No one yet has touched on my favorite altered hymn accompaniment
technique.

If it's a sturdy hymn that needs to get louder and gutsier than just
adding more reeds, I'm hopeless at improvising a free harmonization.
I've got to reach for the Rawsthorne, or Tertius Noble, or Coleman, or
similar 'last verse' books.  (Or the Presbyterian "The Hymnbook" (1955)
for Eric Thiman's stunning "Aurelia" alternate harmonization.)

But if it's a quiet hymn, my congregation sings superbly if I drop stops
verse by verse, getting down to a couple of eight foot flues for the
manuals on the next-to-last verse, and a single eight foot statement of
the tenor and alto lines for the final verse, but keeping at least a
sixteen foot pedal Bourdon going throughout.  The pitch stays secure.
The rhythm stays secure, or can be slowed and phrased at my discretion,
just by indicating where I want to lead with the pedal line.

At least it works for my Presbyterians.  They love the sense of singing
quietly and are very assured in doing so.

Don Phillip Gibson
First Presbyterian Church
Winfield, Kansas

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