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About In His Own Words
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Sing Praise to the LORD is a musical exploration of the Book of Psalms. All of the choral and vocal texts as well as the underscored narrations are adapted from the Psalms. This provides both listener and performer with an opportunity to contemplate the nature of God and the loving way that he works in our daily lives.

The underscored narrations and vocal solos provide a power-fully emotional contrast to the God-affirming proclamation of the choral anthems. This juxtaposition provides a musical illustration of the structure of many of the Psalms, that is, the contrast between the deeply personal human experience and the sovereignty of God.

  
Versatile Choral Music
 

One of the unique things about Sing Praise to the LORD is that there are no choral books. Instead, you get all eight (individual) choral pieces in a discounted anthem bundle for only $10.00. This gives you the flexibility to perform these choral pieces individually or as a complete work, as opposed to having them bound together in a choral book.  To buy these anthems individually would cost $14.00, so it’s a significant (30%) savings as well.

If you want to perform Sing Praise to the LORD as a complete work, then you also need to purchase the director/accompanist/narrator edition which comes in a spiral-bound 8.5 X 11 format.  This format makes it easy to lay flat on a music stand or piano and is also larger than the standard anthem size (a real life-saver for senior-adult choir members).  This edition contains all of the choral music, under-scores, narrations, vocal solos, as well as director's notes and suggestions.

   In His Own Words Director's Edition
Adaptable Orchestration
 

Sing Praise to the LORD is scored for a chamber orchestra. This chamber configuration perfectly complements the intimate and emotive quality of the Psalms. The addition of ethnic percussion, guitars, and electric bass produces a contrasting rhythmic texture to the more sustained pieces. The smaller instrumentation also provides a more affordable way to accompany a complete performance with instrumentalists.

In addition to the original instrumentation of the score, the Sing Praise to the LORD orchestration also contains skillfully crafted supplemental parts for additional instruments: Bb Clarinet (doubles Oboe and English Horn), Bb Flugel Horn 1, 2 (doubles F Horn 1, 2), and Keyboard String Reduction.

  
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  Sing Praise to the LORD-Orchestration   The Word Became Flesh-Orchestration Inventory  
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About the Recording
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The Sing Praise to the LORD recording features exquisite performances by The Nashville String Machine and veteran rhythm players David Huntsinger, Dave Cleveland, John Willis, Craig Nelson, and John Hammond. The choir consists of 24 outstanding volunteer singers from eight states. Most of the men are church music directors and the women are all accomplished singers from the Nashville area. Having a chorus of talented vocalists, dedicated to bring these Psalms to life, was one of the highlights of recording Sing Praise to the LORD. The personal dedication and extra effort of the choir resulted in a powerful and poignant rendition of these new choral pieces.

  
 

To preserve the natural acoustic sound of a live orchestral/choral performance, the sessions were recorded at Wildwood studio in Franklin, Tennessee using a decca tree microphone configuration. This approach best preserves the excitment and subtlety of the musical score. Veteran recording engineer Bob Clark engineered the Nashville recording sessions and mixed the album as well. John Mayfield skillfully mastered the project.

 In His Own Words Director's Edition
In His Own Words Cover Art

In addition to the eight choral pieces that make up most of Sing Praise to the LORD, the work also features captivating vocal solos and dramatic readings performed by a talented and diverse group of artists from across the country. Heidi Goeller provides an unforgettable Celtic style performance of My Soul Thirsts for You. Melissa Breems expresses the sorrowful tone of Psalm 130 in I Cry to You. Toby Baxley brings a soulful, longing quality to Open My Eyes. The seven last words of Christ are dramatically rendered in Mark Ivey’s rendition of Abandoned. And finally, Darrel Fickbohm brings a wide range of emotions to life in three cinematically underscored dramatic readings.