10 Practical Collections for Church Organists
I’ve written before about some of my favorite church music collections for piano.
Today, I'm adding to that with a list of some of my favorite practical collections for organ.
These collections are particularly well-suited for new organists or those who may not have played for a while and are looking for a way to ease back into full pedal-playing. Some don’t include pedal parts at all!
You’ll find a mix of repertoire spanning hymn preludes, trios, offertories, Baroque pieces, hymn harmonizations for use with congregational singing, fugues, voluntaries, original music, and more.
These are some of my go-to sacred organ collections and resources:
10 Repertoire Collections & Resources for Church Organists
*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
1. Five Preludes on Familiar Hymns (Hopson)
Accessible writing makes this book a must-have. Five hymn preludes you can pull out and play with little preparation.
2. Baroque Music for Manuals (Wolff)
A great series of books with a wide variety of (Classical) music (with optional pedal). Great for weddings or service music.
3. The Oxford Book of Wedding Music for Manuals (various)
If you play a lot of weddings, this is a great resource to add to your library. This book features 26 simplified arrangements of wedding classics for manuals only, including Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, Prelude in C, Trumpet Voluntary in D, Hornpipe from Water Music, and more.
4. Old English Organ Music for Manuals (ed. C.H. Trevor)
This versatile collection features 14 Renaissance and Baroque pieces for manuals only. Great for preludes or postludes, weddings, funerals, or recitals.
5. Hymn Trios for the New Organist (Hudson)
Accessible arrangements of favorite hymns in trio-style, with only two pedal notes throughout (one for each foot).
6. Organ Preludes on Favorite Hymns (Jones)
Great arrangements of a nice variety of hymns. I love the titles included in this collection—the congregation always enjoys hearing "We're Marching to Zion" as a postlude!
7. Pedal-Less Harmonizations for Hymn-Singing (Lani Smith)
This book features 14 common hymn arrangements meant to accompany congregational singing. Smith recommends the following trick for leaving out the pedals: Set up a 16' combination on the Great manual and use it to play the bass line by itself while the right hand plays everything else on the Swell. Most hymns are presented in three versions: the version just described, a second version with both hands played on the Swell, and a free harmonization for the final stanza.
8. Easy on the Pedals (Victor Johnson)
Eight flexible arrangements of popular hymn tunes with minimal pedal parts. Great for weeks when you don’t have a lot of time to practice or for easing your way into more pedal-playing.
9. Music for Manuals series (Charles Callahan, Jr.)
A series of early-intermediate repertoire for every season of the church year, written for manuals only:
10. Pedal-Less Postludes for Organ (compiled by James Mansfield)
This book includes 21 postludes for general, Christmas, or Easter use, written on two staves (manuals only). Titles include programmatic hymn tunes or classical titles such as “March in D” or “Allegro Risolute” for more versatile programming.
I’d love to hear from you:
What are your favorite organ collections for manuals only or with minimal pedal?
Read more: Tried-and-True Favorite Collections for the Church Pianist
