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I arrange hymns on the piano in my spare time. These songs are completely free and are here for you. The only thing I get out of doing this is the hope that other people will enjoy it. As I am LDS (aka mormon), a number of my arrangements are specific to my faith. However, I also have a number of arrangements of other traditional hymns that are common among most Christian denominations. If you like what you find here, please share this website with your friends. Also, please leave comments. It's the only way I know if you enjoy it or not.

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"Sweet Hour of Prayer" Medley



This hymn arrangement combines the hymns "Sweet Hour of Prayer" and "In Humility, Our Savior".

Download Music Now (.mp3)


Download Sheet Music Now (.pdf)

The text of "Sweet Hour of Prayer" was first published in the New York Observer in 1845. According to Thomas Salmon (the publisher of the article), the text had come from a blind English preacher named William Walford (1772-1850) who still resided in England (1). The music was subsequently composed by the musician William Bradbury (1816-1868) who notably also composed the music to "Jesus Loves Me" (2). The original hymn words and music in SATB format is available here.

The text of "In Humility, Our Savior" was written by LDS Hymnwriter Mabel Jones Gabbott (1910-2004). So far as I can tell, it was first included in the LDS Hymnal in 1985. Gabbott also notably wrote the LDS Childrens Hymn "He Sent his Son". The text was set to music written by Welsh musician Rowland Pritchard (1811-1887). This same melody has actually been used for a number of different hymns, including "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" (3). The original hymn words and music in SATB format is available here.

In this arrangement, "Sweet Hour of Prayer" is set in a minor key as a reflection of prayers offered in times of grief and sorrow. The arrangement then transitions into "In Humility, Our Savior", where we are reminded that Jesus Christ himself uttered such prayers too. According to biblical record, in the garden of Gethsemane, just prior to dying on the cross, Christ pled "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (4). The text from "In Humility, Our Savior" eloquently states:

Let me not forget, O Savior,
Thou didst bleed and die for me
When thy heart was stilled and broken
On the cross at Calvary

In the final few lines of the arrangement, the minor key resolves to a major key, symbolic of the resolution of the prior loss or grief. Because of Christ's prayer: "not my will, but thine, be done", even our darkest prayers can indeed become sweet.

39 comments:

  1. Super-Duper site! I am loving it!! Will come back again - taking you feeds also, Thanks.

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  2. Truly beautiful song! I love your arrangements. My very favorite out of anything I've listened to, truly. Can't wait for the sheet music!

    p.s. I played your Joseph Smith Medley for sacrament meeting quite a while back-- of course everyone loved the arrangement. Thank you!

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  3. Your arrangements are all so beautiful -- thank you for sharing them! I had no problems with the downloads.

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  4. Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing your talent. I have searched a long time for pieces arranged with a more haunting and passionate feel instead of the conventional standbys. I am so happy I found your site! Will be sure to pass your blog onto everyone I know who would appreciate it as I do.

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  6. You are talented! I just listened to this first one. I'm always looking for music I can sing to. Can't wait to listen to more.

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  7. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your work, you are amazing please keep sharing:) and more sheet music.

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  8. Thank you so much for all of your beautiful music!!! I love turning on your music every Sunday. Your music fills our homes and hearts with the Spirit. Also, thank you for donating all of your wonderful music and pieces to all of us listeners.

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  9. Thank you so much for your beautiful music! Your music fills our hearts and home with the Spirit. It is my favorite music to turn on every Sunday. Thank you for giving it to all of us!

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  10. Love your blog and music!!

    feedback on downloading host site: Link for PDF goes straight to yahoo jobs and I can't seem to get it to download correctly.

    There are TONS of pop ups and ads. You also have to be sure to uncheck the yahoo box every time you download.

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  11. Never heard of your site. I love your arrangements. Thanks for creating and for sharing. You are a talent with so much potential. I hope to see you do big things in life!!

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  12. I love all of your arrangements - they are SPECTACULAR!

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  13. Just found your site through a link a friend put up on their blog. LOVIN it. Thanks for the music.

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  14. I love your music :) Thank you! I downloaded the pdf's so I could share them with others, too! And the download site works well. :)

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  15. Songs? Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

    MediaFire? Ehh… it got the job done, but it was cumbersome (I couldn't download all of the songs at once unless I paid for an account, which is fair) and gave me popups whenever I clicked to download one. Even with my pop-up blocker on. Worth it to get this beautiful music, but wouldn't mind something different. (Granted, I have absolutely no suggestions to give. Sorry!

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  16. Thank you so much for letting beautiful piano music be up for free! I found this blog through your myspace page.
    I'm helping my best friend arrange music for her upcoming wedding reception. She requested piano solo arrangements of church songs. I was surprised how hard it is to find pretty arrangements of LDS piano songs without synthesizer or other instrument accompaniment. All your songs are very nicely done, and I think you have talent to spare!

    Thanks again! My friend really likes your music.
    ~e

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  17. Rarely leave comments, but really cool blog, good luck to you!

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  18. I love your Arrangments:)I don't like most hymn Arrangements you are the 3rd composer that I will actually play there Arangements of Hymns. I'm quite picky lol. But I absolutly loved your arrangments I can't believe it took me this long to find this site.

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  19. I love your arrangements. It really brings the words of the songs new meaning, And makes my baby stop crying too :)

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  20. beautiful. i just turned to my husband and said you have to listen to this, we need to add this to our church library. he says--That is my mission buddy! what a small world it is, especially when you are mormon. my husband, by the way, is joey. anyway, you are very talented!

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  21. Noel,

    Thanks for sharing that (very small world eh). Elder Boone is one of my favorites from the mission. You got yourself a keeper!

    Spencer

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  22. Very beautiful arrangement
    God Bless your talent
    :)

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  23. Played this arrangement in Sacrament last week on the 14th.
    I got very many compliments about the song arrangement and I think you need to know that many people LOVE your work.
    I'm truly love it myself and you have such an amazing talent that I feel very lucky to be able to listen and play it.
    Thank you so much for doing what you do, you continue to bless the lives of many!

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  24. Thank you soo much for putting up these songs for free! They are so beautiful and as someone said, you would not believe how hard it is to find good arrangements for hymns on piano. So thank you, thank you! Keep it up! You are unbelievably talented!

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  25. i looooove sweet hour of prayer. i've beeen looking for sheet music but can't find it:( but oh well

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  26. Imagine my THRILL when I was online looking for some hymn arrangements and the first site I click no was YOURS! I miss doing music with you, Spence! I hope that you guys are doing well in SLC and those babies are as beautiful as you and lovely Sierra, as I am sure they are. Love this arrangement! I am awed you have found time to do all of this! Give my love to your beautiful wife. I miss her... and you, I suppose! ;)

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  27. Thank you for responding to my email today. Love the passionate-reaching upwards in this song. Your work is by far my favorite of the many arrangements -- Thank you! You are a blessing to many!

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  28. Great arrangements! you are truly talented! Thanks for sharing and letting us all appreciate your gift!

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  29. Thank you SO much! I love to see folks sharing their talent, very grateful to you for the free downloads!!! Each song is unique and just lovely!

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  30. These songs are amazing!!!!!! Thank you so much for doing these. I just discovered your YouTube videos and it brought me to your blog. These are some of the best arrangements of hymns I've heard and I will listen to these often. It's great to have something like this to study to or play on Sundays :) THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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  31. I'm really enjoying the design and layout of your website. It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Fantastic work!

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  32. Beautiful. Thank you.

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  33. THANK YOU for this beautiful medley!! What an awesome arrangement - moving, and a pleasure to play!! :D

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  34. A beautiful arrangement indeed of this famous hymn. There is nothing as sweet as communing with our loving God.

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  35. Any chance you're still arranging more hymns? I just stumbled on your music on youtube. You have a gift- your renditions of these songs are just beautiful. I just wish there were more to add to my playlist. :)

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  36. This piece is so beautiful! Thank you for the free arrangement, I am going to play this for my ward :)

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  37. I just finished writing an arrangement of these same two hymns before having any idea that yours existed but now I'm in love. I cried through the whole thing. Thank you for this gorgeous music! I really hope you arrange more in the future.

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  38. Thank you so much for posting these beautiful hymn arrangements! They've really given me a sense of comfort for upcoming midterms. I look forward to hearing future arrangements!

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  39. Wow These are so beautiful! THank you!!!

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