Is this project an official publication by Friedrich Bischoff publishers/are those the organ settings announced by the Chief Apostle?

No. Both publications will also most likely pursue different approaches. The organ settings announced by Chief Apostle Dr Wilhelm Leber on 04-12-2007 will be settings for "traditional songs". We do not know more about that project.

Our objectives for the settings we publish are as follows:

• Playability is most important; simple settings are to be preferred.
  
• The settings we offer should provide harmonies/sounds other than those of the current setting, so that they may serve as alternatives.
• Wherever possible settings should be geared to historical examples - also and especially with traditional songs.
• Of course we can only consider pieces where the tunes no longer are subject to copyright.

What is the state of the project? I would like to contribute a setting! 

Currently (01-03) we have gathered intonations and settings for all tunes we intended to include. At the time we are in the correction phase, but we are in any case looking forward to your input ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Again, we are open for suggestions and proposals!

What are the criteria for you to write a new setting for a song? 

Of course this is also a subjective decision. We chose songs with settings that are hard to play, or to which we own original settings or settings from the time. Third, some settings were written to offer alternatives in harmonisation for the current ones.

In doing so, we had to stick to those tunes that are not copyrighted any more, as said.

Are the new settings compatible with the current choir settings of the four-voice hymnal? 

No, for the reasons mentioned above this is basically not the case. 

Are the organ settings suited for organ lessons / amateur players?

But of course! All settings are playable with manual only, at some places small notes offer chances for pedal playing.

Which influence does the result of the poll have? 

31% of the participants of the poll (at 01-03) ask for new harmonies, 16% for well-known sounds. We have included both aspects in our concept. Also, every settings gets an easy intonation, as was asked for by 15%. In the current correction phase, the fourth-ranking topic, "easily playable", will be tested once again. If necessary, we are going to replace some settings. We will continue to watch the poll and include suggestions.