Two-Minute Offertories: Concise Hymn Settings for Piano.

Two-Minute Offertories: Concise Hymn Settings for Piano, by Cindy Berry. 2005. 48pp. $10.95; Rocky Mountain Praise: Hymns of Ascent for Solo Piano, arranged by Frank Milholland. 2005. 52 pp. $9.50; Morning Has Broken: Classic Hymns in Classical Settings, by Shelley Houser. 2005. 23pp. $6.50; Lord, Be Glorified: Timeless Hymns in Classical Settings, arranged by Marilyn Reimer. 2005. 44pp. $8.50. The FJH Music Company Inc. (Westport Business Park, 2525 Davie Rd., Ste. 360, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33317).

For the pianist on the lookout for fresh arrangements of classic hymns (using the term "hymn" in its most general sense), FJH offers four new collections by as many talented arrangers. At the request of many pianists, Cindy Berry, prolific composer/arranger, provides 15 concise arrangements in her volume, Two-Minute Offertories. Useful for purposes other than offertories, these arrangements, with their creative harmonies, melodic manipulations and sound structure, would be gratifying even for pianists beyond the specified intermediate level who need a quick read. The score contains helpful fingerings and expressive markings, but most pedaling indications are directives such as "pedal sparingly." For the more popular taste, two selections are set in an upbeat style.

The Colorado scenery inspired Rocky Mountain Praise. These nine arrangements of traditional hymns are uniformly sophisticated and finely crafted. Accompaniment patterns lay comfortably in the hand and the broad harmonic vocabulary includes a few bold moments where accidentals abound. A few of the later selections present rapid octave passages and optional cadenzas that sound more difficult than they are.

Following the trend of combining hymns with classical themes, Morning Has Broken contains 10 such arrangements. A typical format is classical theme/hymn/allusion to classical theme. Meter changes in some arrangements make the transition from classical theme to hymn a bit forced, but other pairings work together effortlessly.

In the same vein, Lord Be Glorified effectively combines nine hymns ("Lord Be Glorified" and "Majesty" are more contemporary than the others) with beloved classical themes. Hymns and classics are skillfully matched and artfully interwoven, as if written for each other. The more extended and challenging arrangements would be suitable for recitals and contests.