Religious Arrangements

How Great the Wisdom and the Love – Vocal Solo

Marilee Leishman Religious Arrangements 1 Comment
How Great the Wisdom and the Love – Vocal Solo

Text by Eliza R. Snow: In the midst of the Missouri persecutions in the late 1830s, Joseph Smith called on Eliza to write on behalf of her people and in their defense.4 She accepted the challenge, and by the 1850s, she became known as “Zion’s Poetess.” She wrote more than 500 poems in which she chronicled the history and beliefs of the Saints. Many of her poems became beloved hymns and were sung around pioneer campfires, in meeting rooms, and in temples. (source)

Read more

Experiment Upon His Word

Marilee Leishman Religious Arrangements 1 Comment
Experiment Upon His Word

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

Read more

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Marilee Leishman Religious Arrangements 1 Comment
Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Hello! This week I created a vocal arrangement of the old Christian hymn, Jesus, Lover of My Soul, which is one of the suggested songs for this week’s Come Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson. I pushed myself on the speed of the left hand notes for the instrumental section and last verse of the song. It took some practice for me to get it up to speed and I had to record it multiple times to get it right. I never know what I am going to do with a hymn when I first look at it. I just start playing around with it and eventually come up with something. It takes some effort! ha ha. 

Read more

Help Me Teach with Inspiration

Marilee Leishman Religious Arrangements 1 Comment
Help Me Teach with Inspiration

Help Me Teach with Inspiration is one of the suggested songs for this week’s Come Follow Me  Book of Mormon lesson studying Alma 8-12. In this arrangement, I slowed down the speed of the hymn significantly which gave me more time to play around with the melody and rhythm a bit. It isn’t an oft sung hymn, at least in my experience at Church, but actually has a really pretty melodic structure.

Read more

The Lord is My Shepherd Men’s Trio

Marilee Leishman Religious Arrangements 1 Comment
The Lord is My Shepherd Men’s Trio

Hello! This week, for our Come Follow Me  Book of Mormon lesson, I chose to select The Lord is My Shepherd. This is an arrangement I did for a men’s musical number we needed at our recent church conference for the adults in our area. I had adapted it from a previous piano solo to suit this Men’s trio. RD Parsons, Kevin Forbush and Josh Pack are on vocals and did such a wonderful job recording and interpreting this beautiful hymn. I am grateful to them for allowing me to record and film them for this setting!

Read more

Testimony

Marilee Leishman Religious Arrangements 1 Comment
Testimony

Testimony is one of the suggested songs to go along with the Come Follow Me  Book of Mormon lesson this week. Loren C. Dunn (1930-2001) wrote the words to this hymn. He was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from 1968 until his death. The writer of the music, Michael Finlinson Moody (b. 194), said about the hymn: “Elder Loren C. Dunn once attended a leadership meeting and jotted lines of poetry in response to the powerful testimonies he heard there. These thoughts evolved into a hymn with a number of verses.”

Read more