OCP chose this beautiful Bernadette Farrell song with a text based on Psalm 42 for Breaking Bread in 2018. It would be lovely for Preparation of the Gifts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I've worked my way through the As One Voice books and other collections making backings on Band in a Box to help me (& you if you're interested) learn new songs for church. This is aimed at churches and musicians that own the collections but haven't exploited them fully. If you don't have them they are certainly worth buying. This site is educational, nonprofit and designed to enhance the commercial prospects of songwriters. This site does not distribute copyrighted sheet music.
Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed here are personal views and not the responsibility of any Church.
All music backings posted are created by myself and the intention is for them to be used to learn the songs. If any copyright holder wishes me to cease publicising and promoting their wares and directing people to where sheet music can be legally purchased please let me know.
Mason’s “Mass of Glory and Praise”
To access my backings for Paul Mason's mass go to Feb 2011 in the archive.