#91 "Father, Thy Children to Thee Now Raise"

This is a hymn that we sing about once a year--around Thanksgiving.  It's a little tricky to play the rhythm of this hymn, but I still schedule it every November.

#90 "From All That Dwell below the Skies"

[First off, why would "That" be capitalized but not "below" in the title?  I just copied the title straight from the hymnal.]
In my personal hymnbook, I have a note that the words of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" can be sung to the tune of this hymn.  I also have a note that T.T. Noble has a "free organ accompaniment" in his book of "100 Well-Know Hymn Tunes" for this hymn (called DUKE STREET) that looks like it isn't too difficult to play.

#89 "The Lord Is My Light"

This hymn is always a fun one to sing, but not that easy to play.  I haven't "mastered" it yet, but I can pull it off if I have enough notice.  We use this one in sacrament meeting on a regular basis.

#88 "Great God, Attend While Zion Sings"

After "attempting" to play this hymn, I can tell it is one that I've never sung or played before!  Sometimes I wonder why some hymns were put in the 1985 hymnbook.  This is one of those I wonder about.  It is difficult to play and sing.  I guess the message of the text (from 1719) is classic enough to warrant it.  I did not care for this hymn.  Sorry, Composer Joseph J. Daynes!

#87 "God Is Love"

Our Oak Hills Ward Choir just sang this on Sunday, March 24, 2012.  This is an easy hymn to play and sing.  It is effective to break before singing the line:  "God is love" in each verse.

#86 "How Great Thou Art"

What can I say about the hymn that was sung at my husband's funeral because it was his favorite?  When I used to be the music director for sacrament meeting, I would often ask Mike Ramsey (my first husband) what hymn I should chose for the upcoming month.  He would usually say, "How Great Thou Art" or "Abide With Me; 'Tis Eventide".  Sometimes he would suggest "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel".  When I was preparing the program for his funeral, I knew I had to include "How Great Thou Art".  Jill Conforti, a member of our Oak Hills Ward, has a trained soprano voice.  I asked her to sing this hymn as a solo at his funeral.  It was very comforting to me, but in the first few months following Mike's death, I couldn't choose this hymn as a sacrament meeting song because I knew I wouldn't be able to "hold myself together" and lead it properly.  It's been 14 years since Mike's death, and I can sing or play this hymn without getting too emotional.  "How Great Thou Art" will always have a special place in my heart.

#85 "How Firm a Foundation"

I love this hymn!  I have a special memory associated with it.  Many years ago (probably around 1989 or so) my first husband, Mike Ramsey, and I were traveling in our small Cessna airplane to Provo, Utah to attend the Church Music Workshop at BYU.  After we refueled at the St. George airport, and flew about an hour, we started to experience a lot of turbulence.  It was very scary.  The words of the third verse of this hymn came to mind:  "Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.  I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."  These words were very comforting to me as Mike battled the wind to keep our plane flying smoothly and straight.  We made it to Provo without any problems, but I will never forget the feelings of fear and then of comfort as I recalled this hymn.

#84 "Faith of Our Fathers"

This is a classic hymn that I like.  The chorus has a great message: "Faith of our fathers, holy faith, We will be true to thee till death!" 

#83 "Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah"

Another great hymn for choir and congregation!  I love this hymn's message and musical lines.  In my personal hymnbook, I have marked it as follows for a choir arrangement:
Verse 1:  SATB
Verse 2:  Women on melody (first line); Men on melody (second line); Men on melody and woman on alto (third and fourth lines)
Verse 3:  Unison (broadly) for first two lines.  Men sing third line "Singing praises" with tenor singing the soprano line and bass singing the alto line.  The woman echo the next "Singing praises" with a soprano and alto duet.  All join SATB on "Songs of glory unto thee, unto thee,"; Last line: "Songs of glory unto thee" with fermatas on the last "un-to thee."

#82 "For All the Saints"

I like how this hymn changes from unison to harmony between the verses.  It's such a perfect choir hymn!  I love the "Alleluia" at the end of each verse.  A great hymn!  I wish I knew how to play it better--especially on the organ.  There are some big stretches with the fingers, so the only proper way to play it would be on an organ where you could use the pedals for the bass notes.  I'm  not that advanced on the organ!

#81 "Press Forward, Saints"

I love the upbeat tempo of this hymn!  The original tempo marking was quarter note = 120, but the markings in the hymnbook use quarter note=104-116.  I try to play it closer to 120.  I really like the text of this hymn and the fact that it was based on 2 Nephi 31:20. 

#80 "God of Our Fathers, Known of Old"

Believe it or not, I first remember hearing this song when I watched the funeral of President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 2, 1969.  (I had to google this to make sure, and I was able to find the funeral program outline):  http://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/all_about_ike/final_post.html
It lists the Fifth Army Band as playing "God of Our Fathers".  It's amazing to me that my brain remembered hearing this back in 1969, but I do!  I love the text by Rudyard Kipling:  "Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget."  This hymn needs to be sung more often!

#79 "With All the Power of Heart and Tongue"

This hymn was familiar to me, but it is another one of those that aren't sung very often in sacrament meeting.  The 2/2 timing throws me off a little, but the "Key of C' makes this easier to play. 

#78 "God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand"

I love the trumpet fanfare as the introduction to this hymn!  Back in the old Monterey Park Ward, we actually had a trumpet player (I think his name was Kirk Pierson) play his trumpet in sacrament meeting as the introduction to this hymn..  (This wouldn't happen in sacrament meeting now!)  As a ward (untrained) organist, I wanted to find the right stops to recreate the sound of the trumpets.  I played the trumpet fanfare on the swell and used these stops:  Trumpet 8'; Bassoon 16'; Nasat 2 2/3'; Blockflute 2'; and Spitz Prinz. 4'.  I then play the verses on the great manual.  This has worked well for me in sacrament meeting.  This hymn is one of my favorites to sing and play.

#77 "Great Is the Lord"

This hymn was included in the original 1835 LDS hymnbook with four additional verses.  I recognized this hymn when I played it, but it is not widely sung in sacrament meeting.  I like it as a choir hymn.

#76 "God of Our Fathers, We Come Unto Thee"

I remember singing this chorus growing up:  "Never!  Never!  Never from thee let us stray!  Ever!  Ever!  Ever to thee will we pray!"  Although this hymn is familiar to me, it's not one that is sung very much in the wards I've attended.  I like its catchy words!

#75 "In Hymns of Praise"

This hymn was only familiar to me because of a Mormon Tabernacle Choir arrangement that I've heard.  I would like to use this as a stake or ward choir hymn as follows:
Verse 1:  Unison; SATB on chorus
Verse 2:  Men (unison) Line 1; Women (unison) Line 2; SATB on chorus
Verse 3:  SATB (a capella)
Verse 4: SATB (full organ)
Tag verse 4: Last three measures: "Our King for-ev-er more."  Use fermatas on last three notes.

#74 "Praise Ye the Lord"

This is another hymn that was somewhat unfamiliar to me.  It's getting so that I can play the hymn and just by the tune I can tell whether it is from the 1800's or if it is modern.  As soon as I started playing this one, I thought it was an old one.  I looked down at the composer's name and it was written by Evan Stephens, who lived from 154-1930.  This is rarely sung in sacrament meeting, but I think it would make a nice choir hymn.

#73 "Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice"

I don't remember singing this hymn as I was growing up in the church, but when I played it this morning it seemed very familiar, so I must have heard it somewhere!  I like the tune and text, and I think I will schedule it for choir or sacrament meeting one of these days--if I am brave enough!

#72 "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty"

I love this hymn!  My favorite memory associated with this hymn is singing Mack Wilberg's arrangement in Switzerland at the Lucerne Music Festival in the summer of 2007 with the Southern California Mormon Choir.  I love to play this one on the organ with lots of stops.

#71 "With Songs of Praise"

This is a new hymn (as of 1985) so I didn't grow up in the church hearing it.  I like the tune and words.  I have notes in my personal hymnal to have the soprano sing the tenor line and octave higher, and the tenor sing the soprano an octave lower for the first seven measures.  Then break into SATB on the chorus.  I also have written to sing a "tag" ending (after the last fermata) and change the soprano's last three notes to high B, high C, and high D, with second sopranos singing the high B on the last note.  This would be a great hymn for a ward choir with these little changes.

#70 "Sing Praise to Him"

This is another favorite.  I love the tune and text of this hymn.  It's fun to play--especially on the organ with "all the stops pulled out"--not literally, but I do like to use a lot of stops to bring out a full, rich sound on the organ.  We don't sing this as often as I'd like in sacrament meeting.  I need to remedy that!

#69 "All Glory, Laud, and Honor"

I really like this addition to the 1985 hymnbook.  It wasn't one I grew up singing and when I first heard it, it became a favorite.  I like to schedule this song around Palm Sunday or Easter. 
There is a note in my personal hymnal to use "Great King of Heaven" (Hymn #63) as a "refrain" to "All Glory, Laud, and Honor".  I haven't tried it, but since both hymns are in the Key of "C", it would work easily.

#68 "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

This is another one of my favorite hymns.  The old hymnbook showed dynamic markings that I have transferred into my personal copy of the current hymnbook.  It is so much more effective with the correct dynamic markings, in my humble opinion.  I love to crank up the organ and use a lot of stops.  This is a difficult hymn to lead properly, but at the Church Music Workshop I learned a "stop; draw; beat again (retrace)" pattern that gives me more confidence to lead this hymn.  Using melded gestures for the fermatas helps the congregation follow the beat pattern.

#67 "Glory to God on High"

This is another easy hymn to play.  I have a note in my personal hymnal to sing the words of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" to this tune.  I tried it (in my head) and it fit, but it seemed weird to me.

#66 "Rejoice, the Lord is King!"

I love this hymn and choose it often as a sacrament meeting hymn.  I have a note in my personal hymnbook that the words of #66 can be sung to the tune of #265 ("Arise, O God, and Shine").  It's fun to "mix it up" with different tunes.  This hymn will always be a favorite of mine.

#65 "Come, All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth"

This hymn was familiar to me, but it is not widely sung much anymore.  It was included in the first LDS hymnbook in 1835.  I like the tune and words, but I probably won't use it in sacrament meeting as a congregational hymn because it is unfamiliar to most people.

#64 "On This Day of Joy and Gladness"

This hymn originally appeared as "Song of Praise" in a collection of songs (published by the church) called "The Choirbook".  I can't remember if it was for the dedication of the Victorville Stake Center or the Hesperia Stake Center, but I sang in the choir for the dedication and we sang the arrangement from "The Choirbook".  When the 1985 hymnbook was published, I was very happy to see this hymn included.  We've used the hymnal arrangement as a ward choir in sacrament meeting, but we don't sing it too much as a congregation.  I really like this hymn!

#63 "Great King of Heaven"

I have all kinds of notes scrawled in my hymnal on this hymn for a 4-part women's arrangement.  I even have a note to use hymn #69 as the third verse.  However, I don't remember performing, leading, or playing this hymn for anything special, so maybe my notes were just an idea someone gave me.  I like this hymn because it is easy to play and sing.

#62 "All Creatures of Our God and King"

This is another favorite of mine.  In fact, the first time I played the organ "officially" was in the Baldy Mesa Branch in 1987.  Our regular organist, Sister Nancy Lake, wasn't able to play the organ on Easter and this was one of the hymns.  This is a tough hymn to play, but I really enjoy it as a singer--it has a great alto part.

Two years ago I just happened to choose this hymn around April 22nd--Earth Day--and the bishop at the time, Bishop Mark Duran, asked me if I chose that song because of "Earth Day".  I hadn't, but the following year I chose it again.  It was kind of a little joke between he and I.  I think I will continue to choose it so we can sing, "Dear Mother Earth, who day by day; unfoldest blessings on our way...".

#61 "Raise Your Voices to the Lord"

I've used this short hymn in sacrament meeting around Thanksgiving weekend.  "Short and sweet" is how I would describe it.  It's easy to play and has a nice message.