For the Strength of the Hills

This arrangement is dedicated to Edna Richards Bucknum.  Our paths crossed briefly around the turn of the century.  It was our shared love of music that brought us together.  I visited her home a few times and was amazed at the view from her living room window overlooking Mirror Pond.  I remember having such a peaceful and familiar feeling as we visited, watching the swans glide across the water.   

Edna was born in Malad, Idaho in 1909.  She was encouraged by her mother to pursue an education.  She was 11 years old when women were granted the right to vote.  A very bright student, Edna graduated high school at age 15.  She went on to study at the University of Idaho, earning a BS degree. Edna taught high school Latin and Home Economics for a few years.  She later married and she and her husband eventually moved to Bend, Oregon in 1945 and were pioneers in their little local congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  

For several years, Edna owned and operated a children’s wear shop.  She taught music —  both voice and piano.   She also taught Home Economics at Bend Jr. High and in 1972 was honored receiving the “Woman of the Year” award.

Edna was fun, witty and a compassionate friend.  I wish I’d had time to get to know her better.  She is gone now, but her power and influence live on.  After she passed in 2003 at the age of 93, I was gifted some of her sheet music — organ music, piano music, and compositions she herself had written. Even now when I’m playing prelude out of books with worn and yellowed pages that she had scribbled notes on, I feel a deep connection with her. 

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,

Our God, our fathers’ God;

Thou hast made thy children mighty

By the touch of the mountain sod.

Thou hast led thy chosen Israel

To freedom’s last abode;

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,

Our God, our fathers’ God.

At the hands of foul oppressors

We’ve borne and suffered long;

Thou hast been our help in weakness,

And thy pow’r hath made us strong.

Amid ruthless foes outnumbered

In weariness we trod;

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,

Our God, our fathers’ God.

Thou hast led us here in safety

Where the mountain bulwark stands

As the guardian of the loved ones

Thou hast brought from many lands.

For the rock and for the river,

The valley’s fertile sod,

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,

Our God, our fathers’ God.

We are watchers of a beacon

Whose light must never die;

We are guardians of an altar

’Midst the silence of the sky.

Here the rocks yield founts of courage,

Struck forth as by thy rod;

For the strength of the hills we bless thee,

Our God, our fathers’ God.

Text by Felicia D. Hemans; adapted by Edward L. Sloan

Terri Crockett Hutchings · For the Strength of the Hills

Click HERE to download free sheet music

Forever Jack

This is Jack.  He’s the third child of a third child (Kenny) of a third child (me).  Kind of cool.  Jack doesn’t know it yet, but he is about to celebrate his first birthday.   How fun is that!?!  Adored by his family, Jack has always been a sweet, calming presence in his home.  Must be a third child thing.  

Big and strong, Jack has pretty consistently been hanging out in the 99th percentile in size for his age group since birth.   I love the dimples on his knuckles and his chunky thighs.  From the moment he noticed his two older brothers, he’s absolutely loved watching their every move.  Now that he is more mobile, it has opened up a whole new world for him.  It will be fun watching him as he tries to keep up with Charlie and Walter in soccer, basketball, biking, hiking the Blue Ridge Mountains and everything in between.  You know when these three brothers put their adventure hats on, they are in for a good time.  Soon Charlie will be giving him valuable tips on March Madness brackets and Walter will be helping him refine the art of skipping rocks in the creek. 

Jack and I already have so much in common . . .  we both love going on outings with the family,  we both love to laugh and we really love eating food.   His mom, his dad, his brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins have all been waiting for him and have loved him even before he was born. 

This one’s for you little buddy, with love.

 Piano solo - Forever Jack

Terri Crockett Hutchings · Forever Jack

Click HERE to download free sheet music 

Called To Serve

Called To Serve is a powerful hymn.  Its rousing words and melody stir the soul.  We sang it the day we said goodbye to our eldest son, Adam, as he set out to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Music filled the air in the great hall at the Missionary Training Center as hundreds of other families sang this hymn together one last time. The excitement was palpable. It was an emotional day for sure and one that would not soon be forgotten.    

Called to serve Him, heav’nly King of glory,

Chosen e’er to witness for his name,

Far and wide we tell the Father’s story,

Far and wide his love proclaim.

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;

Forward, pressing forward, as a triumph song we sing.

God our strength will be; press forward ever,

Called to serve our King.

Called to know the richness of his blessing—

Sons and daughters, children of a King—

Glad of heart, his holy name confessing,

Praises unto him we bring.

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;

Forward, pressing forward, as a triumph song we sing.

God our strength will be; press forward ever,

Called to serve our King.

Text: Grace Gordon

Coleen Menlove explains, “A call to serve is an invitation from Heavenly Father for greater spiritual growth. It is a call to overcome fear with faith and to learn greater humility as we accept the Lord’s will. The call can bring the peace and joy of eternal progression. It is an opportunity to be part of the miracle and wonder of this great cause and kingdom that is sweeping over the earth, blessing the lives of people wherever it reaches.”   

Opportunities to serve others are all around us including performing simple, everyday acts of kindness.  I know my days are always brighter when met by a smile.  As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we will find our true selves.  Keep being awesome!!

Piano duet:  Called To serve  

Terri Crockett Hutchings · Called To Serve

Click HERE to download free sheet music 

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

I can sit and study this photo for hours.   It was taken in 1886.  My great grandmother, Ida Rose Coen, is second from the right standing with her hand over her heart.  Her parents William and Lydia Coen were homesteading in Custer County, Nebraska when it was taken. 

My great great grandfather, William Gatton Coen, was born in Ohio in 1839.  The fourth of six children, he was still a young boy living in Indiana when his mother died.  His father remarried and fathered ten more children with his second wife.  Eventually the family relocated to Minnesota. 

Lydia Ressler was born in 1846 in Tipton, Indiana.  The eldest of three daughters, she was only 8 years old when her mother died.  That same year her father remarried and with his second wife they had 8 more children.  By the time Lydia was 14, the family had moved to Morristown, Minnesota.   

About the time the Resslers moved to Minnesota, 21-year-old William was among the first to respond to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers in the defense of the United States. He enlisted in the 1st Minnesota Infantry Company G.  He faithfully served his country in this capacity for three years and participated in fifteen different battles, being wounded at both Gettysburg and Antietam.  What Courage!  

In September of 1864, just four months after his discharge from the army, William and Lydia were married.  They started their family, and then by covered wagon moved to Central Nebraska.  It was still a pretty wild place back then.  One story is told of an encounter Lydia had when they lived away from town in a small cabin with a dirt floor, possibly the sod house pictured above.  William was away that day when a Native American man walked into their house, uninvited.  Lydia told her children to quickly hide under the bed.  She then proceeded to feed him biscuits and eggs.  Then he left.  Again — Courage!!

My Grandpa Kenny Nott remembered visiting his grandparents in Sargent when he was young.  He said his Grandpa Coen had three cherry trees in the yard.  And little Kenny loved cherries.  Grandpa Coen even at his advanced age, would go and get his ladder and climb to the top of the tree so that he could reach those few cherries and give them to his grandson because he knew he liked them so much.

Kind and loving people and friends to all, they lived out the remainder of their lives there in Nebraska, raising their family and teaching them of Christ. They were faithful members of the Free Methodist Church.  Lydia labored 14 years in the Nebraska conference of the church, having been granted an evangelist’s license.  In 1929, just after celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, Lydia passed away.  William followed three years later.

I have knelt at the foot of their graves and felt sweet peace in that quaint little cemetery nestled among cornfields.  It wasn’t until I read their obituaries that I realized the hymn Jesus, Lover of My Soul had been sung at both of their funerals.   It must have been a favorite of theirs.  I was surprised to find it in our hymnbook as I’m honestly not that familiar with it. So in their honor I have arranged this hymn - a hymn that passed through their hearts and minds all those years ago.

Terri Crockett Hutchings · Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Click HERE to download free sheet music 

Glory to God on High & Handel's Largo

For quite a while I have wanted to combine a hymn with a work from the genius, George Frideric Handel.  His oratorio Messiah is simply too perfect though.  I found myself backing away from the idea, afraid I wouldn’t do it justice.   

In Messiah, Handel immortalized John the Beloved’s angelic praise: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. … Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:12–13).  I can’t touch that!  So I put it out of my mind.

Over time my thoughts kept drifting back to Handel. I decided to pull out one of my super thick volumes of Piano Classics sheet music (that I don’t nearly pull out often enough.)  On the cover it reads:  THE LIBRARY OF PIANO CLASSICS - A COMPENDIUM OF THE WORLD’S MOST BELOVED MUSIC.  A SPLENDID ARRAY OF PIECES THAT OVER THE YEARS HAVE CAPTURED THE IMAGINATION OF MUSIC LOVERS.  MENTION A TITLE THAT IS UNIVERSALLY KNOWN AND LOVED AND, CHANCES ARE, YOU WILL FIND IT IN THIS VOLUME. . .  Opened it up to Handel.  Only two of his works were included, and as luck would have it, one of them jumped out at me. It was his beautiful piece Largo. 

So here you go — a piano arrangement of Glory to God on High & Handel’s Largo.  The hymn should probably be taken a little faster, and Largo a little slower.  Oh well, I guess just find the tempo that works for you.  

Glory to God on high!

Let heav’n and earth reply.

Praise ye his name.

His love and grace adore,

Who all our sorrows bore.

Sing aloud evermore:

Worthy the Lamb!

Jesus, our Lord and God,

Bore sin’s tremendous load.

Praise ye his name.

Tell what his arm has done,

What spoils from death he won.

Sing his great name alone:

Worthy the Lamb!

Let all the hosts above

Join in one song of love,

Praising his name.

To him ascribed be

Honor and majesty

Thru all eternity:

Worthy the Lamb!

Text:  James Allen

Revelation 5:9-13

Terri Crockett Hutchings · Glory to God on High & Handel's Largo

Click HERE to download free sheet music

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

The snow seems to have fallen early this year in our little town.  I always look forward to the Christmas season.  Magic fills the air as hearts reach out in love and service to others.  Nothing quite compares to having family and friends gather to celebrate the birth of the Savior.  One especially fond memory I have that somehow became a family tradition is that of Julie, Dineen, Jen and Julie K rocking out singing back up while my dad sat beside the piano and, in his Santa hat, chanted Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Priceless.

Back to the music — I started this piano solo in a minor key, letting my thoughts drift towards young Mary in her travail.  The mood quickly shifts to the wonder and awe of the newborn babe lying in His mother’s arms.  Midway through the piece it slips back into minor again as I contemplated shepherds journeying on, following the star.  Then at last, choirs of angels singing as shepherds kneel beside the cradle and witness for themselves the newborn king.  

“It is proper during this season when we commemorate His birth that we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in reverence and with love. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. He has brought meaning to our mortal existence. He has given us the gift of eternal life. He was and is the Son of God, who was ‘made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.’  

God be thanked for the gift of His Son, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, the Prince of Life and Peace, the Holy One.”   — Gordon B. Hinckley

Terri Crockett Hutchings · Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

Click HERE to download free sheet music  

Come, Ye Thankful People

The parable of the growing seed is found in Mark 4:26-29.

  

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;  And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

Wilfredo R. López explains, “In this parable the sower plants in faith and harvests in joy. Once the planting is done, he simply awakes one day to find that his seeds have grown to maturity. He discovers that under the influence of the soil’s richness and the sun, rain, wind, and dew, as well as other factors he cannot manipulate, the leaf sprouts and the ear is formed.”

It brings me peace knowing that God can and will accomplish his purposes.  And we, his children, become the harvest.  Our faith can grow even as a seed.  Near the end of the arrangement, using a chromatic ascending sequence I tried to represent a growing seed — the spiritual growth of one who believes in Christ.  

Come, ye thankful people, come;

Raise the song of harvest home.

All is safely gathered in

Ere the winter storms begin.

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied.

Come to God’s own temple, come;

Raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field,

Fruit unto his praise to yield,

Wheat and tares together sown,

Unto joy or sorrow grown.

First the blade, and then the ear,

Then the full corn shall appear.

Lord of harvest, grant that we

Wholesome grain and pure may be.

- Henry Alford

Terri Crockett Hutchings · Come, Ye Thankful People

Click HERE to download free sheet music