The next three editions arrived from Brassworks 4 Publishing, 461 Sunrise Parkway, Farmington, NM 87401; brassworks4.com.

Five Easter Trios arranged for three horns by John Jay Hilfiger. BW322, 2006, $16.00.

Four Hymn Settings arranged for three horns by John Jay Hilfiger. BW306, 2006, $16.00.

Now Thank We All Our God by Johann Crüger, arranged for four horns by John Jay Hilfiger. BW276, 2005, $14.00.



These little arrangements will come in handy for those looking for more church service repertoire. The Easter set includes "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," "Come Ye Faithful Raise the Strain," "Thine is the Glory," " The Strife is O'er, the Battle Done," and "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Alleluia." Each arrangement leaves the hymn tune intact, with one or two verses, with traditional harmonizations and nice accompaniment. The melody passes around occasionally for variety's sake, which is always appreciated by the players. Can these arrangements accompany singing? Probably. The horn usually best accompanies melodies in the alto range, and these would fall in that category. Still, they are not so low as to be impractical for leading hymns in a service.

The four hymns set in the second publication above are "Crown Him with Many Crowns," "Abide with Me," "Rise Up O Saints of God," and "Come Thou Almighty King." These arrangements are more three-part transcriptions of traditional hymn settings in a sort of medley, unlike the previous set, though there are some small wrinkles in those with more than one verse and they certainly can be played individually. Nevertheless, they could prove quite useful. The accompaniment range on these is a third lower than my hymnal, so they are probably not too low.

The final arrangement, "Now Thank We All Our God," consists of three verse/variations with short interludes between them. The hymn tune is intact throughout and the accompanying voices are handled nicely in a traditional harmonization of this well-known melody. In all cases, these arrangements are in reasonable horn ranges, with overall ranges of f-f'' (only a couple of eb's and g''s). If you have a trio or quartet that plays church services, these are good standard arrangements that should prove useful. JS