Church Music

This is the last psalm in Paul Mason’s collection, Psalms For All Time Vol 2. All three volumes are available to purchase at Liturgical Song. I have the third and will get to it at some stage. All three will costs you~$A120, which is not a lot each for your parish musicians, to have a psalm for everything and lots of songs that work as general hymns as well.

This is the psalm for the Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B, and incorporates the line “By the rivers of Babylon” so he has the task to make sure your brain doesn’t slip into another tune, which he handles with his usual inventiveness.

Response: Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

Verses: Psalm 137: 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6.

He has put a version of this one on his site, which sounds great – as if Nick Cave was involved. It makes you wish there were more samples to listen to there. I didn’t listen to that before I made my rather bland version:

We arrive at Psalm 126 in Paul Mason’s Psalms For All Time Vol 2, which is for the Second Sunday in Advent Year C, the Fifth Sunday in Lent Year C and the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B. It is also used for Christian Initiation Outside the Easter Vigil and a Mass After the Harvest.

Response: The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy. We are filled with joy.

Verses: Psalm 126: 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6.

Just a few to go in the book, Psalms For All Time Vol 2 by Paul Mason.

This is Psalm 116 for the Second Sunday of Lent Year B.

Response: I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Verses: Psalm 166: 10 and 15, 16-17, 18-19.

There is in fact an audio file of this one to listen to at Liturgical Song, or you can sing along with my backing.

This is Paul Mason’s setting for Psalm 103 for the Third Sunday in Lent Year C from Psalms For All Time Vol 2. It was also in his original volume, which I bogged here, but I did it again anyway.

Response: The Lord is kind and merciful. The Lord is kind and merciful.

Verses: Psalm 103: 1-2,3-4,6-7,8 and 11.

We are up to Psalm 98 from Psalms For All Time Vol 2 by Paul Mason, which is the psalm for the Sixth Week of Easter Year B and the Twenty-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C. Paul Mason also notes it’s use for the Admission to the Candidacy for Ordination.

Response: The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving pow’r, his saving pow’r.

Verses: Psalm 98: 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, (5-6)

This is a bit of fun. This is Paul Mason’s setting for Psalm 96, which is for Midnight Mass at Christmas. It is from Psalms For All Time Vol 2.

The third verse goes off with an almighty crescendo.

Response: Today! Today is born our Saviour, Christ the Lord, Christ the Lord.

Verses: Psalm 96: 1-2a, 2b-3, 11-13b, 13cd.

My backing is BIAB fake organ with trumpets:

I have been looking through Paul Mason’s marvellous Psalms For All Time Vol 2. He has composed psalms for use as psalms if you have cantors, but are fine a hymns for use at any time. There is so much investion in each one, it’s fun to make a backing and see what he got up to next.

This one is Psalm 90 for the Eighteenth and Twenty-third Sundays in Ordinary Time Year C.

Response: In ev’ry age, O Lord, O Lord, you have been our refuge, in ev’ry age.

Verses: Psalm 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17.

He specifies a joyful response and a reflective verse, so I tried that in BIAB.

Yet another Psalm 89 setting from Paul Mason’s Psalms For All Time Vol 2, this time for the Christmas Vigil. They all have the same basic tune, adapted to match the differing verses.

Response: For ever, I will sing forever, I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Verses: Psalm 89: 4-5, 16-17, 27 and 29.

Continuing with Mason’s many settings of Psalm 89, this is the one for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A from Psalms For All Time Volume 2.

Response: For ever, I will sing forever, I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Verses: Psalm 89: 2-3, 16-17, 18-19.

I’ll just put up backings for the different versions of Mason’s settings of Psalm 89 in Psalms For All Time Vol 2. This one is for the Fourth Sunday in Advent Year B.

Response: For ever, I will sing forever, I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Verses: Psalm 89: 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29.