Church Music

With pretty much all I ever intend to cover in Gather Australia done, I’m turning from GIA to OCP and their selections adding to Breaking Bread for 2021. It’s nice to see what new songs are out there.

This solemn and singable hymn is an obvious choice for funerals, anointing and situations where hope is needed – like now. If an assembly were doing it, I’d bring it down a notch or two.

Barbara Bridge was inspired by the words of Julian of Norwich for the refrain and Psalm 121 for the verses and she wrote the music. It starts with a nod to “Abide with Me” that I suppose was a deliberate allusion to set the stage.

The sheet music can be purchased at OCP. The text is in their preview, which also facilitated the making of a BIAB backing.

Chris Brunelle is way ahead of me with his demonstrations of the new Breaking Bread songs.

Getting to Christ the King means I’ve pretty much covered the songs for Feasts and Seasons in Gather Australia that I hadn’t already done from other sources.

This text by George K.A. Bell is here set to BEVERLY by Charles R. Anders. It is often set to VULPIUS.

The text is here. Mary at Godsongs has details of its origin and other settings.

My backing is more fake BIAB organ. GA usually provides the chords but not in this case so I had to work out my own.

This is another one of the selections in Gather Australia for the Body and Blood of Christ.

Christopher Willcock wrote the tune and used 1 Cor 11:24-25 for the refrain and 1 Tim 3:16 for the verses. The tune drifts from one time signature to another and the third verse has a different tune. This is for a choir.

The text of the refrain is actually the ICEL text based on 1 Cor 11:24-25:

… the proper Communion Antiphon for Holy Thursday (Evening Mass) is “This body will be given for you. This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood; whenever you receive them, do so in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11: 24-25).

http://www.canticanova.com/articles/feedback/arteah1.htm

This is listed for the Body and Blood of Christ by Gather Australia, but has general Eucharistic applications.

The text is by John Bell and it is set to AFTON WATERS. It is in his collection Enemy of Apathy.

The range will be beyond most assemblies but it is otherwise a lovely traditional Scottish folk tune.

The text is here with different music by David MacGregor. ( If you want hear MacGregor’s backing go to this site.)

My backing is for AFTON WATERS.

This is a Trinitarian hymn with a text by Daniel Thambyarajah Niles. It is set to Elena Granada Maquiso’s tune HALAD.

An extensive analysis of the song including the text is available here.

I got the chords from Together In Song.

Skipping lots of Easter songs in Gather Australia already covered gets to to another challenging text from Shirley Erena Murray. GA leaves out a whole verse about new wineskins that while biblical might have been too challenging for us Catholics. Hope Publications provide the text here.

Here it is set by Rosalie Bonighton. This is a lovely intricate and surprising setting but more likely suitable for a choir. There are echoes for the assembly that are doable, but most of the song needs a cantor or choir especially when the 9/8 time is disrupted by the gorgeous timing changes in the last two lines of each verse.

Hope Publications set this text to what appears a much simpler tune that may be preferable for an assembly.

9/8 is a challenge in BIAB.

I have noticed that songs that did not come to frequent church usage in this collection have been disproportionately been written by women. Since I can’t find a video of this song how about this:

Entrance: All Are Welcome (Haugen) CWB II 535

Psalm 17 (McKenna)

I love you Lord, my strength.

I love you Lord, my strength.

Gifts:  A New Commandment (Unknown)

Communion: Will You Love Me?   (Boniwell) AOV 1/40

Thanksgiving: Deep In the Spirit (Andersen)

Recessional: A New Heart for a New World   (O’Brien/Watts) AOV 1/158

Much of what I haven’t covered in Gather Australia are these useful pieces for specific liturgical purposes like this one, with the text by Kevin Lenehan and Jane Wood and the tune by Jane Wood.

John 4:14 appears to be the inspiration of this song for use during anointing with chrism. It is to be repeated until the liturgical action is complete.

If you need to know how it goes I have done a backing:

You are born of the water, this fountain of life.

Born of the fountain of life.

Called out and sealed as the children of God.

Called as the children of God.

If you were thinking that the one thing wrong with the Easter Vigil readings was that they weren’t long enough, then Jane Wood and Kevin Lenehan have the answer for you. After each of the first seven readings they have a sung response consisting of a refrain and a matching verse for each reading adapted from the Grail. Lenehan and Wood did the refrain text and Wood the unconventional music.

I made a backing for the refrain and the response to the first reading. Since the verses vary it make sense to have a cantor do the verses and the assembly the refrain. Get out your Gather Australia and sing along.

Having the used the church copy of the this book for some years I felt obliged to buy a copy of my own which arrived today. I paid $50, which is astonishing value and Amanda provides sung Psalm responses for every Sunday of every year. We have used them for more than 3 years now and the assembly can pick them up after one hearing and sing the responses well.

AOV’s 50% off sale is now on so you can buy it for $25.00!!!! This is a great chance for churches to buy multiple copies.

Go to their facebook page to get details and view the updated stock list to look for other bargains.