Like ?How Great Thou Art,? ?It Is Well With My Soul? is one of the most well-known and beloved gospel songs/hymns, expressing confidence in the promises of Christ ? his mercy, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal Kingship ? despite the trials and tribulations of this present life. The song?s text has its origins in the tragic events experienced by hymn-writer Horatio Spafford (1828-1888), who in 1871 suffered the death of an infant son and the loss of his personal fortune due to the Great Chicago Fire, and two years later suffered the deaths of his four daughters when the sailing ship Ville du Havre, on which his family was traveling for vacation, was struck by the English ship Lochearn and sank in only 12 minutes. Spafford, who had sent the family ahead while attending to business stateside, sailed to England to meet his surviving wife, and on the journey penned ?It Is Well With My Soul.? Philip Bliss (1838-1876), a teacher, singer, evangelist, gospel music composer, and family friend, wrote the music to accompany Spafford?s text and named the tune ?Ville du Havre.? The text and tune were published together in Gospel Hymns No. 2 (1876), compiled by gospel singer/songwriter Ira D. Sankey and Bliss. This enduring hymn?s comforting words have encouraged countless individuals facing their own trials and tribulations; and its flowing, soaring tune is one of the most memorable in all of hymnody.

?How Can I Keep From Singing?? is, perhaps, the second most well-known gospel hymn authored by Robert Lowry (1826-1899) ? the first being ?Shall We Gather at the River?? Born in Philadelphia, Lowry studied at Pennsylvania's Lewisburg (today Bucknell) University; was ordained a Baptist minister in 1854; served in churches in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey; and later returned to Lewisburg and served as chancellor. Best remembered as a writer of more than 500 gospel songs and hymns, Lowry served as editor for Biglow and Main publishing company, where he edited numerous gospel song books and hymn books. Like Horatio Spafford?s ?It Is Well With My Soul,? Lowry?s ?How Can I Keep From Singing?? (also known as ?Endless Song?) expresses confidence in the eternal promises of Christ in spite of temporal circumstances. Its first verse and refrain proclaim: "My life flows on in endless song above earth?s lamentation; I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn, that hails a new creation. (Refrain): No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I?m clinging; since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" This intermediate-level arrangement is quick to rehearse, satisfying to play, and well-received by audiences. Suitable for high school ensembles, church and community musicians, and professionals for use in concert, recital, and worship. Ideal as a prelude or offertory/communion anthem. ©Copyright 2016 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

One of the best-loved gospel songs worldwide, ?How Great Thou Art? began as a nine-stanza hymn of praise, ?O Store Gud? (?O Great God?), written in 1885 by Swedish poet and lay minister Carl Gustav Boberg (1859?1940). In 1891 Boberg published the poem, accompanied by a Swedish folk melody, in Sanningsvittnet (Witness for the Truth), a weekly Christian journal of which he was editor. Today, the tune is commonly named ?Sanningsvittnet? in hymnals. From its Swedish origins, the text was translated to German in 1907, then to Russian in 1912. The Russian text became the basis for a translation to English by Stuart W. K. Hine (1899?1989), a British Methodist missionary who discovered it in 1931 while on mission in the Ukraine. Hine's work commonly contains four verses: the first two being a relatively close translation of stanzas by Boberg, and the latter two being original verses by Hine. Published in 1949, ?How Great Thou Art? gained great popularity in North America after George Beverly Shea began singing it in the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades in 1955. It has been named the #1 favorite hymn by respondents to various polls in both the United States and United Kingdom. ©Copyright 2013 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

Brass quintet arrangement of this traditional hymn. An optional Trombone 2 part is includedcopying the Horn part.

"Down to the River to Pray" (also known as "Down in the River to Pray," "Down in the Valley to Pray," and "The Good Old Way") is a 19th-century American folk hymn variously attributed as an African-American spiritual/slave song, Appalachian song, and gospel song. In recent years, it was popularized in the 2000 motion picture, "O Brother, Where Art Thou," and by folk/bluegrass performer Alison Kraus.

In this arrangement, the first three presentations, or verses, of the pentatonic tune employ simple, traditional harmony and limited instrumentation, evoking the simplicity of folk-singing style. Verse 4 is characterized by a direct key change up a fourth (from concert Eb to Ab) and more active harmonies. After a short, two-bar modulation up one more step to Bb major, the final verse begins with rising parallel harmonies under the melody in trumpet 1, and continues with more contemporary harmonies. The piece concludes with a simple "Amen"-like ending.

©2019 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

"Faithfulness" is a medley of three beloved hymns on the topics of God's faithfulness to his people and their faithful belief and life in Him. It includes "Great is Thy Faithfulness," "Faith of Our Fathers," and "My Faith Looks Up to Thee," and it incorporates original harmonizations, transitions/modulations, and orchestration for brass quintet.

Ideal as a prelude to worship, as an offertory, or at communion, this advanced-intermediate arrangement is suitable for proficient high school musicians and church/community ensembles.

Includes full score and parts for Bb trumpets 1-2, horn in F, trombone, and tuba.

©2019 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com.

?Angels We Have Heard on High? (?Gloria?) is a Christmas carol based on an 18th-century French noel, ?Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes.? The well-known English-language version of the carol with text by James Chadwick (1813-1882) retains the tune of the French noel, though Chadwick?s text is a largely original adaptation, with parts only loosely translated from the French. The carol commemorates the birth of Jesus as told in the Gospel of St. Luke, and its chorus recalls the ?multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ?Glory to God in the highest?.?? (Luke 2:13-14). The signature feature of the chorus is a rising and falling melisma on the ?o? vowel of ?Gloria? ? thus, the tune is often ascribed the name ?Gloria.? Its familiar harmonization was written by the American organist and composer Edward Shippen Barnes (1887-1958) in 1937. In this festive arrangement, the tune and refrain are presented multiple times in a variety of keys, harmonizations, and orchestration. ©Copyright 2017 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

?The Morning Trumpet,? by Benjamin Franklin White (1800-1879), is a camp revival song published in 1844 in the first edition of The Sacred Harp, a shape-note hymn book compiled by White and E.J. King (1821-1844). Shape-note tunes are often predominantly pentatonic, with harmonies that emphasize stark intervals of fourths and fifths. In four-part harmony, the tune is typically in the tenor voice. This arrangement preserves the tune but harmonizes it in a more contemporary style, and features alternating calls between first and second trumpet. Includes snare drum part (optional, may be successfully performed by brass quintet alone). ©Copyright 2012 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

This arrangement starts with a slow statement of the melody, then starts swinging at very laid-back tempo, and finally moves to a faster, more lively tempo before ending broadly. It's the old New Orleans funeral routine--slow to the cemetery, and up-beat on the way back. There's plenty of call and response, and I think you'll enjoy the harmonies and the "improvised" lines. The arrangement is suitable for professionals or advanced amateurs. Please give the MP3 a listen. Duration: 2 minutes, 25 seconds.

?An American Folk Hymn Medley? brings together three 19th-century shape-note tunes in a contemporary setting for brass quintet. HOLY MANNA is popularly known as ?Brethren We Have Met to Worship? from its association with a text by Methodist clergyman George Atkins (1793-1827). It was first published in Columbian Harmony, a shape-note tune book, in 1829, and is attributed to William Moore, the publisher. RESTORATION, first published in William Walker?s 1835 shape-note hymnal, Southern Harmony, was later renamed ARISE from its association with a text by Joseph Hart (1712-1768) in which the chorus begins ?I will arise and go to Jesus?.? PLEADING SAVIOR, published in Joshua Leavitt?s 1830 compilation The Christian Lyre, is today best-known in many churches as the accompaniment to the text ?Sing of Mary, Pure and Lowly.? In this arrangement, the similar tunes HOLY MANNA and PLEADING SAVIOR, both in major tonality and 8.7.8.7 poetic meter, frame the contrasting minor tonality tune, RESTORATION. Contrasting instrument textures, keys, and tempi, and a mix of both traditional and contemporary harmonies breathe a fresh spirit into these venerable tunes.