Oxford Hymn Settings for Organists: Lent and Passiontide

To have all of the [Oxford Hymns Settings] volumes in your hands would be to possess the entire church year . . . I was also very impressed with the music itself; and while I liked some pieces better than others, virtually all had something new to say . . . Several pieces were short and straightforward enough that I thought they would make wonderful hymn introductions . . . the publication is a valuable resource for church organists. The difficulty level is mostly between easy and medium, but well within the reach of most organists with a little work. * The American Organist, December 2015 *
These are all well-structured compositions rather than 'hymn-fillers'. Keys are chosen to match those frequently found in hymn books, but it would be a pity just to use these pieces (and inevitably adapt their length) to extend a hymn and fill a gap. I particularly enjoyed the pieces that confound expectations such as David Blackwell's 'Pastorale on Gerontius' with a gentle 9/8 canon that at the end slips from Dykes into Elgar, and Michael Bedford's 'Meditation on Easter Hymn' that is quiet throughout. 'Easter Hymn' and 'Passion Chorale' are the only two of the 62 hymns that have two settings, the second Easter Hymn being a wildly rhythmic treatment by Philip Moore. 'A New Commandment', 'The Servant King', 'Alleluia no. 1, Jesus is Lord' and a 'Jubilant Dance on Our God Reigns' provide coverage of hymns and songs that have more recently become established, alongside the hymns traditionally associated with these seasons. * Duncan Watkins, Sunday by Sunday (RSCM), June 15 *
Most of the settings contained therein are eminently approachable, and rarely peak past a Grade 8 standard of difficulty . . . The stylistic nature for many of the works included appears to vary greatly, switching between pastoral invocations, fanfare marches and glittering toccatas; the thematic glue that binds these pieces together is very much that of the late-romantic British style, where carefully prepared dissonances co-exist with frequent use of pleasant, consonant harmonies . . . In this useful and varied collection of pieces, we are given much music that is of use to the liturgical organist, providing reasonable interest and without exacting too hefty a technical challenge. * George Chittenden, New Zealand Organ News, August 15 *