This one's for my friend Gwen. She's a real sweetheart. Whenever I call her to catch up, I try to make her laugh because she has the best laugh.

When I think about Gwen, I think of someone who is straightforward and cheerful. So I tried to make this arrangement sound like that.
She's also a harpist, and once commented that part of my arrangement of "I Wonder as I Wander" would be fun to play on harp. So I knew I wanted to add some harpy things to anything I wrote in her honor.

When I asked her for a few of her favorite hymns, She said her list probably changed from day to day. But of the list she submitted that particular day, the only song that really grabbed me was "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", except I hate the DOM-PA DOM-PA rhythm of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." So I smoothed it out into a waltz instead. (I LOVE waltzes!)

And since I wanted Gwen to be able to enjoy her hymn year round (willfully ignoring the feeling she probably likes the *message* of "Bells" more than the melody), I of course started looking at hymns with the same meter. "My Redeemer Lives" by Gordon B. Hinckley fit the bill, though for the final verse I cribbed from "I Know that My Redeemer Lives', a perfectly lovely hymn that I don't like to sing, play, or listen to*. "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" also snuck its way in, which was unexpected but delightful.

And since Gwen has some Teutonic heritage, I also threw in "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"--the German version (whose lyrics sing better, don't @ me), set to a Renaissance rhythm, the WAY NATURE INTENDED (and as taught to me by my BYU German professor, Dr. Alan F. Keele.
Sorry, Marty, but the version of "Mighty Fortress" in our hymnal is a complete drag to sing and the English version especially makes me want to die).

I also smuggled in a cameo from the biggest Christmas musical sensation of all time, just to confuse everybody. :D CHRISTMAS IN JULY, BAY-BEE!!

tl;dr I threw "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", "My Redeemer Lives", "A Mighty Fortress is Our God", and "The Nutcracker" into a blender and came out with this delicious musical smoothie.

Notes:
Singers, if you don't wanna sing German (though why wouldn't you?), just leave off the opening parenthetical lyrics.
Also, singers, think "gliding", not bouncing. Deeeeeep breaths, long phrases!


Enjoy my arrangement? Consider purchasing a thank you copy here:
https://pixelvaniastudios.gumroad.com/l/my-redeemer-lives-sheetmusic

*Yes, there's a story behind that.