AME Fantasias, opus 33 (2016-present); work in progress

INSTRUMENTATION: solo piano

An album of original arrangements of selected hymns of the AME Church. Including:

  • All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

  • There is a Balm in Gilead

  • Master, the Tempest is Raging (Peace, Be Still)

  • Precious Lord, Take My Hand

  • Don’t You Let Nobody Turn You Around

  • Jesus Loves Me - Oh How I Love Jesus

  • There’s Something About That Name (Jesus, Jesus, Jesus)

  • Great Is Thy Faithfulness

  • O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

  • Personent Hodie (On This Day Earth Shall Ring)

  • When Peace, Like A River (It Is Well)

Original arrangement for solo piano of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" by Thomas A. Dorsey (1932) and "Lift Every Voice And Sing" by James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson (1900). Performance at the annual "Celebration of Heritage" founded by Archalene Martin in honor of Black History Month at St. Andrews AME Church in Sacramento, CA on Sunday, February 28, 2016.

The first couple of seconds were cut off, but here is the first performance of my arrangement of the Christmas Carol "Personent Hodie" (On This Day Earth Shall Ring), originally published in the 1582 Finnish song book Piae Cantiones and commonly performed in a choral version by Gustav Holst. The beautiful melody itself dates from the 1300s. The text, in Latin, was poetically translated by composer Jane M. Joseph (1894–1929) as follows: On this day earth shall ring With the song children sing To the Lord, Christ our King, Born on earth to save us; Him the Father gave us. Id-e-o-o-o ("ideo" meaning "therefore"), id-e-o-o-o, Id-e-o gloria in excelsis Deo! ("Glory to God in the highest!") The premiere of my own arrangement took place on December 11, 2016 at St. Andrews AME Church, Sacramento CA, at 3:30pm.