Church Music

This is the Grail text for Psalm 32 (33) as set by Margaret Daly, which found its way into CWB in Australia. It’s great that CWB was looking to England for material, but it does make it harder to track down many details. This was yet another that was in Amen! Alelluia!, so I suspect the editors of CWB had a copy.

I have seen it recommended for weddings, which seems apt.

The text is at Music for Mass, but obviously with Kate Keefe’s worthy setting rather than this one.

Once again failing to find sheet music better than my melody line, I was making up chords for my backing.

This is a Suzanne Toolan song, that while a GIA copyright, is not available at their site. She based the words on Ephesians 2:21 and 3:17.

It is in CWB and Alleluia! Amen! at least if you are looking second hand material.

Confusingly it looks like she also wrote a song called “May Christ Live in Your Heart“, which is not the same thing.

It looks like I made up chords as I couldn’t find the sheet music anywhere.

CWB I did not choose the common version of this text by F.W. Wetherall, but chose a different text by Mary Trainor RSM with the same first two lines and the same setting LIEBSTER IMMANUEL. No wonder I get confused.

This is the Wetherall text. I prefer Trainor’s, despite her making “depth” a verb.

It looks like I used organ music to work out the chords for my backing:

1 Mary immaculate, star of the morning

Chosen before creation began,

Chosen to bear for salvation’s new dawning

Jesus, the Lord and Redeemer of man.

2 By your assent in deep, prayerful reflection,

Flesh-life received the great power of the Word;

You gave to life a new hope and direction,

Promised fulfilment for man who had erred.

3 Freed by the Spirit, we face the same mission,

Bearing Christ’s love to the world of our time.

May we, through you, find fresh courage and vision,

Depthing the human, by God’s power divine.

I can’t find this version on You-Tube, so instrumentals will have to do:

I drove down for this today but issues with parking meant I left at the sign of peace and watched the rest when I got home. There was a lot of two hour parking for some distance around the cathedral and I noticed the parking inspector doing the rounds so I hope no-one got a parking ticket.

I wanted to hear the new Archbishop and his homily was hopeful. It was nice to be in a full singing church, even if my seat was behind a very large pillar.

I enjoyed the music and I note Chris Wroblewski got a thankyou in the program so well done, Chris. I can’t just call him Chris W because Christopher Willcock was there as well.

I see Maeve Haeney was with the choir and Paul Taylor was meant to be there but was unwell.

The mass setting was Taylor’s, Mass of St Francis, which is well known and was well sung by the assembly.

The other music was:

Prelude/Motet Sicut Cervus (Palestrina)

Entrance:

Laudate Dominum (TAIZE)

Laudate Dominum (Walker)

Psalm 89 (Willcock)

I didn’t know the Alleluia, but not many in the assembly knew it either – the program had the melody which helped and was very pastoral.

Gifts: A Upper Room

Communion:

Gift of Finest Wheat

Ego Sum Panis Vivas (Esquivel)

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Recessional: Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.

This Marian hymn has Stanbrook Abbey listed as the author with Alan Rees OSB as the tunesmith. The background to the text is at Breviary Hymns and the text itself here.

I made up some chords:

I can find many examples of settings other than this one of Youtube, but none with this tune.

This is Jerome Leaman of St Joseph’s Abbey’s paraphrase of Mane nobiscum Domine set to OLD HUNDREDTH.

It is in CWB I and CBW III.

OLD HUNDREDTH is imprinted on my brain as the doxology sung every week in the Presbyterain church I grew up in. This is an ancient backing of mine:

1 Lord Jesus Christ, abide with us,

Now that the sun has run its course;

Let hope not be obscured by night,

But may faith’s darkness be as light.

2 Lord Jesus Christ, grant us your peace,

And when the trials of earth shall cease,

Grant us the morning light of grace,

The radiant splendour of your face.

3 Immortal, holy, three-fold light,

Yours be the kingdon, power and might;

All glory be eternally

To you, lifegiving Trinity.

I wasn’t going to mention this one, because it is indeed “Be Thou My Vision,” (blogged here) but we all were looking at different versions in the comments on a recent post and it struck me that the editors of CWB I made some interesting choices in their text. (ie alt raises is head)

Unlike AOV a few years later they removed “Thou” etc, and went with these lyrics:

1 Lord, be my vision, supreme in my heart,

Bid every rival give way and depart:

You my best thought in the day and the night,

Waking or sleeping, your presence my light.

2 Lord, be my wisdom, and be my true word,

I ever with you and you with me, Lord:

You my great Father and I your true son,

You in me living and I with you one.

3 Lord, be my breastplate, my sword for the fight:

Be my strong armour, for you are my might;

You are my shelter and you my high tower

Raise me to heaven, O Power of my power.

4 I need no riches, nor man’s empty praise:

You my inheritence through all my days;

All of your treasure to me you impart,

High King of heaven, the first in my heart.

5 High King of heaven, when battle is done,

Grant heaven’s joy to me, bright heaven’s sun;

Christ of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

The decision that since the archaism “art” is not allowed as a rhyme for “heart” the second line has to be made to fit “depart” is poor and worse adds to the myriad of variations already out there.

This is an interesting 60s pop song hymn by Patrick Robert Norman Appleford – I love that CWB likes long names as if they were sentencing a murderer.

This is a communion hymn with origins in the youth ministry of the Anglican church. The supposed similarity to “Living Doll” is noted and dismissed at Godsongs, but it does sound like something Cliff could have sung.

The text is here.

I got chords from TIS but it was also in lots of UK and Irish hymnals, even the Irish Presbyterian hymnbook – it certainly didn’t reach my Presbyterian church in Australia. I’ve never heard in a Catholic church either, and I suppose it is from an era that has been passed by.

This is the original I think:

Amazingingly to me it has been embraced by choir and organ:

This is more the pop stylings that I would have expected:

This organ version has something of the funfair about it:

This hymn for Lent with a text by Benedictine monk Ralph Wright did survive from CWB I to CWB II but there set to ST BERNARD.

I suspect this was the original setting by his colleague Austin Wright called FORGIVENESS. It is another CWB sourced from ICEL’s Resource Collection of Hymns and Service Music for the Liturgy, which is still available at GIA.

Godsongs has background, lyrics and other settings that have been used.

In the absence of available chords, I made them up for a backing:

This is a lovely short song/prayer with a text by Brian Anthony Moore SJ and set to WINCHESTER OLD – you know “While Shepherds Watched …” and all.

This is an Allans Music copyright and I can only find it in CWB and TIS, so it is likely Australian. Hymnary says the words are “by permission of D. Day, Father Provincial of the Society, Hawthorn, Victoria,” which I gather is the Jesuits. He appears to have written small devotional books. Pauline books say, “Father Brian Moore, SJ, (1931-1997) was an Australian Jesuit priest and writer.” One of his texts was set by fellow Jesuit, Christopher Willcock. Any other information gratefully received.

1 Lord Christ, true peace of all above, sure hope of all below,

Establish in your grace and love your people as we go.

2 Your blessing, Lord, who bless us all, abide with us today;

Your mercy, peace and watchful care surround us on our way.

3 Your presence in our life remain that all the world may know;

How Christ may walk the world again in us himself to show.