Church Music

I’m not sure what to make of this stirring – nay triumphant – hymn set to an Italian tradition melody NOI VOGLIAM DIO, the tune for the anthem of the Papal States. This in turn was a co-opting of a French hymn tune, Nous voulons Dieu.

The text is by J.P. Daly with a final verse added by John O’Brien the pen name of Monsignor Patrick Joseph Hartigan an Australian poet.

The text is here.

I found this clip:

Apologies for the backing, but there are few marching band styles in BIAB:

This is a translation by Louis Blenkner OSB of the C4 text Te Deum laudamus by St Nicetas.

Blenkner was a scholar who published concerning the Gawain poet. I wrote a very dodgy dissertation on the same poet in the remote past, so I feel some kinship.

Here it is not a chant, but set to MONTANA by Henry Bryan Hays OSB and it is found in Hay’s book, the Swayed Pines Song Book. I can’t find it anywhere else so CWB may have found it there. There are some tricky time shifts lying in wait for the unwary.

This clip has the text, but you have to go to YouTube:

This is a song for reconciliation from CWB by Redmond McGoldrick.

The text is on page 387 of this document.

Here it is set to Joshua Leavett’s HIDING PLACE.

Hymnary provided chords for a backing.

Here it is in it’s shape note glory:

This text takes us through many aspects of liturgy. It is C19 text by William Bullock, reworked by Henry Williams Baker and altered by the editors here presumably to make it both more Catholic and less archaic.

There is a lovely appreciation of the hymn here, which mentions the many variations in the text.

CWB sets it to MARIA JUNG UND ZALT a combination unknown to Hymnary, but perhaps an English usage as CWB got the hymn from Jubilate.

This is the text from Ancient and Modern:

1 We love the place, O God,
wherein thine honour dwells;
the joy of thine abode
all earthly joy excels.

2 We love the house of prayer,
wherein thy servants meet;
and thou, O Lord, art there
thy chosen flock to greet.

3 We love the sacred font;
for there the holy Dove
to pour is ever wont
his blessing from above.

4 We love thine altar, Lord;
O what on earth so dear?
for there, in faith adored,
we find thy presence near.

5 We love the word of life,
the word that tells of peace,
of comfort in the strife,
and joys that never cease.

6 We love to sing below
for mercies freely given;
but O we long to know
the triumph-song of heaven.

7 Lord Jesus, give us grace
on earth to love thee more,
in heaven to see thy face,
and with thy saints adore.

CWB has this version:

1 We love the place, O God,
in which your honour dwells:
the joy of your abode
all earthly joy excels.

2 We love the house of prayer,
for where Christ’s people meet;
our risen Lord is there
to make our joy complete.

3 We love the word of life,
the word that tells of peace,
of comfort in the strife,
and joys that never cease.

4 We love the cleansing sign
of life through Christ our Lord,
where with the name divine
we seal the sons of God.

5 We love the holy feast
where nourished with this food,
by faith we feed on Christ,
his body and his blood.

6 We love to sing below
for mercies freely given,
but O, we long to know
the triumph-song of heaven.

7 Lord Jesus, give us grace
on earth to love you more,
in heaven to see your face,
and with your saints adore.

This is a song for Baptism written by Judith Beatrice O’Neill. She was living in Melbourne when she wrote the text in the 1950s. She went on to write junior fiction.

CWB sets it to RICHMOND.

I got chords from TIS. The only alterations made by the editors is to accommodate more than one child for baptism.

1 We praise you, Lord, for Jesus Christ,
Who died and rose again,
He lives to break the power of sin
And over death to reign.

2 We praise you that these children now share
The freedom Christ can give,
Have died to sin with Christ, and now
With Christ is raised to live.

3 We praise you, Lord, that these children
are grafted to the vine,
Are made now members of your house
And bears the cross as sign.

4 We praise you, Lord, for Jesus Christ,
He loves these children we bring:
He frees, forgives, and heals us all,
He lives and reigns as king.

Looking back from 2025, it is quite odd to note that Catholic Worship Book was published in 1985 and feels much earlier, while As One Voice was only seven years later in 1992 and seems a quantum leap in song selection, layout and applicability to a suburban parish. Unsurprisingly, it became the most popular hymnal in Australia combining the best of the UK and US sources with local songwriters. Their subsequent hymn books have added many more useful songs for liturgy.

If you are in a situation in your parish where live music is not always available, the backings available from various sources have often not been of songs that you would like to play at mass, especially not Australian songs.

Willow have now made tasteful piano backings for a selection of their songs that would be very useful where you have someone willing to lead music but no instruments available.

They listed the available songs, which will cost you less than a few hours of hiring a musician:

It’s nice to see music from more recent compositions as well.

You can still purchase the hymnals, many still in physical form, at Willow.

MIDI backings have the advantage of the ability to edit for key and tempo, but most of the songs in AOV are pitched pretty well and you could cover a lot of liturgies with the selected tracks. I hope they continue this project.

The other thing I am turning up in CWB is early Marty Haugen material that I haven’t come across elsewhere.

This is by Haugen and based on Psalm 24 (25). It’s a lovely melody but the verses suggest a cantor.

The sheet music is still available at GIA, where the text is in their preview.

Slogging through the hymns that I haven’t covered already on this blog from CWB, I am a little disappointed at so few Australian hymns. I’m getting a few forgotten folk mass era songs and lots of old hymns to old tunes that are no longer in high rotation. At least the Praise to God hymnal had lots of Australian obscurities.

I am noting a lot of texts translated from German or Latin set to old English or German tunes.

This Marian hymn is translated from German by Brian Moore SJ (“Maria zu lieben”) and here set to a traditional English tune, GALLERY CAROL.

1 To love you O Mary is all my desire,

In joy and in sorrow my heart all afire

With love and with longing true service to give,

Your own still in dying, your own while I live.

2 O Mary, O Maiden, most gentle and just,

As greatly I love you so greatly I trust.

You are, and have shown it, a mother to me,

 In living and dying your child shall I be.

3 O Mother, your grace to my promise impart,

Your name sealing steadfast my mouth and my heart:

Be with me in dying and reach down your hand

and graciously lead me to the heavenly land.

This Youtube clip is a different tune but has a commentary on the hymn and a different translation.

This is the original use of the “Gallery Carol”.

This is a hymn of praise, which CWB say is a translation of an anonymous C16 work called Summa parentis filio, translated by Edward Caswell and further adapted by the editors. The particular theme of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a little watered down in CWB’s version of the text.

It is here set to NARENZA, itself a C19 adaptation of an earlier tune by William Henry Havergal.

I got the chords for a backing from the ever wonderful Together In Song, which is indispensible if you want chords for old hymn tunes.

To be fair to the editors there are a lot of variations in this text.

Hymnary use the text from Worship.

1 To Christ, the Prince of Peace
And Son of God most high,
The ruler of the world to come,
We lift our joyful cry.

2 Deep in his heart, for us
The wound of love he bore,
That love with which he still inflames
The hearts that him adore.

3 O Jesus, victim blest,
What else but purest love
Could make your sacred heart pour forth
God’s graces from above?

4 O fount of endless life
And spring of water clear,
O heav’nly flame which cleanses all
Who unto you draw near!

5 Enfold us in your heart,
O Jesus, Savior blest,
So shall we find your plenteous grace
And heav’n’s eternal rest.

It’s always fun to look for the firm hand of the CWB editors:

1 To Christ, the Prince of peace,
And Son of God most high,
The Father of the world to come,
We lift our joyful cry.

2 Deep in his heart for us
The wound of love he bore:
That burning love he kindles still
In hearts that him adore.

3 O Jesus, victim priest,
What else but love so fine
Could make your so to welcome us
Into your heart divine.

4 O fount of endless life,
And spring of water clear,
With flame celestial cleansing all
Who to your heart draw near!

5 Keep us in your dear heart,
For there we all would be,
To live in grace, and after death
Gain immortality.

6 Praise to the Father be,
And sole-begotten Son;
Praise, ever holy Paraclete,
While endless ages run.

This site gives the Latin and another translation. I’m not sure how “victim” becomes “priest” in CWB.

This is a Marty Haugen song that CWB says is based on Psalm 94 (95) and 95 (96). Psalm 118 is obviously involved as well for the refrain.

The verse goes into interesting melodic territory – B# in a song in E anyone?

You can still buy it at GIA where the text is in their preview.

I had more trouble than usual with BIAB for this song as it is in cut common time and my usual trick of entering everything and just reducing everything by half won’t work with chords on quarter notes – I worked around it.