Church Music

I’m having a good time blogging the works of Chris deSilva from Perth.  His songs are liturgically useful and able to be sung, which is a good combination.

The verses of “Make a Highway” match the weeks in Advent so you can sing the song throughout Advent as an entrance hymn, for example, and pick the appropriate verse for each week.

He has put the sheet music and a voice+piano guide MP3 at his site here.

You can sing along with my backing to learn the song:

Refrain
Make a highway for our Saviour:
Straighten the crooked, make it wide.
Flatten mountains, fill in valleys,
Sweep all obstacles aside.

Verse 1
Stay awake, the Lord is coming
At a time we do not know.
Be alert, prepared to meet him,
For his coming will not be slow.

Verse 2
Mary listened to the angel,
Then she said, “God’s will be done.”
Joseph, guided in his dreaming,
Made a home for God’s only Son.

Verse 3
Mary visited her cousin,
In whose womb the child she bore
Leapt for joy at Mary’s greeting.
She praised God who lifts up the poor.

Verse 4
John the Baptist, at the Jordan,
Called on sinners to repent;
Warned them of the Kingdom’s coming,
Baptized those who were penitent.

Verse 5
Now we look towards the future
When our Lord will come again.
Tears and sorrow will be ended,
Love will conquer sin, death and pain.

Copyright © 2012 Christopher J. S. deSilva. All rights reserved.

This is another communion song by Chris deSilva from Perth that is really very good indeed.  The text fits the singable tune in a range that won’t upset the assembly.

It is in E but I would be lazy and play it capo 2 in D.

The sheet music and a vocal+piano track are available at his site here.

Refrain
We are one in the Body and the Blood of Christ:
one in faith, we have one Lord!
We are one in the Spirit who fills us with life;
we are the people of God.

Verse 1
The bread we break is the bread of life,
turning us from selfishness and greed.
We are to share our bread with the hungry,
commit our lives to those in need.

Verse 2
The wine we bless is a holy sign
of the life poured out to set us free.
we have been taught to serve one another,
and live in faith and charity.

Verse 3
We thank our God for these precious gifts:
bread of justice and the wine of peace.
Our hearts are changed, we bring forth God’s Kingdom,
the life we share will never cease.

Copyright © 2000 Christopher J. S. deSilva. All rights reserved.

Unfortunately for both songwriters called Chris deSilva they have both written a song called “We Are One”. The one by the other Chris deSilva I have blogged here. I bet it causes havoc for One Licence to know who to pay.

Entrance: All the Ends of the Earth (Dufford) AOV 1/76

Psalm 102 (McKenna)

The Lord is kind and merciful;

slow to anger and rich in compassion.

Gifts: Be Merciful (Haugen)

Communion: Bread of Heaven (Manibusan-Hart)

Come to the Table (Burland) AOV NG 33

Thanksgiving: As Gentle As Silence (White) GA 470

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

Chris deSilva has written a processional song for Advent. He suggests it could also be used for communion in that season as well and that sounds fair.  There are variations in the verses but not so much that a cantor is essential.  The range is fine and it has his usual approachable sing-ability.

The sheet music and piano+guide vocal track are available at his site here.

Refrain
Let the clouds rain down justice,
as the earth awaits the Saviour.
Maranatha, maranatha,
come, Lord Jesus, come!

Verse 1
O Holy Wisdom, mirror of God’s power:
come and teach us, make all things new.

Verse 2
O mighty Adonai, leader and lawgiver:
come, redeem us, stretch out your arm.

Verse 3
O Rod of Jesse, emblem of God’s people:
come, deliver us, do not delay.

Verse 4
O Key of David, Sceptre of Israel:
come and free us, open the way.

Verse 5
O glorious Dayspring, light and sun of justice:
come, enlighten us, turn night to day.

Verse 6
O King of Gentiles, every heart’s desire:
come and rule us, grant us your peace.

Verse 7
O come Emmanuel, saviour of the nations:
come, be with us, O Lord our God.

Copyright © 2012 Christopher J. S. deSilva. All rights reserved.

This song is an exquisite piece for Lent by Chris deSilva.

It is a fascinating piece of writing with the same tune for each verse but a different chord progression. The text goes from years to days to hours in a manner reminiscent of the recent Dunkirk movie. The effect here is also stark and cinematic.

The sheet music is here and you can listen to his piano+vocal track in which you should pay special attention to the piano line changing as the song progresses.

My backing is less sophisticated, but I have all the chord varieties he wrote.

Verse 1
Forty years through barren desert
Israel sought the Promised Land.
Forty days of prayer and penance,
Our desert journey is at hand.

Verse 2
Forty days of lonely fasting:
Satan then did Jesus dare.
Forty days of self-denial:
We, too, must face the tempter’s snare.

Verse 3
Forty hours from Crucifixion
Till the stone was rolled away.
Forty days of Lenten sorrow
End with the joy of Easter Day.

Copyright © 2012 Christopher J. S. deSilva. All rights reserved.

Continuing this series on the songs by Chris deSilva from Perth is this Easter song. The sheet music and sound files are here.

I would probably bring this down from the key of C to A to enhance participation considering the held high D’s in the song. I would also suggest that the last bar of the verse be made 2/4 to give a more natural turn back to the refrain.

It is another eminently singable and liturgically useful song, this time for the Easter season.

Refrain
Christ is risen, victorious over death!
Empty is the tomb where once he lay.
Christ is risen! Eternal life is ours.
“Alleluia” is our song today.

Verse 1
The risen Son turned darkness into light.
He has defeated Satan’s evil crew.
The bonds of sin no longer hold us tight.
Creation is made new!

Verse 2
The sacrifice once made by Abraham
gained him God’s favour for eternity.
Our sacrifice is Christ, the spotless Lamb.
His Blood has set us free!

Verse 3
The Israelites fled Egypt in the night
to follow Moses to the Promised Land.
We follow Christ, out leader and our light.
Salvation is at hand!

Verse 4
Old hearts of stone, so hard with selfishness,
cannot withstand the power from above.
Christ’s Spirit changes stones to living flesh:
new hearts that beat with love!

Verse 5
Only-begotten Son, we sing your praise,
one with the Father and the Heav’nly Dove.
With joy your death and rising fill our days.
We live in holy love!

Final Refrain
Christ is risen, victorious over death! Alleluia!
Empty is the tomb where once he lay. Alleluia!
Christ is risen! Eternal life is ours. Alleluia!
Our endless song now rises every day: Alleluia!

Copyright © 2013 Christopher J. S. deSilva. All rights reserved.

“We Are Fed” is deSilva’s paraphrase of Psalm 103 and is a Eucharist song. You can choose between six verses to suit the readings. The range will not upset the assembly and I think this is a fine communion song. The sheet music is at his website.

Refrain
We are fed by God’s loving hand;
God gives us everything we need.
We are fed by God’s loving hand;
our God is generous indeed.

Verse 1
Praise and bless the Lord,
the God of power and might;
glorious in majesty,
wrapped in dazzling light.

Verse 2
Water springs from earth
and flows in rushing streams;
drenching hills and fertile plains,
watering the fields.

Verse 3
Grass grows lush and green,
crops ripen in the fields;
food for creatures great and small,
harvest of the earth.

Verse 4
Soil and toil provide
the wine that makes hearts glad,
oil that will anoint and heal,
bread that makes us strong.

Verse 5
All throughout the year
your creatures look to you;
you provide the food they need,
feed them every day.

Verse 6
We will sing our praise,
make music to our God.
May our song please you as much
as your works please us.

Copyright © 2013 Christopher J. S. deSilva. All rights reserved.

I will be at the APMN conference in Perth in early October and one of the workshops I am going to is Chris deSilva showcasing his compositions.

His bio is as follows:

Chris deSilva is Music Consultant to the Perth Archdiocesan Centre for Liturgy; a composer and choir director, parish musician and parish RCIA process coordinator.  He has run workshops for parish musicians in the Archdiocese of Perth for about two decades.  He is the co-author (with Dr Angela McCarthy) of courses for Cantors and Psalmists.  He publishes his original compositions on his website, www.laudamus.com.au.

This means he is obviously not the other Chris deSilva from the US who also writes hymns, some of which I have blogged on this site.

Just because he is well known in Perth doesn’t mean I’ve heard of him 3600km away on the east coast (Australia is huge by the way) but if you go to his website he has several songs posted with sheet music etc, that you can access for nothing within the stated parameters on his site:

The music that is downloaded from this web site may be reproduced free of charge for use by music ministers in parishes, schools and religious communities. It may not be offered for sale or reproduced for commercial purposes. The lyrics may be reproduced for use by the assembly under the Annual Restricted Copy Licence of Word of Life International. The sound recordings may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.

My method of getting to know songs is to make backings and sing along. There are basic piano + voice sound files on his site but you might be able to sing along with my backings as well to learn them.

I have looked at several already and am impressed.  For the most part they are singable, assembly friendly and with liturgical uses. I am hoping he has others as well that he will reveal at his workshop, but there are plenty to go on with for now.

As a break from OCP songs I will put up backings for his songs over the next couple of weeks leading up to the conference, so see what you think.

update 24/9/2017

Chris has been in touch about his copyright situation:

I am not covered under OneLicense. I have decided that since Word of Life is no longer in operation, I will not seek to collect royalties for the use of my songs. The copyright statement in future will be something like:

“This music was downloaded from the Lauda Music website. It may be reproduced free of charge for use by music ministers in parishes, schools and religious communities. The melody line and lyrics may also be reproduced for use by the assembly free of charge. It may not be offered for sale or reproduced for commercial purposes.”

The attribution should be the same as the line at the bottom of the first page of each song.

I need to pass on a recent brief message from Leo Watt, a local songwriter that has been kind enough to let me put up backings of his songs:

All my hymns (48) are listed with One License in Chicago. Many include pdf of sheet music and mp3 of recordings to give people some idea of how the hymns sound.

Leo’s site is here.

One Licence is here and so the good news is that if you are using his hymns they can be properly recorded and remuneration applied.

Entrance: Gather Us In (Haugen) AOV 1/12

Psalm 94 (McKenna)

O that today you would listen to his Voice!

Harden not your hearts.

Gifts: A New Commandment (Unknown)

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

Take and Eat (Russell) AOV 2/162

Thanksgiving: Who Will Speak (Haugen) AOV 2/102

Recessional: You Are Mine  (Haas)  AOV 2/2