Church Music

I have blogged the version in As One Voice, but CWB II sets the text to LUCERNA LAUDONIAE by David Evans and have chosen a different variant of the text, hence reposting.

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies;
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to you we raise
This our sacrifice of  praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night;
Hill and vale and tree and flow’r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to you we raise
 This our sacrifice of  praise. 

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and brain's delight, 
For the mystic harmony,
Linking sense to song and sight,
Lord of all, to you we raise
 This our sacrifice of  praise.  

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child;
Friends on Earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to you we raise
 This our sacrifice of  praise. 

For Your church that evermore,
Lifts its holy hands above;
Off’ring up on ev’ry shore,
A pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to you we raise
 its pure sacrifice of  praise. 

For yourself, O Gift Divine,
To our world so freely giv’n,
Word incarnate, God's design,
Peace on earth and joy in heav’n.
Lord of all, to you we raise
 This our sacrifice of  praise. 

Readings: Proverbs 8:22-31

Romans 5: 1-5

John 16: 12-15

Entrance: Sing Out Earth and Sky  (Haugen) AOV 2/32

Psalm 8 (McKenna)

O Lord our God, how wonderful your name in all the world

Gifts: Blessed be Our God (McKenna) AOV NG 13

Communion: Bread Broken Wine Shared  (Horner) AOV 2/155

Thanksgiving: Trinity Song (Andersen)

Recessional: Sing of the Lord’s Goodness (Sands) AOV 1/131

I know this trinitarian hymn is written by John Henry Newman, but it has a touch of the doggerel about it to my ears. All the “I”s make it less wonderful for an assembly as well.

CWB II set it to Elgar’s DRAKE’S BROUGHTON, although other sources suggest SHIPSTON. It is interesting how often CWB II goes with settings that are not the most commonly associated with the text.

Firmly I believe and truly
God is Three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.

And I trust and hope most fully
In that manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as He has died.

Simply to His grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love supremely, solely,
Him the holy, Him the strong.

And I hold in veneration,
For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church as His creation,
And her teachings are His own.

Praise and thanks be ever given,
With and through th’angelic host,
To the God of earth and Heaven,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

This is one of the few hymns to use the Didache’s call for unity as a resource. F. Bland Tucker is listed as the translator. The text is at Hymnary, although CWB II gets rid of the the archaisms this time.

CWB II sets it to RENDEZ A DIEU.

A translation of a C7 Latin Eucharistic text Sancte, venite, Christi Corpus sumite by J M Neale. It came from a manuscript found in an Irish monastry.

It is here set to a traditional Irish tune GUSTATE, which is quite pretty and singable. I note many other settings .

There seem to be innumerable variants on this text but this is the one in CWB II.

Draw nigh and take the body of the Lord;
And drink the holy blood for you outpoured.
Saved by his body and his precious blood,
Our souls refreshed, we offer thanks to God.

Our true Redeemer, Christ the only Son,
By cross and blood a mighty victory won.
Offering himself for greatest and for least,
Himself the victim, and Himself the priest.

The victims offered by the law of old,
As signs from God, eternal mysteries told.
Now Christ our light, the ransom of our race,
Gives to his own this endless source of grace.

Let us approach with loving hearts sincere,
And take the pledge of our salvation here.
Christ, who his faithful servants rules and shields,
To all believers life eternal yields.

With bread of life makes them that hunger whole,
Gives living waters to each thirsting soul,
Christ Jesus, first and last, is with us now,
To him at end of time we all shall bow.

Readings:

Acts 2:1-11; Romans 8:8-17; John 14:15-16

The reading from Acts stops at verse 11 but what follows is interesting.

Amazed and confused, they kept asking each other, “What does this mean?” But others made fun of the believers, saying, “These people are drunk!” Acts 2;12-13.

The Lukan community looking back at the start of their existence remember confusion, risk, chaos and ridicule, but also, right from the start, a story of mission across ethnic barriers. The Holy Spirit does not appear to be an agent of stasis, instead creating new realities that confound the established order and overturn boundaries.

We are continuing with the Mass of Glory and Praise by Paul Mason but substituting the Celtic Alleluia for the Gospel acclamation because we know how to sing the response. The sequence for Pentecost is to the tune of Song of Joy.

Entrance: Lord, the Light of Your Love  (Kendrick) AOV 2/59

Psalm 103 (McKenna)

Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.

Gifts: Enemy of Apathy (Bell-Maule) AOV 2/75

Communion: Come to the Table  (Burland) AOV NG 33

Thanksgiving: Holy Spirit of Fire  (Mangan)

Recessional: Hearts on Fire (Mangan) AOV NG 62

This is an interesting text that convicts the singer of their faithlessness and empty words – at least I hope that it is an examination of our conscience rather than a condemnation of others.

It is written by Herman G. Stuempfle Jr. The text is in this preview from GIA. They use the usual setting LAND OF REST, while CWB II uses ST BERNARD.

This is another of the amazing songs with lyrics by James McAuley and music By Richard Connolly. It is included in the collection Year of Grace Music Book available at As One Voice.

It is based on Rev 22:17. I can’t find the text online, so you’ll have to sing along from the book. I see the sheet music with annotations from the the composer is available at the Veech library in Sydney.

When I worked out chords from the sheet music they were all rather jazzy so my backing went off in that direction.

This is a selection from the (not revised) Grail text of Psalm 51 set by Jennifer O’Brien. Her music is always reliable and singable and this is no exception, although you will need a cantor for the verses.

The text is in this post, where verse 1 is 3/4; verse 2 is 12/13 and verse 3 is 14/15.

I struggle with these triumphant texts but I suppose they have a place. This one is written by James E Seddon and the lyrics are here.

It is often set to LUX EOI and ABBOT’S LEIGH, but CWB II uses HYFRYDOL.