A combination of Where Can I Turn for Peace? and Be Still, My Soul
For SATB Chorus and Piano
Peace.pdf
Peace-CHORAL.pdf
I first arranged this many years ago but revised it for our Stake Conference last year. I smoothed out the harmony and added a rolling piano accompaniment to give the arrangement a sense of forward motion – moving from worry and longing to comfort and confident peace. Another case of combining melodies (my version of a “mash-up”, I suppose; see Testimony: I am a Child of God / I Believe in Christ) this piece offers the question and answer to recurring struggles we face in mortality. For those of you familiar with the old arrangement: I’d love to hear your thoughts on this new one.
I am looking for an arrangement of Where Can I Turn for Peace,and would love to hear this or look at it, but it doesn’t seem to be linked properly. Can that be fixed?
Thanks, hope to hear from you,
Nancy
Sorry about that, Nancy; the links should work now. Please let me know if you have any trouble. When you have a moment, I’d love to hear your opinions about the piece. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Steven: we just did your previous arrangment of Peace for our Stake Conference last week, which is where I got turned on to your work. I loved your arrangement, and I loved the chords; I’ve just been looking this new one over here in my office at work, and it looks really neat–I’ll take it home and try it out. Looks like another great one–thanks for sharing these with us. I’m looking forward to exploring more of your work. It’s rare to find really good writing like yours for LDS hymn arrangments.–Jeff Hall
You’re very welcome, Jeff. I’m really pleased that it worked for you. I’ll do my best to keep them coming. Thanks so much for the encouragement!
Is there a way to listen to this since I am not musical? I would love to use this in a lesson.
Thank you so much for this amazing piece!! We are a small church starting our choir on no budget. This piece is a blessing. God bless you and your giftedness. My choir was overwhelmed after the first read-through. It will become a standard.
In His Love,
Candy Cook
Blairsville Seventh-day Adventist Church
Thank you so much, Candy. I’m very happy that your choir enjoys the music! May the Lord bless you in your efforts. (Sorry it took me so long to respond!)
Kim: Unfortunately, I don’t have recordings of some of these pieces – though I wish I did. Making the audio is very time consuming and expensive, but I do manage it on occasion. I’ll put this one at the top of the list for the next round.
(PS – I’m sorry it took me so long to respond; we recently moved and I’ve been swamped with that. I can be much more attentive to the site now. Thanks!)
Any thoughts on a Violin or Flute part for Peace and Testimony? I’m working on a Youth Choir and I think we will be using both. Would love to add violins.
Thanks for all you do!
Thanks, Catherine. That’s a good idea. Would this be for youth players? I might be able to squeeze this in … when did you need it by, and which instrument would you prefer?
I heard this song in sacrament meeting today and insisted on finding out where I could find it. Honestly, I was very touched by the music. I wonder if you’d consider putting a recording, mp3 on here. I’m not very skilled at the piano, but I think I could follow along if I could get the piano tune in my head. And I just think it would bring me a lot of peace if I could listen to it from time to time. I’m going to convince my home ward choir to sing this.
Thanks so much for sharing your talent!
Thanks so much for the support and encouragement, Rachel. Unfortunately, I don’t have recordings of every piece. I am working on developing something, but my resources are limited and producing audio recordings is time (and sometimes money) intensive. If I am able to get a recording, I’ll certainly share it.
I’m trying to download your choral arrangement of Where can I turn for peace – Be still my soul…. and i am not able to get the accompaniment. Is there something i need to do?
It’s a beautiful arrangement and I’d like to use it for stake conference this October
Thanks for sharing!
The file Peace.pdf should have the accompaniment but we will email it to you, just in case. Thanks so much for supporting us. Good luck!
Our ward choir performed this piece a few months ago. It was so beautiful, I think we’ll repeat it for our Stake Conference. We got so many compliments on how great it sounded. Thanks so much for sharing your talents with us!
You are certainly welcome, Julie. And thank you for taking the the time to share your comments. Your comments and feedback really help keep me motivated!
HI STEVE, i am so blessed to find your site. I’ll try this one “PEACE” on our next conference..Please do me a favor.. please arrange “THE SPIRIT OF GOD” with running voices for SATB..like with voice variations..i love that hymn very much..have you heard the acapella arrangement of that of the men’s voices? ….just like the arrangement they’ve used…im looking forward to that…thank you for sharing your talent…im excited to use your arrangements…Godbless!
Hi maries,
Thanks so much for your comments. I will think about The Spirit of God. I’m not sure which arrangement you are referring to – do you know who the arranger is? There are so many good arrangements of this piece that I’m a little reluctant to do my own. Mack Wilberg has a great arrangement (used by both his Men’s Chorus and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). It might be a little difficult even for stake choirs, but it is beautiful. Perhaps you can look into that as well. Thanks again for your encouragement!
Oh, my goodness I’m so excited to have found this piece and can’t wait to have my choir sing it. I’m only disappointed that it will have to wait until October when it will fit the theme. I also am not sure I will be able to direct it because I may just cry all the way through. You see, I had a virus attack my spinal chord back in August. My legs went numb and I couldn’t walk, as well as other health issues. After a very lengthy stay at the University of Utah hospital and hours of therapy, I am now using two forearm crutches outside of the home, I use only one crutch, or, much of the time, nothing inside the home, and a wheelchair for lengthy outings. I also have three young children to raise. These two hymns are what have kept me strong through this trial and to see them put together in such a beautiful arrangement is just so neat. I can’t wait to hear the choir sing it.
Jayme: I am sorry to hear about your trials but also inspired by your courage in the face of them. These two hymns certainly reflect the faith needed to face any trial – especially one so difficult and daunting as yours. I am glad that you found this arrangement and hope it helps you and your choir to express in song your bright testimony. You will be in our thoughts and prayers (and I hope you get to conduct it!).
I love this arrangement. I’m the Branch Music Director and we did this as a quarter a few weeks ago. It turned out great! I’m looking for a good mens trio piece right now. If you feel the urge to write one it would be quite helpful. Haha.
Thanks so much for all you’ve done!
Jon
Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada
Thanks so much, Jon! I will certainly keep a men’s trio in mind for my next arranging opportunity. Good luck with your choir!