Old and New Hymns by American Composers Composed and/or Arranged for Piano by Lois Veenhoven Guderian

Description: Still popular and meaningful to Christians today, this album includes piano solo arrangements of several of the most popular American hymns of the 19th century. Guderian’s arrangements of the beautiful old hymns unmistakably remind the listener of the original beauty and meaning of the hymn yet bring them into the present with rich contemporary harmonies, and additions of Guderian’s original music synthesized into the solo. Recorded here on an acoustic grand, the arrangements are written for people who love to play the piano!

Note from Lois: This album came about on account of my playing for church services in my church. Each week, after church members would come up to me and tell me how much they enjoyed my playing of some of their favorite hymns. At the time, I did not mention that I was playing my own arrangements and compositions. I decided that to surprise them! I would record the hymn pieces for them, make them available to anyone who might enjoy them and also publish my manuscripts for the pieces so others could learn how to play them. Pianists, if you would like to play these solos in church or for friends, family and yourself, see also the publication of the manuscripts available on this page of the website: Sacred Piano Solos for Church Pianists or Anyone: American Hymns Edition by Lois Veenhoven Guderian.

Although the lyrics of the old hymns are not provided here, for me, the inspiration to arrange the hymns chosen here absolutely came from the combination of the lyrics and music for each one – in other words, the meaning of the hymn. That meaning influenced the arranging process. I hope and pray that I have kept the original intent of the hymn. This project has been a labor of love. My heartfelt admiration and respect go to the departed hymn writers and composers who collaborated on the originals. I hope you enjoy these recordings.

Special thanks to Bobby Thompson for mastering the files for electronic distribution. One awesome sound engineer! bobbyaudioproduction@gmail.com