an arrangement of glory to god, whose goodness shines on me

November 28, 2023 by Paul Vasile in Congregational Song, Music, Worship

Just before Advent, I received sample copies of an arrangement of “Glory to God, Whose Goodness Shines on Me” by Joel Raney that also weaves in a bit of the hymn “To God Be the Glory” (a more inclusive text, too). It’s an accessible SAB arrangement and available for purchase from Hope Publishing Company. It’s fun to see something you’ve written come back in a new way!

Here’s a preview recording of the arrangement from the publisher’s website.

people, look east

December 12, 2020 by Paul Vasile in Christmas, Advent, Music

I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to curate an Advent Hymn Study with two congregations over the past weeks - Valley Presbyterian Church in California and North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Georgia. Each Saturday we have gathered via Zoom for meaningful reflection on hymns and songs for the season. And it has been a life-giving challenge to create digital presentations that invite us to notice new details and beauty, especially since we can't be singing in the same room together.

in the bleak midwinter

January 04, 2020 by Paul Vasile in Christmas, Music

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy a new setting of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ and on this Twelfth Day of Christmas enjoy a playlist of arrangements and improvisations I’ve shared over the past years.

away in a manger

January 02, 2019 by Paul Vasile in Christmas, Music, Worship

Every Christmas for the last few years I've been inspired to re-arrange a carol or two for solo piano. It's a creative challenge to take something well-known and make it my own. It also gives me a chance to dig deeper into the text and see how it might come alive through sound. It's a bit of theological exploration through music that first emerges through improvisation.

This year I found myself drawn over and over to Away in a Manger (to the tune MUELLER) as well as Shirley Erena Murray's sobering adaptation, Away and In Danger.

it came upon a midnight clear

December 25, 2015 by Paul Vasile in Advent, Christmas, Music

Merry Christmas, friends!

I've been reharmonizing and improvising on carols over the past years and the latest is this setting of 'It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.' It departs quite a bit from the original setting but I think the unexpected harmonic turns and moving inner lines express this beautiful carol in a new way.