Entrance: You Are Welcome (Watt)
Psalm 137 (McKenna)
Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.
Gifts: Bless Our Gifts (Grant) AOVD
Communion: Bread Broken, Wine Shared Bread (Horner) AOV 2/155
Recessional: The Summons (Maule-Bell) AOV NG 149
This beloved song is quite impossible to sing as I documented here. It is by Sister Suzanne Toolan – now 98 years old – and is popular despite everything, even for funerals.
In this hymnal, the key is brought down to Ab from Bb which helps – we used to take it down to G and the low notes scraped in the gravel and the high notes were still a challenge. You either need a phenomenal range or two teams! This version somehow has even less chords than the original.
The sheet music is available to purchase at Willow.
I made a new backing:
1 I am the Bread of life.
He who comes to me shall not hunger;
He who believes in me shall not thirst.
No one can come to me
Unless the Father draw him.Refrain
And I will raise him up,
And I will raise him up,
And I will raise him up on the last day.2 The bread that I will give
Is my flesh for the life of the world,
And he who eats of this bread,
He shall live for ever,
He shall live for ever.Refrain
3 Unless you eat
Of the flesh of the Son of Man
And drink of his blood,
And drink of his blood,
You shall not have life within you.Refrain
4 I am the Resurrection,
I am the life,
He who believes in me
Even if he die,
He shall live for ever.Refrain
5 Yes, Lord, I believe
That you are the Christ,
The Son of God
Who have come
Into the world.Refrain
A talented choir can get away with it.
I was looking for a case of this crashing and burning but this one is still good:
Chris Brunelle is superman:
I suppose no-one would be silly enough to put a failed attempt at this one on You-Tube, but believe me it is an accident waiting to happen without some very fine voices involved.
Going through the New Living Parish Hymn Book is my further education in traditional hymnody. The CWB I and II had a lot of this as well and there were a few in AOV and the other collections. For some parishes, like Chris’s, these songs are most of their music liturgy and they are how that assembly effectively sings and prays. It’s not the usual repetoire in the parish I play at, but I do drop in the very occasional traditional hymn when it fits the liturgy. If we still had an organist we probably would do more, but they can be played on a guitar at a pinch.
Having grown up Presbyterian, some of these tunes are familiar to me but the more strictly Catholic ones I am made aware of by causing flashbacks to my cradle Catholic wife when she hears a tune and can recite the entire text from pained childhood memory.
There are pdfs of old public domain Catholic hymnals about on the internet but they don’t look much like what is being described as traditional today. For example, from Australia, the US and England:
Looking at 1952 The Hymnal of Pius X, the English language hymns there are less than half the book and very few of these are still sung. While the Catholic Church’s traditional music could be said to be Latin chant, that wasn’t so across the whole church in time, place or position (ie not often for the laity). NLPHB has several songs translated to English from Latin chants with a tune based on the original chant made somewhat metrical, but that didn’t become the standard for Catholic hymns. Another approach for a traditional Catholic music method would be creative use of modes for cantors of psalms such as suggested by Chris Wroblewski.
Many of what we call traditional hymns are borrowed from Protestant hymnody so are a rather recent tradition for Catholics. It seems that by the time of CWB I and NLPHB we have a lot more hymns that have survived to the present, as the better traditional hymns from other denominations are collected from their Lutheran and Anglican origins. They had been singing in the vernacular for centuries and had better tunes often originally sourced from popular secular songs of their day. What that means is that Vatican 2 was as much responsible for the use of what we now call traditional hymns in the Catholic Church as it was for leading to folk mass style hymns.
Not everyone has collected umpteen hymnals, like your foolish correspondent, and not every parish still has old full music hymnals lying about in a back room to pillage, so where to source them is an issue. I rely on the melody line Together in Song for the melody and basic chords of old hymns to make backings, but it would only suit keyboard players who just use the chords for their left hand. CWB II has well set out organ music but lacks chords and is probably too unwieldy to use live… and is out of print.
I know GIA and OCP have their traditional hymnals, but there are also many online sources of hymns like the Open Hymnal and Liturgy Share, as well as those in Hymnary to collate your own public domain hymn collection without buying expensive hymnals.
Willow also has individual sheets of traditional hymns to purchase for download. Their advantage is the excellent layout and the option for chords.
Monica O’Brien recently had something to say about traditional church songs:
Why Traditional Hymns Still Matter
Some people may assume that traditional hymns only appeal to the older members of our faith communities. While it’s true that many of us associate these beloved hymns with childhood memories or significant moments in our faith journey, I believe their enduring appeal runs much deeper than nostalgia. These sacred songs have accompanied generations of Christians through life’s joys and sorrows, celebrations and losses, moments of certainty and seasons of doubt. They have stood the test of time because they express profound truths of faith with a depth and poetry that continues to speak to the human heart. Their melodies have been sung in tiny country churches and great cathedrals, at baptisms and funerals, in times of peace and in times of upheaval. At Willow Publishing, we’re passionate about supporting the rich diversity of music available to today’s Church. Contemporary songs and newly composed liturgical music bring fresh insights and new expressions of faith. At the same time, traditional hymns provide a sense of continuity, connecting us with the countless believers who have sung these same words across centuries and cultures.
So I suppose they are all good reasons to get back to the New Living Parish Hymn Book.
I’m happy for readers of this blog to recommend other sources for well set out hymns to help musicians play for mass and also to fill the gaping lacunae of my knowledge in this area.
BTW, I am continuing to fine tune my approach to these hymns in Band in a Box. There are very few styles for church organ pieces (four out of thousands to be precise), so to approach these hymns I now add the bass line from the organ music to each chord and use the soloist line to enter at least one other line from the organ music in addition to the melody line. I am trialing different organ sounds and they should start showing up soon in the backings. They still sound too mechanical just not as awful as they once were.
This is a book of prayer rituals and chants from Trisha Watts that you can buy at Willow. The actual book, Sanctuary: Where Heaven Touches Earth was written by Trisha Watts and Gabrielle Lord and is still available as an e-book. It reminds me of John O’Donohue talking about “thin places” where the gap between us and the numinous feels so narrow.
What is nice is that the chants here are in various styles, some uplifting and some more thoughtful, so not everything is like, say Taize.
I find it passing strange that the Catholic Church with its long history of mystics, poets and prophets currently finds itself thrall to an inappropriate and didactic resort to legalism and catechism. So along with Julian of Norwich and Hildegard of Bingen with now welcome Trish of Sydney to correct this and rightly so.
Each of these songs can also be purchased individually as sheet music and MP3s, and there is a snippet of her version there for each one to see how it should sound.
For some of these songs I had to make up some chords and sort out songs that are meant to be sung freely for metrical use in BIAB.
This is a selection from this book.
Let go, release, let judgment cease.
Let go, release, open to peace.
Hear the voice of justice cry, moving through our land,
Ringing over hills and plains linking hand with hand.
I am the land, living, breathing, dying, rising.
Do not despair when you fall or grieve.
Falling does not hinder great love.
Gathered on this night, we pause to remember,
Pause to remember, pause to remember.
Gathered on this night, in heat of the summer…
Gathered on this night, at close of December…
Gathered on this night, we praise our creator…
My soul proclaims with grateful heart,
My spirit rejoices: How great thou art!
Deep waters, flowing, calling all to follow.
Watching, list’ning, waiting, silence finds a home.
With child-like hearts, abundant love
Would fill our being, if we truly trusted.
All is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending.
Heavy the hearts that are burdened, tired the hearts that are pained.
Weary the hearts that are broken, come to our aid.
Comfort our hearts that are lonely, melt our hearts of stone.
Gentle our hearts with compassion, come, make us whole.
Choose life, that you and your children may live, may live.
Choose life, that you and your children may live.
I set before you life and death,
I set before you blessing and choice.
Choose life, that you and your children may live.
1 All we long for is a home, a place to rest our heads,
Where our children are free to play and grow,
Beyond terrors that we’ve fled.
2 All we long for is a home, a safety from the storms,
Where life is valued and revered,
Where trust can be restored.
3 All we long for is a home, a space in which to breathe,
Where the stories of our lives are heard,
And our hearts can freely grieve.
© 2003 Trisha Watts
If you are looking for hymns for the season of creation coming up, Trisha Watts is always worth a look. Obviously her, “Canticle of Creation,” suggests itself but there is this one as well that may suit.
“A Ring of Trees” reveals our relationship with nature as a way to participate in God. It can be purchased at Willow.
Refrain
A ring of trees is how we stand.
Tall and strong across the land. x2
1 Deep are our roots that intertwine.
Anchoring into Divine. x2
2 Deep is the water underground.
Loving support is all around. x2
3 Lifting our faces to the light.
Opening with sheer delight. x2
© 2018 Trisha Watts
This one is all by Trisha Watts and is from the collection, Sanctuary.
Obviously based on Ecclesiastes it is wisdom in song. One could add that for an individual these “times” may be at the opposite pole to those for people we encounter, such that our need for stability, for example, rubs up against someone else’s need for renewal – hence liturgy wars!
You can purchase the sheet music at Willow and this time there is a sound clip. She takes it at a lively pace, but my backing is a bit slower and tries to be more meditative. I had no idea there were all these Trisha Watts treasures in the archive at Willow.
Chorus
There is a time for ev’ry season under heaven.
There is a time for ev’ry season under heaven.
1 A time for birthing, a time for dying,
A time for uprooting, a time to plant.
A time for killing, a time for healing, a time for ev’rything.
2 A time for weeping, a time for laughing,
A time for mourning, a time to dance,
A time for searching, a time for losing, a time for ev’rything.
3 A time for tearing, a time for mending,
A time for silence, a time to speak,
A time for loving, a time for hating, a time for ev’rything.
© 2003 Trisha Watts
This is the title track from Trisha Watts 1989 collection, Dare to Dance. It’s another clear case of a call to live in God’s reign without explicitly mentioning Christ.
It is credited to Trisha Watts and Monica O’Brien and the sheet music can be purchased at Willow.
Once again I could find no online renditions so did my best with the sheet music in the preview. This is classic Trisha Watts with no clear idea what key is happening here and it always makes for an inventive tune. There are C notes that are naturals but not noted in the sheet music.
Chorus
Dare to dance with dreamers, sing their song.
Dare to dance their stories, singout strong.
Dare to dance with freedom your whole life long.
Dare to dance again.
1 Free the captives, heal the blind,
Leave the fear of oppression behind.
Walk on boldly, take a stand,
Let’s walk on New Jerusalem.
Chorus
2 Break the silence, spread the word,
Let the voice of liberation be heard.
Walk on boldly, take a stand,
Let’s walk on New Jerusalem.
© 1989 Trisha Watts & Monica O’Brien
This is another Trisha Watts song originally from the Dare to Dance collection from 1989. I found it in the online archives of Willow Publications. You can purchase the sheet music there.
It is credited to Trisha Watts and Monica O’Brien, so I suppose Trisha contributed some of the words. It is a song of consolation and yet of possibility, set to a moving waltz time tune.
I couldn’t find any online performances of the song so I made a backing to see what it might sound like.
Chorus
Surrender your cares, rest on the shore,
Wait in the harbour, away from the storm.
Sail unto me, the light you shall see,
Shelter your heart from the dark of night.
1 Spirit of life, anoint us through your word.
Enlighten our minds, heal us with your peace.
Believing our love will increase.
Chorus
2 Vessel of love, build in us your home.
Touch and renew the yearning of our past.
With courage we’ll live with new heart.
Chorus
Coda
Harbours of change, (sail unto me)
Harbours of change (the light you shall see)
Harbours of change.
© 1989 Trisha Watts & Monica O’Brien
This is another Trisha Watts from the Willow archives. It goes back to 1981 and has lyrics by Monica McInerney (before she was O’Brien) and Trisha Watts with music by Trisha Watts.
The lyrics are somehow completely Christian without mentioning Christ, in the aspiration for a world of the Kingdom. It was from a collection, “Prophets of Hope”. You can purchase the sheet music at Willow.
The tune is typically inventive and certainly worth a listen. I could find no version on the internet to listen to but made my own backing nonetheless:
1 Can there be a world of love where we can be together?
Can there be a world out there where unity links arms in love?
Can there be a place for you and me to hold hands freely?
Can there be a world of love?
2 Can there be a world out there beauty’s seen in poverty?
Can there be the eyes to see the richness in equality?
Can there be a place liberty, a home of freedom?
Can there be a world of love?
Chorus
I know there’s hope within our lives,
A hope beyond our eyes, calling all to journey on.
I know there’s truth within this song, in truth I can belong,
Reaching out to the world in love.
3 Can there be a world out there where we are no longer afraid?
Can there be a tender heart cradled in a hidden view?
Can there be a friend of faithfulness, a gentle me?
Can there be a world of love?
Chorus
© 1981 Trisha Watts and Monica McInerney
Having got to the hundredth hymn in the New Living Parish Hymn Book it suggests an interlude of other material.
Trolling the preview pages at Willow, I found some Trisha Watts songs that I hadn’t yet heard of. I love her songs because I’m never quite sure what key she is in, so there is little that is predictable.
This setting of a Monica O’Brien text is actually relatively normal – there are some interesting note lengths in the verse, but otherwise the gently syncopated melody stays in its lane. It is from back in 1989 but still sounds fresh as a response to Christ’s call to the journey of the pilgrim.
The sheet music can be purchased at Willow, but there is sample track to listen to there. It looks like it was originally in a collection called, “Dare to Dance.”
Having no idea what it is meant to sound like I nonetheless made a backing:
Chorus
Where are my people? I have called your name.
The rich and the poor, the weak, the strong,
Come raise your voice in song.
Where are my people? Let us all proclaim.
Yes! We are your people united in your name.
1 This day I remember your call.
The call that draws me to your word.
Sometimes I stumble and turn from your way.
Faithfully your present day by day.
2 This journey seems lonely at times,
Though I know I’m not alone.
Those before me have opened the way,
Pilgrim people, journeying to you.
3 Search me and know me my Lord,
Fill me with your Spirit life.
Come, Lord jesus, I give you my heart.
I have heard you, I embrace your path.
© 1989 Trisha Watts & Monica O’Brien
