Product Description
2016 Holiday Contest Entry
I wish you the greatest pleasure
playing these arrangements of traditional Thanksgiving songs. Thanksgiving is
one of the most beautiful of holidays, a holiday filled with joy and music.
We Gather
Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing: Written in 1597 by Dutch composer
Adrianus Valerius to celebrate Holland's victory over Spain, the tune was
brought by the early American settlers. Poet Theodore Baker wrote a new version
of the lyrics in 1894, which became the standard Thanksgiving version.
Over the River
and Through the Wood: Lydia Maria Child, an outspoken
abolitionist and advocate for Indian rights, wrote this poem in 1845. It was
set to music by an unknown composer.
Let All Things
Now Living: This traditional Welsh melody (Llwyn Onn or The Ash
Grove in Welsh) has inspired numerous lyricists to write words to the hauntingly
beautiful tune. The poem by Katherine Davis, written in 1939, is the text most
associated with Thanksgiving.
Amazing Grace:
Written by reprobate sailor John Newton in 1779. Known for his profanity,
vulgarity and venery, he was imprisoned, beaten, and enslaved, before he
reformed, and became a leading minister and hymn-writer. This is one of the
most popular hymns ever written.
This Land is
Your Land: A traditional American tune, made famous by folksinger Woody
Guthrie in 1940. Guthrie wrote the words as a rebuff to the song God Bless
America, the huge hit by songwriter Irving Berlin. As a counter to Berlin's
forthrightly drum-beating patriotism, Guthrie would occasionally add
politically charged verses expressing his support for communism.
I hope you enjoy playing this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you enjoy this, you are welcome to try some of my other arrangements. You can see them at
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/publishers/yoel-epstein-sheet-music/3001988?ac=1
I have also arranged three songs from the Holocaust, which I arranged and distribute for free on IMSLP. You can find them at
http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Ravpapa">imslp.org/wiki/Category:Ravpapa
If you need arrangements of any of these songs for special combinations of instruments, feel free to contact me at
mailto:yoelepst@gmail.com
and I will try to accommodate.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.