Description

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Sacred Music Library is proud to present the last in our first series of books of organ music for the Liturgical Year. After the great Feasts of Easter and Pentecost, and the solemnity of Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi, we embark upon the long summer and fall days of Ordinary Time, which can seem to stretch inexorably into a never-ending future. Without an overarching "theme" it can be a challenge to keep a sense of musical direction in a period where there are few feast days.

Noel Jones has met this challenge and has succeeded in creating a truly useful selection of pieces that will make Ordinary Time fizz with interest and musical satisfaction.

When Noel first talked about this project with me, we both agreed that it would be great to "over deliver". By that, we wanted to see volumes that would have more music than any other comparable volume on the market; enough that organists would be able to return year after year and still gain something new. I believe that this has proved to be the case, and a discussion with a Quarterly subscriber at the recent NPM Convention in Cincinnati has shown this to be true. is particular organist said that it would probably take him five years to play all the music in these volumes. That is exactly what we wanted this series of books to be.

In addition to a broad selection of preludes and postludes, Noel has also established a Wedding section in this volume, where you may find excellent choices for the lengthy wedding preludes that we are often called upon to fill.

In addition, Noel has included some more choral anthems. This was an excellent idea in the last issue, and it allows these timeless works to be heard at mass, even where there is not a choir available to sing them in their original form. Their harmonic structure is uniquely suited for inclusion in the sacred liturgy.

This set of four books has truly been a labor of love. Noel has maintained its high standard of excellence throughout, both in terms of the music selected, and the quality of the engraving. In this he has been sup- ported and assisted with great diligence and skill by his wife, Ellen Doll Jones, a professional organist of high caliber herself, together with the excellent team of engravers at Frog Music Press.

The Verdin Co. has been honored to be associated with such an impressive and important contribution to the musical resources available to Catholic Church musicians, and we hope that all four volumes will continue to provide you with a rich source of inspiration for many years to come.

Neil Weston

Cincinnati.