Entrance: A Voice in the Wilderness (Robinson) AOV 1/60
Gifts: Prepare the Way of the Lord (Boniwell) CWB II 250
Communion: Seed, Scattered and Sown (Feiten) CWB II 592
Thanksgiving: Christ Circle Round Us (Schutte)
Recessional: Come to Set Us Free (Farrell) AOV 1/39
The liturgy team at St Peter’s Rochedale have kindly passed on their music selections for Advent. To note the change in season they are switching to the Mass of St Francis by Paul Taylor and their seasonal psalm for Advent is Haugen’s “Be With Me, Lord”. For lighting the Advent Candle they are using Chris de Silva’s “Come Lord Jesus (Maranatha)”.
Entrance: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Neale) AOV 1/174
Gifts: To You O Lord, I Lift Up My Soul (Hurd) AOV 2/14
Communion: Bread of Life (Farrell) AOV 1/164
Thanksgiving: Christ Circle Round Us (Schutte)
Recessional: God of Day and God of Darkness (Haugen) AOV 1/56
This song is suggested for a darkened church on Christmas Eve. The text is set to SCARLET RIBBONS (aka WHITE ROSETTES) a traditional tune that is well known enough that the assembly should catch on quickly.
The text is here with a MIDI file as well. Small Church Music also have a backing. I made my own BIAB backing.
This song is a left field choice for a Christmas pageant or other celebration. The sheet music is in the book, Heaven Shall Not Wait available at Wild Goose. The tune is sprightly and surprising.
They suggest beginning quietly and increasing the number singers each verse. I didn’t start quietly in BIAB.
1 No one would choose, to start a clan, a childless couple late in years,
Content to live in peace and quiet, past thought of travelling or careers;
Till Abrah’m learned what God was after and Sarah’s womb was filled with laughter.
2 No one would choose, to free a tribe, a fugitive in shepherd’s dress,
Embarrassed by his stuttering tongue, aware his past lay in a mess;
Till Moses learned God’s startling news that he should help to free the Jews.
3 No one would choose, to lead a race, a teenage boy who loved to sing,
Unsuited to the sword or shield, protected only by a sling;
Till David helped God win the day and on the ground Goliath lay.
4 No one would choose, to save the world, a child of parents newly wed,
Whom common folk received with joy and royal courts perceived with dread;
Till God, in Jesus’ infant voice, confirmed the strangeness of his choice.
5 So let us join to bless this babe, the high, the humble and the low,
The ones who think they’ve found their faith and those unsure of what they know.
In wonder, welcome what God does – he loves and wants each one of us.
Words and Music © 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland
This is a song for your choir from John Bell and Graham Maule. Bell wrote the tune, VERBUM DEI. It’s a bit like singing the prologue of John’s Gospel.
Of course you really should buy Heaven Shall Not Wait from Wild Goose.
There are 3 vocal lines but I just used the melody in my backing. Often when I do a backing for which no chords are provided I use a reverse chord tool on the notes in the keyboard arrangements to labouriously find them. Just for fun this time I just guessed the chords from the key of Bb to match the notes . Because it says to play it slowly and mysteriously I slipped in a diminished chord.
1 The word was with God in the beginning,
The word was with God in the beginning;
Through him we were created, by him all things were made.
2 The Word was made known through the prophets,
The Word was made known through the prophets;
And though their speech was silenced still their witness went on.
3 The Word became flesh and lived among us,
The Word became flesh and lived among us;
And we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth.
4 Then praise the Word, softer than silence,
And praise the Word, stronger then violence;
Rejoice that in the body, Christ the Word is known.
Words and Music © 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland
Before I was informed of Breaking Bread’s new songs, I was looking at the songs of creation in Wild Goose’s book “Heaven Shall Not Wait”. They follow that with songs of “God, Coming Among Us” – perfect for Advent – so I thought I’d take up the thread.
Just as the Australian composers available at Willow Publications lift me out of sameness of the OCP/GIA style, John Bell rewrites the book on what liturgical music might be able to accomplish. He is at once more blunt and more poetic than most lyric writers – I don’t know how he does it.
This song is set to the Scottish tune, AIR FALALALO, and is suggested for unaccompanied use. If the tune is familiar it would make a great processional.
I found this arrangement of the sheet music for the tune online arranged by Anne Bingham Goess.
A reminder that the whole book can be purchased for very little at Wild Goose Publications.
Unaccompanied doesn’t do much for BIAB, nor does 9/8 time, but I had a go.
1 The day of the Lord shall come as prophets have told,
When Christ shall make all things new, no matter how old;
And some at the stars may gaze, and some in God’s word,
In vain to predict the time, the day of the Lord.
Chorus
The desert shall spring to life, the hills shall rejoice;
The lame of the earth shall leap, the dumb shall find voice;
The lamb with the lion shall lie, and the last shall be first;
And nations for war no more shall study or thirst.
2 The day of the Lord shall come: a thief in the night,
A curse to those in the wrong who think themselves right;
A pleasure for those in pain or with death at the door;
A true liberation for the prisoners and poor.
3 The day of the Lord shall come and judgment be known,
As nations, like sheep and goats, come close to the throne.
Then Christ shall reveal himself asking all to draw near,
And see in his face all faces once ignored here.
4 The day of the Lord shall come, but now is the time
To subvert earth’s wisdom with Christ’s folly sublime,
By loving the loveless, turning the tide and the cheek,
By walking beneath the cross in step with the weak.
Words and Music © 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH, Scotland
This is the last of the new songs from Breaking Bread for 2022. The ones I haven’t covered in this series I have dealt with before, other than Sarah Hart’s Mass of St Mary Magdalene. (not game)
This is a fine song for gathering or comforting but I fear Chris Mulgia has made it too fiddly for an assembly and it may be best as a solo vehicle. The verses have marked deviations in the melody and the timings are tricky. That said, assemblies have a way of adapting to such challenges and it may still be useful, as it is rather lovely. I note Chris Brunelle (below) pretty much just talks the verses and sings the refrain and it seems to work.
OCP will sell you the sheet music and the text is available in their preview.
6/8 is a bit of work on BIAB.
This is a spirited recessional from Dan Schutte that is included in Breaking Bread 2022.
The chorus is singable and fairly normal but the verse meanders through a few keys to make for a memorable trip.
The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where the text is provided in their preview.
It’s a song for Reconciliation, it’s a song for Lent. This Roc O’Connor song has been added to Breaking Bread for 2022 and has a firm claim to liturgical usefulness.
The sheet music is at OCP and the text is in their preview.
An obvious choice for Ash Wednesday and Lent with a refrain for both situations and many verses to choose from for applicability and length, this song by Lourdes Montgomery is a new selection for Breaking Bread.
OCP will sell the you the sheet music and the bilingual text is available in their preview.
My backing follows the English words.
