bonny Banks and Braes" conveniently in 6/8 and in G.
Mack

mark02 · Post by **mark02** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 2:42 pm

Hi all:
Depending on the songbook/liturgy you use, another couple of suggestions might be:
"Take up Thy Cross", and perhaps "I Come With Joy to Meet the Lord". The first is a traditional English melody, the second is listed as an "ancient Irish" melody.

I've done these three pieces as a medley, and they work quite well.

All the best,
Mark Sackett

Mack.Hoover · Post by **Mack.Hoover** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 3:40 pm

Hi Mark,
I have a "Take up Thy cross" of German origin, can't find "I Come with Joy" (the second piece), and what was the third one again?
Mack

rebl_rn · Post by **rebl_rn** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 5:18 pm

Also, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" (the tune is "St. Columba") is an Irish folk melody and would be great for those instruments. And hey, guess what, it's even in D!

Beth

Grannymouse · Post by **Grannymouse** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 5:56 pm

Our Praise Team plays 10 to 12 pieces every Sunday and I whistle all. This Sunday the music for D whistle is Spirit of the Living God, In the Name of the Lord, God Is Good All The Time, I Go To The Rock, I'm Standing On The Solid Rock, Oh Lord, You're Beautiful, Come, Now Is The Time to Worship, The Old Rugged Cross. I do play my C, E, and sometimes A and Bb or Bn. One of these Sundays I'll try my low D but so far everybody loves the high whistle carrying the melody. Last Sunday I played the descant for Seek Ye First and everybody loved it. Everyone is just amazed at how much the whistle adds. We could'a told em all along.
Gm
PS...having said all that...you specifically asked for Irish or Celtic music....sorry....will think on that.
_________________
Love one another...

[ This Message was edited by: Grannymouse on 2001-10-05 19:58 ]

tubafor · Post by **tubafor** » Fri Oct 05, 2001 6:38 pm

Though not Celtic in origin, I should think some of the early American hymns (I think someone already mentioned the shaped note school of hymnody) would also do well for this treatment. One that comes to mind is "I Will Arise" - Glen Campbell did a version of it a few years back with the Harlem Boy's Choir, and it was chilling!

Someone to check out would be a singer/pianist named Fernando Ortega. He's recorded an entire hymns project, but you'll find other hymns and such on his other albums. He's very gifted, and much of his music has a very whistle-friendly acoustic feel.

My favorite hymn to play on whistle? A tie between "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "O The Deep Deep Love of Jesus" (in F minor - works great on a low Eb...)

Cal

Juliad · Post by **Juliad** » Sat Oct 06, 2001 6:46 am

We may be even using the same UM hymnal, since you never replace anything until it's as old as the hills. <G> I've used the following for recorder music, but I've double checked these as songs without the lower C.

O Sing a Song Of Bethlehem #179
God Of Grace And God Of Glory #577
Be Still My Soul #534
Lord You Have Come To The Lakeshore #344
Lord Of The Dance #261
There's A Song In The Air #249
The Gift of Love #408
Morning Has Broken #145

Julie D
Still waiting for that whistle to come....

ndjr · Post by **ndjr** » Sat Oct 06, 2001 9:24 am

"The Boys of Wexford" is a lovely, and very Irish, tune in my hymnal.

Pied Piper · Post by **Pied Piper** » Sat Oct 06, 2001 10:25 am

Check out Jesus Lover of my soul, there are usually two versions of this in hymnals, make sure you get the right one. Also Jesus what a friend for sinners is set to a celtic melody. And aren't we forgetting the most overplayed Piper's hymn of all Amazing Grace?
PP

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Sat Oct 06, 2001 1:12 pm

Just FYI, two good online resources for Southern Harmony and Sacred Harp are: The <a href="http://fasola.org/">Fasola Home Page</a> and The On-line <a href="http://www.ccel.org/s/southern_harmony/">Southern Harmony</a>.

[ This Message was edited by: Charles on 2001-10-06 15:13 ]