Monica Brown‘s collection, Our God is Good, provided four songs in the Praise to God hymn book. There was the hit song, “Celebrate” and “Speak from Your Heart“, which I have blogged already, because they were in As One Voice. This article may be ten years old, but it is a nice appreciation of her work over the years.
PTG also included the title track and the format of the sheet music is melody line with chords, which appears very much cut and paste from the originals. This is a children’s song and requires clapping.
Her older children’s songs are helpfully complied in Praise & Blessings, available to download as sheet music at Emmaus.
I am completely ignoring the many songs that the Praise to God hymnal got from the New Living Parish Hymn Book, because I will look at that collection soon enough, but a collection that was used surprisingly little by the editors, was the Australian published, Pius X Hymnal.
You can read about that collection here, where there is a link to download the pdf.
“An Australian Christmas Carol” is the only song listed from Pius X to be selected for PTG. Both the Pius X and PTG list this Australian Christmas song as being by an anonymous Presentation Sister. However I found this background information here:
This obscure Christmas Carol has been attributed to Rev Mother Francis Tobin, IBVM, Australian Loreto Sister. It is not known when it was written but it appeared in the December 17, 1953 edition of The Catholic Weekly with just the attribution of IBVM. However, when it was published in the December 1968 edition of Progress – the staff magazine of the State Savings Bank of Victoria – Mother Francis Tobin was recorded as the author. Rev Mother Francis Tobin was born Elizabeth “Lizzie” Tobin in 1860 in Auburn Villa, Ararat, Victoria. In October 1875, at the of age 15, she became the seventh student to be enrolled in Mary’s Mount, Ballarat – the first Loreto school in Australia. At 19 she became the first Loreto student in Australia to become a postulant in the Loreto order, taking her vows in 1881, and professed in 1888. She passed away at Loreto, Kirribilli on August 12, 1956.
There is more about Mother Francis Tobin at the Loreto site. The song has taken on a life of its own with many variations on the text, some of whch are listed here.
The setting is noted to be Irish traditional arranged by the hymnal’s editor Percy Jones. If anyone knows what the tune is called, I’d love to know.
I made a backing nonethless:
I assume that Percy Jones, collected all of the verses and consolidated them in Pius X and PTG copied them, just removing the thees and thous:
O little Babe of Bethlehem! The Southern Cross shines down, As once a star shone glorious above an Eastern town.
The hearts of Bethlehem are cold, The streets are hushed with snow, The doors are barred, there is no room, Dear Lord, where will you go?
O come sweet Jesus come to us! Australia’s sun is warm, And here are loving hearts enough to shield you from the storm.
Come! We will give you all we have: Each bird and flower and tree, The breeze that stirs the silver gums, The music of the sea.
And sweet clematis starry-eyed with delicate ferns we’ll bring; Our wattle trees shall shower their gold in tribute to our King.
We’ll watch, when evening sounds begin And dreaming flowers nod, Your mother fold you in her arms, Dear little Lamb of God.
Bell-birds shall ring their silver peal from gullies green and deep, And mingle with the magpie’s note to call you from your sleep.
O little Babe of Bethlehem! Australia loves you well; Come to our hearts this Christmastide and there forever dwell.
The last song I will look at in the Praise to God parish hymn book that the editors took from James Quinn‘s New Hymns for New Seasons, is “O Father, Take in Sign of Love”. It was a new text when he wrote in in the 1960s and it is set to an old tune, HORSLEY. It is a hymn for Offertory and Eucharist.
The best source for his songs, including this one, is the collection, Hymns for All Seasons. The sheet music below is in Eb, PTG is in D and I’d take it down to C at least.
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.
