Church Music

CWB II continues its run of traditional hymnody for Easter with:

357 Good Shepherd, You Know Us

… and this song set to LLANFAIR with a text by James Quinn.

The text is here (thanks, Mary).

This Easter song is by Keith David Pearson based on a text by John of Damascus and set to AVE VIRGO VIRGINUM.

The text is here, and it is in Together In Song (391) as well as CWB II.

This is a joyful Easter song from CWB II with a tune for the refrain and two separate verse tunes.

The text is by John Edward Bowers and it is set to SALVA FESTES DIES by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

I can’t find the lyrics on the net and so for those with CWB II or Worship 3rd ed or the other hymnals listed in Hymnary…

As usual I had to find the chords elsewhere for my BIAB backing.

Throughout Lent we will use a seasonal psalm, Marty Haugen’s “Be With Me”.

Entrance: Here I Am Lord (Schutte) AOV 1/90

Gifts: Be Merciful (Haugen)

Communion: Tree of Life (Thompson) AOV NG 138

Recessional: Holy Darkness (Schutte) AOV 2/24

In the Easter songs in CWB II I’ve done:

352 By Your Kingly Power, O Risen Lord (Outstanding)

353 Christ is Alive, With Joy We Sing (More Easter VULPIUS action)

This text is by Michael Weisse and translated by Catherine Winkworth. It is set to ORIENTIS PARTIBUS.

It is a French melody that I had some fun with after getting the chords from Together In Song:

The text is found in various iterations but this is the one in CWB II.

1. Christ the Lord is risen again!
   Christ has broken ev’ry chain!
   Hark, the angels shout for joy
   Singing evermore on high:
   Alleluia!
2. He who gave for us His life.
   Who for us endured the strife,
   Is our Paschal Lamb today.
   We, too, sing for joy and say:
   Alleluia!
3. He who bore all pain and loss
   Comfortless upon the cross
   Lives in glory now on high,
   Pleads for us and hears our cry:
   Alleluia!
4. He who slumbered in the grave
   Is exalted now to save;
   Through the universe it rings
   That the Lamb is King of kings.
   Alleluia!
5. Now He bids us tell abroad
   How the lost may be restored,
   How the penitent forgiv’n,
   How we, too, may enter heav’n.
   Alleluia!
6. Christ, our Paschal Lamb indeed,
   Christ, your ransomed people feed;
   At the end of earthly strife Raise us, Lord, to endless life. Alleluia!

Here is the same tune used for a song about a donkey – I couldn’t resist – the Alleluia is replaced with “Hey sir donkey hey!”

CWB II gives some of these much longer titles but I have still blogged them already.

348 Easter Alleluia

349 O Sons and Daughters

350 Alleluia No.1

This is another Easter tune. It set to LASST UNS ERFREUEN, this time with a text by Hereford Brooke George. He had a busy life it seems and not much was related to hymn writing. The text is at Hymnary.

I’m into the general Easter songs in CWB II. I’ve already done:

346 Alleluia! Alleluia!

Which brings me to this chestnut from 1965 by Lucien Deiss. It is a lively 6/8 song with an interesting tune in the verses for the cantor, although doable for an assembly. It is one of the few songs in CWB II with a bit of life in it so I have to be happy with that. CWB II lacks the time signature and chords, which is poor considering it is a good song for guitar.

It can still be purchased from WLP. The text is at Cantus Mundi.

There are some painfully slow versions on YouTube. There is a snippet at WLP that gives a good idea of the tempo – don’t drag.

There are two songs specifically set for Easter Sunday in CWB II. Then there are a plethora of general Easter songs that I’ll tackle a bit at a time.

344 Easter Sequence: Christians Praise the Paschal Victim

The original words are a thousand years old by Wipo of Burgundy, here translated by Peter J. Scagnelli and in copyright (WLP). The chant tune is public domain.

You can see the chant notation here, but note that the text above is a different translation.

… or in Latin:

345 O Flock of Christ

This is a very different translation of the same sequence by James Quinn and set to VULPIUS.

It is available in this collection at OCP. I can’t find a link to the text anywhere.

Throughout Lent we will use a seasonal psalm, Marty Haugen’s “Be With Me”.

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

Gifts: Song of the Transfiguration (Haas)

Communion: We Remember (Haugen) AOV 1/81

Recessional: Lord, The Light of Your Love (Kendrick) AOV 2/59

… meanwhile is Tasmania at the church I play at when I can get down there:

A Trusting Psalm

The Light of Christ – never actually ever played that one.

Be Thou My Vision

Companions on the Journey

There are three hymns specifically recommended for Easter Vigil in Catholic Worship Book II.

I’ve already blogged 341 “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing” a nineteenth century translation of a fourth century Latin original.

As this is PD, the music below is pretty much what is in CWB II – same key and arrangement – just some minor grace notes added to the accompaniment..

I did a new backing for fun on BIAB.

342 Through the Red Sea Brought at Last

This is a text by Ronald Arbuthnot Knox a very interesting fellow. The words are still in copyright apparently, although he died in 1957 so it can’t be long. It is set to the tune STRAF MICH NICHT, which is seventeenth century. The text is at Hymnary. It has many alleluias and an interesting set of words – “By his tomb, Christ makes room” – “Then, deceitful world adieu” – as I say, he has a particular turn of phrase, but then he did write detective fiction.

343 We Know that Christ is Raised and Dies No More

While another traditionally styled hymn this is a corker of a tune – ENGELBERG by Charles Villiers Stanford. The text is by John Brownlow Geyer and still in copyright. The text is at Hymnary.

Without the full blast of organ and choir I can’t see these being particularly joyful for the Vigil myself. I think most parishes with more modest resources will look elsewhere or stick to what they know.