Church Music

Katie Wills‘, “Trinity Song” has been added to Breaking Bread for 2027 and is another song with obvious liturgical uses.

The text says more than usual about the implications of the mystery of the Trinity, which is nice for a change. The swell into the verse is a chance for great praise.

Usefully, you could imagine using this song at liturgies other than Trinity Sunday with themes of creation, praise, gathering and Adoration found in the verses.

So buy the sheet music at OCP and read the text they provide.

This is another song with an older text for the verses, here by Genevieve Glen, as set by Justin Wedgewood, who wrote the words of the new refrain. It has been chosen for Breaking Bread for 2027.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP, who have provided the text in their preview.

This ones leans hard on a tune of rising and falling scales, which is fine, except that if every hymn does this it becomes a cliche.

To make this less noticeable I made this rather more country than I suspect is intended.

This is another useful liturgical hymn chosen for Breaking Bread for 2027. This one is a Sarah Hart song, with a refrain for both Ash Wednesday and for the rest of Lent and nine verses to select from, so you could play it all through Lent with the same tune and a variety of words. This is very well done.

The sheet music is at OCP as is the text.

BIAB added some country fiddle.

This Dan Schutte song added to Breaking Bread for 2027 is officially the most upbeat song selected. Schutte is 78.

It is based on Phillipians 4 and is a fine hymn of thanksgiving with many applications.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where the text is provided in their preview.

I tried to make this at least somewhat rousing in BIAB.

This recording conspires to make things a bit less joyful.

This new song for Breaking Bread in 2027 has uses beyond the obvious Baptism application at Easter and Pentecost.

Its music was written by Casey McKinley, setting text by Bernadette Gasslein, and the sheet music can be purchased at OCP who provide the text in their preview.

It is a majestic hymn and BIAB had fun building things up.

This is another bilingual selection for Breaking Bread in 2027.

It was written by Al Valverde in Spanish and English. It is a simple sung prayer that inevitable sounds better in Spanish.

It does start out following “Shepherd Me O God” pretty closely.

The sheet music is at OCP, as is the text.

That last one has some added elements.

This is a new setting the Prayer of St Francis. It was written by the formidable team of Francesca LaRosa and Sarah Hart.

It has been selected for Breaking Bread for 2027.

It is certainly a lovely setting. The sheet music can be purchased at OCP, where the text is in their preview. If you don’t do an instrumental interlude the refrain only gets sung once, so maybe do the interlude. This has the flowing up and down melody gambit in spades but there are some surprises too with the triplets and the change in the coda to compensate.

My backing went a little overboard with flowery piano in BIAB.

This is another new setting of a James Quinn text this time by Nichlas Schaal and inspired by Psalm 141. Schaal provided the text for the refrain and used Quinn’s words for the verses.

It is a song of comfort in distress, which would also work in Lent. It is another quiet reverent hymn.

Edward Eicker has set this James Quinn Annunciation text, and the result has been added to Breaking Bread for 2027.

It is sedate and reverent.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where the text is in their preview.

This recent, gentle song for Eucharist and Gifts was written by Bob Hurd and has been selected for Breaking Bread by OCP in 2027.

He at least waits until the fifth bar of the verse before unleashing the usual downward string of notes motif that I am seeing almost everywhere in OCP selections. When he does something similar in the chorus there is compensating variation and modulation to calm me down.

The sheet music is at OCP as is the text.