He Walked Alone

Enjoy a new hymn I wrote with former MoTab member, Rick Graham. Here are the words:

He walked alone so we must not, along the road with peril fraught.
Descending to the darkest vale, the curse of mortals to assail.

A lonely road all choked with thorns, that thick upon His brow adorn.
Weighed down by burdens stark and grave, great drops of blood as sweat He gave.

There was no one to walk beside as He faced that grim eventide.
But glory to our God ascribe, He bore more than we can describe.

Tell of His grace, lest we forget, the vastness of forgiven debt
that ransoms ev’ry mortal child, and brings them home, cleansed, reconciled.

PDF: He_Walked_Alone_So_We_Must_Not

Update on Hymnbook Project

As the Christmas season draws night, I wanted to assure anyone who is following the hymnbook project that things are progressing nicely. I’m not going to speculate on when the finished product will be released, because the process is going to be a long one.

The evaluations and selections have been made. However, the process now is formatting all of the hymns according to a template. This is a long and meticulous process.  I and others are working on it every day, and in the end, I believe it will be better to create the very best finished project we can than to rush things.

If you have any questions, please contact me at thesongoftherighteous (at) gmail (dot) com.

Until then, please enjoy my Christmas arrangements.

As a bonus, I want to share a beautiful music video from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that incorporates “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly”.

Merry Christmas!

Children’s Song “Though I Am Young”

Here is a new collaboration with fellow MoTab member Rick Graham. Here are the lyrics to this children’s song:

Though I am young, I too can serve. My little hands and feet can help the Lord.
Though I am small, I can be strong. Building God’s kingdom because I belong!
My little voice can help others obey. I know that God hears when I use it to pray.
Though I am young, I, too can serve. My little hands and feet can help the Lord.

Though I am young, still I can be a light to others that helps them to see.
Though I don’t know all things to do, the Holy Spirit will help guide me through.
Though I don’t stand tall, I still stand for right. For I know that courage is better than height. Though I am young, still I can be a light to others that helps them to see.

Though I am Young

Praise to the Man (Star in the East)

When I was in the BYU Choirs, we sang “Praise to the Man” to an alternate tune. I later learned that this tune is to the Christmas song “Star of the East”, which was actually the original tune. Only later, it was set to the tune in the hymnbook, “Scotland the Brave”.

The following is an SATB arrangement with piano. Enjoy!

Praise to the Man (Star of the East)

Evaluations Complete

I’m happy to announce that we’ve made it through the round of evaluation. All hymns have been marked accepted, rejected, or as needing revision. Separate emails were sent out for each of these categories, and in the case of revision, the notes from the committee were forwarded on as well.

As this process involved a few hundred hymns it is, of course, possible that something has fallen through the cracks. If you have not heard about a specific piece, please email me at thesongoftherighteous (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know, and I will get you a status update as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Update on Hymnbook Project and a Bonus!

I apologize that I haven’t been posting much new material to the site. I assure you, however, that I have been hard at work! We have collected all sorts of hymns and are working on evaluating them all. The process takes quite a while, but I hope to present a truly wonderful finished product when we’re done.

I had a great email this week of a catholic leader who used my arrangement of Suo Gan in his mass, and added a beautiful flute obligato to it. He wanted to make it available to everyone, so here it is:

Suo Gan Flute Descant in C

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer!

Results of Hymn Contest

Thank you all for your wonderful entries to the hymn contests! I’m pleased to announce the winners of the contests:

Children’s Category: 

Judges’ Choice: Help Is Wanted

People’s Choice:  I’ll Follow Jesus Christ

Priesthood Category: 

Judges’ Choice:  The Priesthood Is Restored/Rise Up O Men of God (TTBB)

People’s Choice:  The Priesthood Keys

Relief Society Category: 

Judges’ Choice:  Mary In the Garden

People’s Choice:  My Joy Is In Thy Service, Lord

Each of the winners will receive a $10 Amazon.com gift card and publication in “As Saints We Sing”. If you are a winner, please send me an email at thesongoftherighteous@gmail.com to claim your prize.  Thank you to all who entered! All entries will be evaluated by the selection committee and so all hymns will have a chance of being included.