John Innes has for many years been a pianist, organist, and arranger for the
Billy Graham Crusades, and the listener's attitude toward the performances of the hymns on this collection will depend on his or her appreciation for this style of arrangement for piano -- flamboyant, varied, and using rich, late Romantic harmonies with plenty of modulations.
Innes plays with exuberance and obvious reverence for these hymns; while he subjects them to a variety of stylistic elaborations, he doesn't alter the basic structure of the hymn. His arrangements are appropriate to the mood of each hymn, and he uses a number of variation techniques to keep up the listeners' interest through several verses. He tends to modulate more than is absolutely necessary, sometimes shifting keys in the middle of a verse, but modulation tolerance is a matter of personal taste. The recording is released on the Schimmel label, and
Innes plays on a Schimmel piano, which has a big, full tone, well suited to the style of his arrangements. The sound is clean and present.