I wish you the greatest pleasure playing these arrangements of traditional Thanksgiving songs. Thanksgiving is one of the most beautiful of holidays, a holiday filled with joy and music.

We Gather Together to Ask the Lord's Blessing: Written in 1597 by Dutch composer Adrianus Valerius to celebrate Holland's victory over Spain, the tune was brought to American shores by the early Dutch settlers. Poet Theodore Baker wrote a new version of the lyrics in 1894, which became the standard Thanksgiving version.

Over the River and Through the Wood: Lydia Maria Child, an outspoken abolitionist and advocate for Indian rights, wrote this poem in 1845. It was set to music by an unknown composer.

Let All Things Now Living (The Ash Grove) This traditional Welsh melody (Llwyn Onn or The Ash Grove in Welsh) has inspired numerous lyricists to write words to the hauntingly beautiful tune. The poem by Katherine Davis, written in 1939, is the text most associated with Thanksgiving.

Amazing Grace: Written by reprobate sailor John Newton in 1779. Known for his profanity, vulgarity and venery, he was imprisoned, beaten, and enslaved, before he reformed, and became a leading minister and hymn-writer. This is one of the most popular hymns ever written.

This Land is Your Land: A traditional American tune, made famous by folksinger Woody Guthrie in 1940. Guthrie wrote the words as a rebuff to the song God Bless America, the huge hit by songwriter Irving Berlin. As a counter to Berlin's drum-beating patriotism, Guthrie would occasionally add politically charged verses expressing his support for communism.

I hope you enjoy playing this as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you need other pieces of Americana for your ensemble, you might find them in Best-Loved American Folksongs, in two volumes, available here (volume 1) and here (volume 2).

There are also arrangements of Battle Hymn of the Republic, Stars and Stripes Forever, America the Beautiful, and The Star-Spangled Banner. You can see them all and more at my composer page. I have also arranged three songs from the Holocaust, which I distribute for free on IMSLP. You can find them at http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Ravpapa. If you need arrangements of any of these songs for special combinations of instruments, feel free to contact me at yoelepst@gmail.com, and I will try to accommodate.