Church Music

I’m going to jump from GIA to OCP and blog the songs that were added to Breaking Bread in 2018. I have covered the more recent additions but still hope to find reasonably new songs for our liturgical celebrations.

This is a gathering song from Jesse and Jennah Manisuban. Jennah is his daughter. The text, available in OCP’s preview, shows a church that gathers and values the forgotten in society. The tune is lightly syncopated but still singable and appears to be popular based on the number of YouTube clips.

OCP sell the sheet music here.

As usual, I made a BIAB backing to sing along with to help learn the piece.

Another song unrelated to the above:

This isn’t in a collection I have, but was used at Ryan’s parish recently and is a song of consolation. It was written by Ron and Carol Harris. It has a fair old range and a few tricky rhythms and long held notes so I would be thinking it was a solo, but maybe your assembly is up for it. There is a risk of schmaltz so keep it simple.

The lyrics are here and it could purchased for download at various sites including this one.

BIAB is good for songs like this:

My mother was a big fan of Stan Freberg and she passed the fandom onto me. “Wun’erful, Wun’erful” introduced me to the Lemon Sisters. It was only years later I heard the real Lawrence Welk and the real Lennon Sisters.

…and they sing this song too.

…turn off the bubble machine.

The last song in Volume Two of the guitar version of Gather 3rd ed. is Francis Patrick O’Brien’s song based on 1 Cor 13:1-2,8,13. Singing the line ” I am like a noisy gong” sounds great to me.

GIA have the sheet music for sale and the text in their preview.

There is another whole volume of this edition of Gather, but seems a good spot to look at something else for a while.

This song expressing love for God was written by Duy Thiên (Fr. Nguyễn Văn Thăng) in Vietnamese with an English translation of the text by Rufino Zaragoza.

More remarkable than a Vietnamese song showing up in Gather, is the fact that is an OCP copyright. An obvious song if you have a Vietnamese community in your parish.

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

My backing is not intended to offend, it’s just that BIAB has few Asian options.

Goodness, a Marty Haugen song I don’t know. He sets a text based on 1 Cor 13:1-3 with a lovely tune, including a bridge after the second chorus.

GIA have the sheet music for sale and the text is in their preview.

More TAIZE goodness from Gather 3rd ed. The text is credited to the Taize Community and is based on Romans 8:39 and Psalm 56. The music is also credited to Taize.

The text of the refrain is here and the verses can be found in previews at Hymnary.

Taize sell the sheet music.

This is a gospel version of Psalm 27 by Lillian Bouknight. It might be better for choirs.

The text is here. I couldn’t find it for sale anywhere but it is in lots of hymnals and there is an arrangement here.

This is an interesting song by Felix Goebel-Komala. He has written verses based on Psalm 22 and used as a refrain the text of the chorus of “Amazing Grace”. He set it to his tune PSALM OF HOPE.

If you can get over singing such familiar words to a new tune, this is a song for Palm Sunday and the Easter season, with extra Easter lyrics.

GIA sell the sheet music (tympani optional!) and the words are in their preview.

This is just Frederick Faber’s “Faith of Our Fathers” but this version in Gather has alternate verses by Joseph R. Alfred.

I made a new backing with BIAB fake organ.

This YouTube clip has the lyrics in Gather.

This sung blessing from Gather 3rd ed. is by Izuni Shiota from Japan (not credited in Gather), with additional text from Lori True. The tune is called a Japanese folk melody but it is now also credited to Izunia Shiota.

GIA have the sheet music for sale and the text is in their preview.