Church Music

Continuing my survey of songs in Alleluia Aotearoa with words by Shirley Murray, this is a glorious prayer of commitment and gratitude.

The text is at Hope Publishing.

AA sets is to TALAVERA TERRACE by Colin Gibson who has fun matching “bread of love rising” to the ascending melody. They gave me chords this time, which makes the BIAB backing easier to do.

Hymnary note it can be sung to MADILL by Aubrey Butler, the tune of “Stir Thy Church, O God, Our Father” and tell you which hymnals the tune can be found. I did find the music but I had to simplify the music somewhat to make a backing.

Everyone wants to set Shirley Murray’s texts including the great Bernadette Farrell. OCP say it is out of stock as a single sheet but appears to be in this collection.

There is also this version with music by Ron Klusmeier in singer songwriter mode. It is lovely but I doubt would suit an assembly and I couldn’t find the sheet music.

This is a simple effective text about the Holy Spirit from Shirley Murray that can be found in Alleluia Aotearoa.

The words are at Hope Publishing.

Both Hope and AA suggest Nigel Eastgate‘s SONG TO THE SPIRIT as their setting. The verses is in Bb but refrain goes to G. I had to greatly simplify the music to make a backing.

Hymnary notes a setting by I-to Loh, KENG-SIN. It is a GIA copyright but I can’t find it there and can be found in the hymnal Sound the Bamboo. I don’t have that but cobbled a backing from the sample at Hymnary.

Hymnary also suggested KENNICK by Colin D. Avery. It is in the Methodist Hymnal, Singing the Faith, which I also don’t have. I couldn’t find a sample from which to make a backing but I did find this clip.

This is a Shirley Murray text from Alleluia Aotearoa for Pentecost.

The text is at Hope Publishing where, like AA, it is set to WEAVER by Colin Gibson.

Hidden at Hope is also a setting by Allen Pote, which I found on You-Tube:

Meanwhile over at Hymnary they suggest O PERFECT LOVE by Joseph Barnby:

This Shirley Murray text could be a children’s song, but is fine for adults too.

The text is at Hope Publishing where they have two settings:

SONG 13 (Orlando Gibbons)

BENJAMIN”S SWING (Rusty Edwards)

AA uses Jillian Bray‘s setting:

This is an interesting text about living the Reign of God where we are – if that happens to be a city. Shirley Murray went to different places in her texts and this is one of them. She was the most prolific social gospel text writer I’ve heard of, maybe even surpassing John Bell.

It is in Alleluia Aotearoa. I have been linking to Philip Garside Books, which seems the easiest place to buy the pdf version of this hymnbook, but of course they have migrated their pages to a new site to leave me with lots of dead links. This link is live for now. It is worth it for the Shirley Murray songs on their own.

The text and sheet music are at Hope Publishing. In this case they both use the same setting, WELLINGTON by Colin Gibson. If you look at the sheet music there, you may understand why I didn’t slavishly follow the backing. I’d love to hear it played as written because it looks wild, but I noticed it would fit a drone pattern on Dm for most of this song and used that instead. Maybe the city is a pastiche of Mumbai.

This is a song in praise of creation and a caution for our misuse of God’s earth. It is another of the Shirley Murray texts in Alleluia Aotearoa.

The words are at Hope Publishing. Both they and AA set it to NEW FERN by frequent collaborator Colin Gibson. The odd thing is that the verses have uplifting chorus type music and the refrain changes key and sounds more downbeat. The last refrain has different lyrics and leads into the fifth verse, which ends the song with no final chorus. So maybe there are five “refrains” and a repeated verse.

My BIAB uses made up chords based on the sheet music.

This is a light hearted text for times when we might need to be uplifted. I suppose it suitable for children but adults might need it more. It is another of the many Shirley Murray texts in Alleluia Aotearoa.

The text is at Hope Publishing, where they provide three settings.

STANSFIELD is by Colin Gibson and is also the setting in AA.

They also provide Hal. H Hopson‘s COOPER:

… and SONG OF ASCENT by Robert Clatterbuck:

I’m still working through the Shirley Murray texts in Alleluia Aotearoa.

This is another take on Ecclesiastes, with a gorgeous tune from Colin Gibson.

The sheet music and text are at Hope Publishing.

Chords were provided in AA for a change so I didn’t have to make up the chords in my BIAB backing.

It is well suited to a choir:

This is a sweet text for Christmas from Shirley Murray in Alleluia Aotearoa.

The words are at Hope Publishing.

They set it to Nigel Eastgate‘s PEACE CAROL:

Their other choice was VON HIMMEL HOCH.

AA suggests Eastgate’s tune as well as ST AIDANS by Jillian Bray.

Another fine Shirley Murray text seeking peace in unity from Alleluia Aotearoa.

The text is at Hope Publishing. They provide the sheet music for two settings.

RAUMATI BEACH by Dan Damon:

TODOS LOS COLERES by Margaret R. Tucker:

AA suggests Orlando Gibbons’ SONG 1:

I’ve also seen it set to ROSEBERRY by Brice Neswick. It is in the New Century Hymnal, which I haven’t got and I can’t find the sheet music.

It is also set to FINLANDIA: