#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.