Hymns for the Weary
Thousand Tongues
www.thousandtongues.org

Solo piano arrangements of traditional hymns
By David L. Ward

Notes
I have been playing the piano as an accompanist to Christian congregational singing for over twenty years. When I first started, my skills and sensibilities were only in the "contemporary" vein, playing simple chords behind more popular and modern tunes. But as the years went by, what endured both in my life and the lives of the believers around me were traditional hymns. This should not be a surprise because many of these hymns have already stood the test of time over generations and cultures.

For many years I have been asked to play a gentle medley of well-known hymns for various church related functions such as weddings and memorial services. This recording is intended to serve that purpose both for public functions or for private reflection. It has been designed as a "gapless" CD, the benefits of which are lost when computer audio programs add fancy features like shuffling and fading. To understand the flow of the entire recording, turn off these features.

This recording has come about in part because I have been the recipient of a world class grand piano by God's incredible grace to me and my family. Since I have some basic recording gear, this was tracked live in my living room near Nashville, TN. I hope that the gaffes or noises you might hear because this is a live project will add to its authenticity and give you the sense that you're right in the room with me.

If you aren't familiar with these hymns, let me encourage you to look them up and read their lyrics to understand the ideas and emotions these tunes are trying to convey. When I studied jazz in college, we were required to read the lyrics to the standards that make up instrumental jazz even though we were not likely to hear them sung.

May these melodies and the lyrics they hopefully call to mind minister to you in times of weariness as they have to me.

David L. Ward

Track List
1. Holy, Holy, Holy
2. Great Is Thy Faithfulness
3. Be Thou My Vision
4. Fairest Lord Jesus
5. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
6. Take My Life and Let it Be
7. Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
8. Be Still, My Soul
9. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
10. Grace Greater than Our Sin
11. The Solid Rock
12. Amazing Grace
13. I Need Thee Every Hour
14. Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me
15. Man of Sorrows
16. How Great Thou Art
17. I Surrender All
18. It Is Well
19. Improvisatory Interlude
20. O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
21. The Church's One Foundation
22. Jesus Paid It All
23. This Is My Father's World
24. Have Thine Own Way, Lord
25. Day by Day
26. Abide with Me
27. May the Mind of Christ, My Savior
28. How Great Thou Art (Jazz)
29. Amazing Grace (Jazz)

Tune names and composers
1. NICEA - John B. Dykes (1823-1876)
2. FAITHFULNESS - William M. Runyan (1870-1957)
3. SLANE - Ancient Irish folk tune
4. CRUSADER'S HYMN - Silesian folk tune
5. NETTLETON - John Wyeth (1770-1858)
6. HENDON - Henri A. C. Malan (1787-1864)
7. NEAR THE CROSS - W. Howard Doane (1832-1915)
8. FINLANDIA - Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
9. HAMBURG - Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
10. MOODY - Daniel B. Towner (1850-1919)
11. SOLID ROCK - William B. Bradbury (1816-1868)
12. NEW BRITAIN - American folk tune
13. NEED - Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
14. TOPLADY - Thomas Hastings (1784-1872)
15. HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR - Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876)
16. O STORE GUD - Swedish folk tune
17. SURRENDER - Winfield S. Weeden (1847-1908)
18. VILLE DU HAVRE - Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876)
19. David L. Ward
20. PASSION CHORALE - Hans L. Hassler (1564-1612)
21. AURELIA - Samuel S. Wesley (1810-1876)
22. ALL TO CHRIST - John T. Grape (1835-1915)
23. TERRA BEATA - Franklin L. Sheppard (1852-1930)
24. ADELAIDE - George C. Stebbins (1846-1945)
25. BLOTT EN DAG - Oscar Ahnfelt (1813-1882)
26. EVENTIDE - William H. Monk (1823-1889)
27. ST. LEONARDS - A. Cyril Barham-Gould (1891-1953)
28. Arr. by David L. Ward
29. Arr. by David L. Ward

Personnel:
David L. Ward - Piano

We would like to thank the following people or groups (in no particular order) for making this album possible in a variety of ways:

Gracia Brown, Elizabeth Ward, Rick & Pam Owen, Maurice Hinson

For other music and information about Thousand Tongues, visit thousandtongues.org