Church Music

This is another fine old hymn in use at Ryan’s parish.

The first verse is Christmas and Epiphany, the second verse has a small baptism reference and the wedding at Cana and the last verse is an attempt to use the word “manifest” an extraordinary number of times.

The text is by Christopher Wordsworth (nephew of the other guy) and it is set to SALZBERG by Jakob Hintze after J. S. Bach. It sounds a bit like what the monks are chanting in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when they hit themselves in the head with their hymn sheets.

The text and sheet music are at Hymnary.

I think I got a bit more bass into my fake organ on BIAB this time:

Ryan’s parish use this Marty Haugen song, ideal for a sprinkling rite. I have it in the collection All Are Welcome.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA and the text is in the sample sheet music there. I should look at the rest of the folio as there are some other lovely songs in that collection.

I’ve been having fun with some of the new styles in BIAB 2016, but this is just fiddling with an old one.

I think this is the last of the Christmas songs I missed. Ryan’s parish used it for “Holy Family” and it has a text by Thomas Troeger set to ST COLUMBA. It is in Worship 4. It is also set to ST AGNES.

The text is in this YouTube clip:

I’ve blogged the tune already here.

“When Jesus Came to be Baptised” is an interesting one used at RS’s parish. The text is listed as by “Stanbrook Abbey” with no attribution to an individual author. The lyrics are here and it is really quite an interesting perspective about Jesus – “he leaves the hidden years behind, the years of safety and of peace”.

It is set to WINCHESTER NEW a seventeenth century German tune by Bartholomäus Crasselius adapted by William Henry Havergal. My copy is in the old Catholic Worship Book 858. The sheet music can also be purchased at OCP.

More fake organ from BIAB:

Ryans’ parish use Alan J. Hommerding’s “To Jordan Jesus Humbly Came,” another baptism song set to the same tune. Subscribers can download the music from WLP and it is also found in Worship 4 (456), which I don’t have. I can’t find the text anywhere on the net.

This is left over from one of the Advent and Christmas liturgies posted here.

My backing is a bit of a fail (BIAB and chant don’t like each other), but the text is a translation of a fourth century work by Aurelius Prudentius, which is not long after Christmas started becoming an important feast, so I thought I’d mention it anyway.

The tune is Plainsong from the thirteenth century – DIVINUM MYSTERIUM.

All the details including sheet music with no discernible time signature are at Hymnary. Wikipedia has the original Latin.

I guessed some spaces and it doesn’t sound right to me:

This is more like it:

For our psalms, we have successfully moved from the assembly saying the response to singing it over the last couple of years, which enhances participation and meaning. The verses are still read out, except for special occasions, but I think psalms sung by a cantor is a bridge too far in our suburb.

We are now using Amanda McKenna’s Sing the Responsorial Psalms every week and they are working well. It is available at AOV.

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

Psalm 95 (McKenna)

All proclaim God’s marvellous deeds to all the nations.

Gifts: One Body (O’Brien- Watts) AOV 2/146

Communion: A Place at the Table (Shirley Erena Murray – Lori True) AOV NG 1

Seed Scattered and Sown (Feiten) GA 195

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

In my copy of the OCP Guitar Accompaniment Book I find:

34 America

35 America the Beautiful

I’m not touching these songs as they seem quite out of place – not liturgical and not devotional, but then I’m not American. Perhaps in our post-modern world these are OK as a local enfleshed expression of one sort of American spirituality – inculturation flows every which way I suppose. Still, I’m not touching them.

“Angels, Come in Celebration” is a pretty tune by Timothy R. Smith setting a text by Delores Duffner. There’s a held high D waiting to trip me up, but otherwise it is a singable traditional sounding hymn tune. While essentially a gathering song, it also sounds a Christmas specialty.

The text is at spiritandsong and the sheet music can be purchased at OCP.

I’ve already noted these songs from the OCP Guitar Accompaniment Book:

31 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus

32 Amazing Grace

…which brings us to “Amén. El Cuerpo de Cristo.” This is a bilingual Spanish-English Communion song by John Schiavone.  The tune reminds me of “Shepherd Me O God” in places.

The text is here (scroll down) with English translations of the Spanish words. The sheet music can be purchased from OCP. I note the text in the GAB is translated from English to Spanish as well as Spanish to English, which is thoughtful in all directions.

It seems to playable in many styles:

I’ve already blogged AlleluiaNo.1 GAB 29.

Back in October last year I had started to look at OCP’s Guitar Accompaniment Book before my correspondents demonstrated just how many songs there are for the Advent / Christmas season. Having blogged most of the songs I’d never heard of for that season, it is now January.

This is a bright Latin style song with a text by Owen Alstott set to his wife, Bernadette Farrell’s tune. There are six verses – 2 beatitudes, 2 trembles and 2 glories. It also has six alternative verses that could be used if you were using this as a Gospel Acclamation.

The lyrics are at spiritandsong and the sheet music can be purchased at OCP.

I like to press the Latin buttons on BIAB. I have included the descant line.

Cope with the marginal recording quality to hear the descant:

Chris Brunelle:

Cross cultural amazingness:

I’d forgotten all about this song that we used to sing years ago that Chris’s parish is using this week.

It is by Michael Saward and the text is at Hymnary courtesy of the lovely people at Hope Publishing. It is set to BUNESSAN which I blogged here.

An assembly:

Instrumental: