Church Music

This is a Marty Haugen song that CWB says is based on Psalm 94 (95) and 95 (96). Psalm 118 is obviously involved as well for the refrain.

The verse goes into interesting melodic territory – B# in a song in E anyone?

You can still buy it at GIA where the text is in their preview.

I had more trouble than usual with BIAB for this song as it is in cut common time and my usual trick of entering everything and just reducing everything by half won’t work with chords on quarter notes – I worked around it.

I’m afraid this is another obscure one from CWB.

The text is by Don and Nancy MacNeill. The tune is by Daniel Moe and called OPENING HYMN. It was from a collection called Worship For Today and also was in the hymn book, Ecumenical Praise, and of course CWB.

I can’t find a trace of it on the internet and the music is kind of ornery with frequent changes to the time signature.

I guessed the chords and tried to make sense of the rhythm, so for those with CWB I, I made a strange backing.

I covered this James Quinn text while I was doing Gather Australia, but they used JESU DULCIS MEMORIA. CWB say they set it to EISENACH, but it is in fact set to JESU DULCIS MEMORIA as well.

The words are at Hymnary.

I made a simple backing this time with made up (ie wrong) chords, because I piked on the chant last time.

This is a setting of Psalm 26(27) from the Grail by Tobias Colgan OSB.

He is a Benedictine from St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana.

They have kindly posted a songbook that includes this song’s words and music on page 12.

… which helped a lot with this backing I made:

This is another song CWB sourced from the New Catholic Hymnal, and is a paraphrase by Anthony G. Petti of a song by Thomas Aquinas called Verbum supernum prodiens. It is both Eucharistic and Trinitarian.

CWB set it to Percy Buck’s GONFALEN ROYAL.

I got chords from TIS for a backing:

1 The word of God from heaven came,

But did not leave the Father’s side;

Fulfilled his mission here on earth,

And for mankind was crucified.

2 The very night before he died

And to his passion he was led,

He gave to his disciples life,

His own true self in form of bread.

3 His body and his precious bloood

He offered under either kind,

And in the fullness of his love

Gave food of life to all mankind.

4 Dear Saviour, victim for our sins,

To lead us to eternal life:

Protect and guard us in your grace,

And keep us from all earthly strife.

5 To your great name be endless praise,

O ever blessed Trinity;

We pray you, grant us perfect life

With you throughout eternity.

This is a Dutch hymn for confirmation by Huub Oosterhuis. CWB I sets it to a traditional Dutch tune, GELUKKIG IS HET LAND. The translation is by Anthony Barr.

The words and music are in this sample at Hymnary.

OCP retranslated the text slightly and used a setting by Timothy Smith.

This is some 60s folk mass goodness from Joe Wise and yet another update of Psalm 22 (23).

The original has an extra bar in verse 3 only but I note Marty Haugen’s arrangement for GIA smoothed things out with extra words to make all the verses the same length.

Hymnary has that version in a sample with words and music.

My first backing was too slow so I made another. They both have the Haugen adjustment.

The original:

This is a reimagining of Psalm 22 (23) by Christopher Idle. CWB used CRIMOND to set it, which is doubling down I suppose.

Jubilate have the text, Hope the sheet music and Praise the backstory. Job done.

Now to find a very old backing of mine:

Is this a Catholic song if written by an Anglican minister?

… sung in a reformed church?

… Calvinist?

Psalms are for everyone!

The is a bit of an orphan setting of Psalm 26 (27) by Marty Haugen. You would expect Haugen’s work to be available but he wrote a more useable setting later on and that appears to have superceded this one.

The text is a paraphrase of the Psalm and the editors of CWB have changed it as well, so it would be only be useful as a hymn rather than as a psalm, which is probably why it has disappeared.

That said, I made a backing with made up chords for anyone who has CWB and wants to know how it goes. I haven’t found it available anywhere else.

This lyric for Holy Week, by the poet Margaret Cropper, is set in CWB to MORNING SONG.

It is admirably succinct.

1 The glory of our King was seen
when he came riding by,
and all the children waved and sang
‘Hosanna, King most high!’

2 The glory of our King was seen
when, with his arms stretched wide
to show his love to everyone,
Jesus was crucified.

3 The glory of our King was seen
on the first Easter day,
when Christ rose up, set free from death,
to love, to guide, to stay.