Church Music

I will be in Queensland for Christmas this year so will join with other musicians to play at Mass. It’s all pretty standard which is good for participation. We are carrying on with the Mass of St Francis until Ordinary Time kicks in next year.

Carols before Mass:

Hark the Heard Angels Sing

Angels We Have Herald On High

O Little Town of Bethlehem

The First Noel

Entrance: O Come All Ye Faithful

Psalm: Christmas Psalm (Farrell)

Gifts: O Holy Night

Communion: Come to the Table (Burland)

Away in a Manger

Star Child (Murray-Young)

Thanksgiving: Silent Night

Recessional : Joy to the World

Entrance: Angels We Have Heard On High

Psalm 83 (McKenna)

How happy they who dwell in your house, O Lord

Gifts: What Child Is This

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

Thanksgiving: Away in a Manger

Recessional: Joy to the World

I haven’t long to do Advent songs in Advent.

The article at Pray Tell listing an Advent playlist has this choir song from Steven C Warner, which is quite a performance in all its glory if you have the resources.

It interweaves “O Come O Come Emmanuel” into the choral parts masterfully.

The sheet music can be purchased at WLP where the text is in the sample sheet music.

BIAB will never do this justice so I just picked the main vocal lines with some of the extras. I suppose a choir could use it as a skeleton and sing along whatever parts they wanted.

This is what it is supposed to sound like:

This is not an Advent song but was the title track of the Craig Colson album from which “This is Your Justice” derives and I thought it worth a look too.

It is a solo vehicle but powerful nonetheless.

The sheet music is for purchase at WLP where the text is in their sample.

In an effort to wrench myself back to Advent from the Lent songs in CWB II, I saw this article at the Pray Tell Blog with a playlist for Advent.

I though I’d look at the songs suggested and found I’d already blogged Janet Sullivan Whitaker’s lovely Day of Peace.

That got me to Craig Colson’s “This Is Your Justice”.

This is a hypnotic call and response tune that was a lovely surprise and would a great song for Advent.

It can be purchased at WLP where the text is their sample.

Rounding out lent for CWB II is this translation of a sixth century song Clarum decus jujunii, possibly by Gregory the Great, translated by Maurice Bell.

It is set to DEO GRACIAS aka AGINCOURT.

I’ve already blogged this with a different setting here.

The glory of these forty days
we celebrate with songs of praise,
for Christ, through whom all things were made,
himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
the loving God who gave the law,
and to Elijah, fasting, came
the steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
delivered from the lions’ might,
and John, the Saviour’s friend, became
the herald of Messiah’s name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to be
by prayer and fast from sin set free;
our spirits strengthen with your grace,
and give us joy to see your face.

We praise the Father and the Son,
the Spirit with them, ever One.
our God in threefold name adored,
from age to age, the only Lord.

I got the chords from Hymnary because CWB II doesn’t help with that.

This Marty Haugen song, which he says was originally an entrance hymn for Holy Thursday, is in the Lent section of CWB II because of the extra verses Haugen wrote for each week of Lent.

Happily CWB II have the chords this time.

It is up to his usual excellent standard as a singable  hymn and most suitable for the solemn liturgies it addresses.

The text is here but you will need to seek out GIA’s preview to look at the Lenten verses if you don’t have CWB II, although it is also in Gather Australia 307 (& Ritual Song 541). You can buy the sheet music or view the preview at GIA.

Entrance: Emmanuel (Angrisano)

Wreath: Christ Circle Round Us (Schutte)

Psalm: To You O God, I Lift Up My Soul (Hurd) AOV 2/14

Gifts: Gentle Woman (Landry) GA 544

Communion: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Neale) AOV 1/174

Thanksgiving: Advent Chant (Porter/Kirkland) AOV 2/123

Recessional: O Emmanuel (Mangan) CWB II 241

I’ve done Marty Haugen’s “Return to God” 298, so that gets me to this song from The (Unrevised) Grail with the antiphon from Joel 2:17 and the verses from Psalm 51.

The antiphon is:

Parce Domine, populo tuo, ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.

…which means “O Lord, spare thy people, and be not angry with us for ever”. but is here translated to:

Spare your people, Lord, spare your people; spare us Lord.

Be not angry, Lord, with your people forever.

The text of the verses is here – scroll to Psalm 51 vss 3,4,5,6,9.

The music is chant mode 1. Since BIAB can’t do chant I can’t do this justice but I did put in some breathing pauses this time for a change:

I’ve noticed that the antiphon is always the same but the verses have various different tunes for the verses.

I’m still in the Lent section of CWB II and finding more Lent songs I didn’t know.

This one has a text by Kevin Nichols and is usually set to PASSION CHORALE (Hassler) but in CWB I & II it is set to NESHANIC by the very prolific Erik Routley.

The text is available on this site.