Piece: "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"
Arranger: Joel Raney
From: Flute Stylings 4
Recording: Alana Laufman, oboe and piano
The plight of the oboist is that when we start band, we are often alone. The luckiest schools can find three oboists per class. Our flute, clarinet, and trumpet friends are able to partake in normal adolescent socializing in their groups of 10-18+ students. Middle school and some high school band oboe parts are simplified flute parts, while clarinets are split into 3 parts, often each part splitting into two parts.
Throughout the 6-12 band education, it is natural that some kids quit and leave oboe forever. Our numbers are small compared to our friends. The flutes, clarinets, trumpets, and heaven forbid, saxophones, often remain in greater groups.
When it comes to arranging church music, this is reflected in the selection for oboe. Why write a book of music for the oboe when there are few oboes to begin with? The composer then has to bet that the few oboists out there who are confident enough to play in church will specifically search out their piece.
There isn't as much church oboe music available as there is church flute music.
Due to the popularity of the instrument, which creates competition, flutists tend to have a higher level of technical ability at a younger age.
This had me thinking, "So flute has more technical difficulties, can help me work on my high range extremities, and has lots of music written specifically for church use. Let's try this stuff!"
I chose Joel Raney's Flute Stylings 4 because this particular book includes more melodies used among members of my church body (WELS) than the other Flute Stylings books. Some of these beloved church melodies are "Be Thou My Vision", "Let All Things Now Living", "The God of Abraham Praise", "This Little Light of Mine", and "A Mighty Fortress is Our God".
Joel Raney also arranges and composes choir music. This is apparent in the way he chooses to arrange "A Might Fortress is Our God". The style begins lightly, builds in volume and thickness, and also transposes higher as the piece progresses. I quite enjoy this style. When I played it in church (I have a fun "tent" set-up to protect the congregation from my projectile molecules during my live performance...don't worry...), the piece was accessible and interesting.
What do you mean by accessible? Well, the audience can clearly hear the melody. For the average person who would rarely be found in a classical music experience, it works for them. I suppose I could label this "religious pops." What do you mean by interesting? The arrangement expects more from the performer than quarter notes and eighth notes. There are moments of fast playing expected, connecting the casual listener to the guitar-hero virtuosity of progressive rock to what they are experiencing in church. In a way, it is helpful to be somewhat entertaining to convince a congregation to not choose pre-recorded music for worship.
I needed to alter the range in some sections due to the comfort of fingerings, intonation, and my particular reed. I did go for the high G at the end of the piece, but I limited my range generally to high F. I took other sections down the octave to make the phrases connect better, depending on context. I feel that the range changes still work well with the piano arrangement. The piano part plays like a choral accompaniment. Playing calls for lots of octaves. The amateur pianist who is comfortable accompanying choirs can handle this.
"A Mighty Fortress is Our God" was originally written by Martin Luther in 1527 or 1528 OR 1529, depending on which musicologist you ask. It is based on Psalm 46: God is our refuge and our strength, a helper who can always be found in times of trouble." It was comforting to Martin Luther while he was hiding out at Coburg castle. It was use to comfort early Lutheran church fathers Philipp Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, and Caspar Cruciger when they were banished. It was sung by Gustavus Adolphus's army (h/t to ELCA Minnesotans) before the Battle of Leipzig in 1631. It was sung at the Diet of Augsburg. This was an important hymn to the people restoring the purity of God's Word in the church. (Aufdemberge, CT. Christian Worship: Handbook. Northwestern Publishing House, 1997.)
It is commonly sung on the first Sunday of End Times: Reformation Sunday. Our Pastor currently prefers the metric melody (original 16th century version). This particular arrangement is the 1738 altered isometric version. Both are lovely--the difference is the rhythmic choices. I find no problem with playing arrangements based on the different version than what is sung in church.
This is a lovely book. I highly recommend it!
