The latest orchestrated hymn I’ve released is “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and it’s turned out to be one of my favorites. I did it up in the style of some of Aaron Copeland’s more lyrical orchestrations. I wanted it to have a somewhat regal, somewhat pastoral feel to it, hence the heavy use of alternating woodwind and brass sections. To be perfectly honest though, I think it ended up sounding more like a Leroy Anderson piece (he’s the guy responsible for those short character pieces like “Sleigh Ride” and the “Typewriter.”).

To give you a little background on the hymn itself, unless you are a Protestant that’s been sleeping under a rock since the time of Martin Luther, you ought to be just a little familiar with this piece, as it is one of the most well known, and according to sources, well-loved hymns in the Protestant musical repertory. Believed to have been written and composed by Martin Luther himself, and has been arranged by everyone from JS Bach all the way up to Claude Debussy.

The melody is a very powerful piece of work, and I can only hope I did it justice with this arrangement.

Yours in Music, as in Life.