Church Music

They are having a half price sale – best find the details on their Facebook page.

I got Gather 3rd edition for Guitar in 3 volumes, which I will explore at some point.

Entrance: Summoned By Love (O’Brien/Watts) AOV 2/18

Psalm 95 (McKenna)

Give the Lord glory and honour.

Give the Lord glory and honour.

Gifts:  I Have Loved You (Joncas) AOV 1/126

Communion: One Bread One Body (Foley) AOV 1/129

Thanksgiving: I Thank My God (Andersen)

Recessional: Sing a New Song (Schutte) AOV 1/80

I’ve jumped all of Christmas because GA has the standard carols that appear elsewhere and so have been blogged already on this site.

This is Jane Wood’s Nunc Dimmittis. The general editor appears to have been tasked with providing a setting for everything for which no set nor satisfactory tune existed at the time. Her music is better than serviceable and is the spine of this collection. I applaud that she didn’t claim copyright on Luke 2:29-32.

Now, Lord, let your servant go in peace just as you promised long ago.

For our eyes have seen the salvation prepared for all the world to see.

A light to shine in the darkness and give glory to your people.

This song is used for the lighting of the Advent candles for four weeks and then a central candle for Christmas. The fifth candle is new to me.

Jane Wood, the editor, wrote the text and music with an ostinato refrain that can be used under the verses. In GA there are readings for each week of Advent and for Christmas.

If anyone continues the Advent candles into Christmas can they let me know whether it works?

The text is on page two of this service handout where it is used as a penitential rite.

I’m working through songs in Gather Australia that I haven’t covered before

This is for non-Eucharistic gatherings. The text is by Kevin Lenehan and the music by Jane Wood

Let our hearts be broken and our lives poured out.

We will serve one another! We will serve one another!

© Kevin Lenehan 1994.

This is another song GA suggest for anointing. The text is by Ruth Duck and the music is FENNVILLE by Robert J. Batastini. It sounds fine for Lent and Reconciliation as well.

The text is at Cantus Mundi.

I found some substitutions she wrote for specific circumstances. The line:

Wounds of the past remain, affecting all we do

can be replaced thusly:

Ruth Duck has provided the following words that may be substituted for those who are seriously ill:
Free us from fear of death, our faith and hope renew…
or, for those who have been abused:
Wounds of abuse remain, affecting all we do…

It is a GIA copyright but I can’t find it for sale there. The sheet music can be purchased at Hymnary.

This Jeanne Cotter’s setting of the ICEL text for this liturgical purpose.

Interestingly she has a song called, “Blessed be God Who Heals Us” for the same situation with the text listed as by Betsey Beckman, which can be purchased here. I have no idea if it is the same tune – this is the one in GA.

Blessed be God who heals us,

Blessed be God who heals us in Christ.

Blessed be God who heals us

Blessed be God who heals us in Christ

More wedded bliss from Shirley Erena Murray, with the text set to Ralph Vaughn William’s DOWN APNEY.

Text and sheet music are available from Hope Publishing. She marries the down to earth picture of a wedding with the grand setting beautifully.

GA has no chords but Together In Song came to the rescue. These days for my fake BIAB organ I get the chords if I can and take the bass notes of the keyboard arrangement. It still sounds like BIAB.

This doesn’t:

Church was at maximum allowed capacity this morning with social distancing in place. Things are pretty good Covid wise in Australia with no community spread in all states except Victoria, where numbers are dropping to single digits some days.

Next week’s music liturgy selection are:

Entrance: Christ be Our Light  (Farrell) AOV 2/3

Psalm 22 (McKenna)

I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Gifts:  The Cry of the Poor (Foley) AOV 1/83  

Communion: Table of Plenty (Schutte) AOV 2/20

Thanksgiving: Shepherd Me O God (Haugen) AOV 1/33

Recessional: City of God (Schutte) AO)V 1/57

It seems a lot of the songs I don’t know already from GA have a text by Shirley Erena Murray. She wrote this wedding song that is set to BUNESSAN. It is a great idea to use a familiar hymn tune to encourage participation at a liturgy where people of all faiths and none will attend, like a wedding. Most people will recognise this tune quickly.

You can find the text and sheet music from the wonderful people at Hope Publications.