1. Love Divine, All Loves Excelling "Hyfrydol" - Allegretto
2. Jerusalem the Golden "Ewing" - Moderato
3. The King of Love My Shepherd Is "St. Columba" - Andante
4. Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus "Webb"- Allegro
5. Come Thou, Almighty King "Italian Hymn" - Moderato
6. Rise Up, O Saints of God! "Festal Song" - Spirited
7. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross "Hamburg" - Andante
8. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing "Nettleton" - Allegro
The playing of duets is a sublime social activity as well as a valuable learning tool. Musicians develop the most basic ensemble skills of intonation, balance, and matching tone qualitiesand style efficiently and enjoyably through effective use of this sparse medium. Furthermore, putting a duo together for a performance in a church service is often far more practical than trying to assemble a larger ensemble. Since there never seems to be enough literature for such a purpose, the following collection is humbly offered to church musicians and to those who would simply enjoy more material to fill a sight-reading session with a friend.
These duets are written for two like-keyed instruments. They can be played, for example, by two horns in F, two trumpets in Bb, two euphoniums, or even a Bb trumpet and euphonium. The more adventurous might try mixed brass and woodwind combinations such as Bb clarinet/euphonium or Bb trumpet/bass clarinet!Each of the arrangements is given here with a popular hymn title, although most of the tunes are found in many hymnals with other texts as well.
1. "Hyfrydol," composed by Rowland Prichard (1811-1887), is widely known as the tune, not only for the Charles Wesley hymns "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" and "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus," but for several other hymns as well. Among these are: "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus," and "Lord of Glory,You Have Bought Us."
2. Alexander Ewing's (1830-1890) tune "Ewing," probably best known with the words, "Jerusalem, the Golden," is also found with several other hymns, including: "From All Thy Saints in Warfare," "I Could Not Do Without Thee," "A Light Came Out of Darkness," "The Lord My Shepherd Holds Me," and "O Savior, Precious Savior."
3. The Irish folk melody, "St. Columba," is widely known with the words, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is."
4. George Webb's (1803-1887) tune "Webb" is best known to the words "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," but can be found in some hymnals with the texts: "The Morning Light Is Breaking," "O Thou Whose Hand Hath Brought Us," and "Thy Might Sets Fast the Mountains."
5. "Come, Thou Almighty King" is set to Felice Giardini's "Italian Hymn" of 1769. The tune accompanies many different hymns, including "Come, Holy Ghost, in Love," "Thou Whose Almighty Word," and others.
6. "Rise Up, O Saints of God!" to William H. Walter's "Festal Song" of 1894, appears in some hymnals as "Rise Up, O Men of God!" or as "Arise, Your Light is Come!"
7. Although many hymnals now match Isaac Watts' magnificent hymn, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" with a different tune, many Christians associate this text with the tune "Hamburg." Composed by Lowell Mason in 1824, "Hamburg" is a simple but touching melody which seems to fit "When I Survey..." so well. The tune has appeared with many hymns including "O Thou That Hear'st When Sinners Cry," "Behold A Stranger At the Door," and others.
8. The tune, "Nettleton," comes from John Wyeth's 1813 Repository of Sacred Music. It is usually associated with the eighteenth-century text, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," but some more recent hymns have been written to fit the tune, such as "Hear the Good News of Salvation," and "When the Storms of Life Surround Me."