B-Flat Trumpet,Piano - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1317913 Composed by Traditional. Arranged by James M. Guthrie. Christian,Historic,Religious,Sacred,Traditional. Score and part. 12 pages. Jmsgu3 #906595. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.1317913). Instrumental descants are useful in hymn playing as they add variety and interest to the music, and they can be used to enhance any piece of music if done correctly. An instrumental descant is a counter melody usually pitched higher than the hymn's. It is played by an instrument, usually a trumpet or a flute, with organ accompaniment. The usual form for these instrumental postludes is to play the hymn melody once through and then to play the descant. An instrumental descant always enlivens the singing of hymns, and this volume promises practicality, variety, and well-crafted countermelodies to do just that. The term descant is used to describe a countermelody, generally at a higher pitch than the main melody, and it is typically sung in the final or penultimate verse of a hymn. Although the English Hymnal of 1906 omitted descants, this influential hymnal served as a source of tunes for which the earliest known hymn tune descants were published. Among composers of descants from 1915 to 1934 were Alan Gray, Geoffrey Shaw, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.