Last verse harmonisation is a technique of hymn accompaniment used by church organists to vary the

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

of a hymn, during the last verse whilst the

melody A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...

remains unchanged, though sometimes embellished. If the congregation is led by a choir, then the choir will usually sing in

unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or pe ...

during the last verse, as opposed to in parts (usually

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part ...

) for the other verses, and the trebles or sopranos (or occasionally tenors) may sing a descant. The purpose of last verse harmonisation is to add interest, variation and excitement to a

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrai ...

. Organists recommend it as a technique which encourages the congregation to sing. More experienced organists with a greater understanding of

will usually improvise the last verse, whereas beginners are likely to use harmonisations that have either been included in the

hymn book A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...

, or published in a collection of harmonisations. When a descant is sung, the organist must either keep to the original

, or use an alternative one that has been written specifically for use in conjunction with the descant, as the

of the descant may not sound right with other harmonies.

Characteristics

Usually the organ accompaniment to the last verse of a

will be heavier (in musical terms) than the standard

. Typically it will include lower or more profound bass notes, which will almost certainly be played on the pedalboard, and more frequent use of secondary dominants, particularly over chromatic movement in the bass. Often there are more notes in each

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

—often five or more as opposed to four or fewer in the

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

. Occasionally the harmony will differ entirely from the standard arrangement in places, giving the melody completely different effect. A notable example is

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge ...

' harmonisation of the seventh verse of the famous

" Adeste Fideles". This opens with the organ playing the

at three pitches (each an

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

apart; the lowest played on the pedalboard), which is another popular technique of last verse harmonisation.

Performance

Organists will usually vary their use of stops throughout a hymn tune, including changing them for the last verse. They will usually pull out stops that emphasise the bass-line, or that are particularly loud, rich or harsh sounding. If the organ has a tuba stop, then this will often be used with the pedalboard, as it provides the loudest

bass note In music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice (the note furthest in the bass.) Three situations are possible: # T ...

s on the organ, and reeds are also useful (if available). Sometimes hymn books and other compilations of tunes (such as ''

Carols for Choirs ''Carols for Choirs'' is a collection of choral scores, predominantly of Christmas carols and hymns, first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press. It was edited by Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, and is a widely used source of ...

'') that publish last verse harmonisations will indicate suitable stops to be used, but this is ultimately a choice for the organist.

References

{{Reflist Church music

Characteristics

Performance

See also

Further reading

References