From peace like a river, through depths of despair, to the anticipation of glorious rapture, this imaginative piano arrangement of “It Is Well With My Soul” transforms Philip P. Bliss’s tune into a symphonic poem. It earnestly portrays the emotional arc of four verses of Horatio Spafford’s text through rhythmic augmentation, chromatic and extended harmonies, asymmetrical meter, atonal gestures, and sweeping arpeggios.
This virtuosic piano arrangement of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” takes a programmatic approach to William Runyan’s classic tune. First opening in trumpeting fanfare of declaration, then continuing in sincere reflection of Thomas Chisholm’s lyrics depicting God’s unwavering faithfulness. The piece explores metric and tonal modulations as prominent compositional devices. Quotations from the hymn are marked in the score as expressive text for reference.