This song by Chris Muglia has a text that could have useful for an assembly to sing, but the fiddly tune means it is a solo vehicle I’m afraid, although the refrain may be a possibility. Bringing us into the story of the incarnation is a great idea, but a singable tune would have made it much better.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
I thought this song was lacking banjo and pedal steel, so I corrected that in my backing.
Chris Muglia:
Covers:
Entrance: Come to the Water (Andersen) AOV 1/74
Psalm: Springs of Salvation (Andersen)
Gifts: Blessed Be Our God (McKenna) AOV NG 13
Communion: Gather Your People (Hurd) AOV 1/71
Song of the Body of Christ (Haas) AOV 1/27
Thanksgiving: God Has Chosen Me (Farrell) AOV 1/21
Recessional: Lord the Light of Your Love (Kendrick) AOV 2/59
A lot of these songs in the prayer and devotion section of Spirit & Song Vol 2 are in the uncomfortable genre of love songs to Jesus. This song by Matt Maher is no exception and I think needs very delicate handling to prevent it slipping into something maudlin and unreal.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
My backing puts BIAB on a leash with simple fingerpicking guitar, a little piano and quiet strings and some subtle horns in the last refrain.
Matt Maher starts restrained but takes it up a notch in the second verse and then has a nice quiet finish:
Lots of nice covers:
One last cover by the Arch Street Band:
Apart from this nice instrumental:
This is another song in which Sara Hart channels James Taylor, this time with the assistance of Angus McDonell for the tune. The whole song is gently syncopated so probably a solo vehicle. It’s a nice song.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download and you can listen to a vocal snippet. A version done as a flute solo can be heard here.
BIAB has a style called JTLATIN – say no more:
A psalm-like sung prayer by Matt Maher suitable for solo use or adoration.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
Matt Maher:
Live with others joining in:
A cover:
A prayer from Cardinal Newman:
Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go;
Flood my soul with your spirit and life;
Penetrate and possess my whole being so completely
That all my life may be only a radiance of yours;
Shine through me and be so in me
That everyone with whom I come into contact
May feel your presence within me.
Let them look up and see no longer me—but only Jesus.
Amen.
Tom Booth uses Mother Theresa’s adaptation of this prayer in this song. There is nothing wrong with the text and the melody is prayerful, but very much a solo vehicle.
His text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
Tom Booth is heard here coping with the dilemma of prayer as performance:
This prayer by Ken Canedo is a chant in the snippet at spiritandsong, but Ken Canedo’s version is less obviously so.
The text from 2 Cor 5:15, 12:7-10 is at the spiritandsong link above where the sheet music can be purchased for download. It has a counter-melody in the refrain, which I have not attempted. The third verse is more a bridge with a totally different melody to the first two verses. The metre is regular enough for assembly use if desired.
My backing gives it a beat.
A couple of neat covers:
This song by Sarah Hart and Kevin B. Hipp is a gentle prayer that could conceivably be sung by an assembly.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download. You can listen to the original here.
A church choir:
Entrance: We Three Kings
Psalm 71 (Fort)
Lord, Ev’ry nation on earth will adore you.
Gifts: Open My Eyes (Manibusan) AOV 1/166
Communion: The First Noel
Take and Eat (Russell) AOV 2/162
Thanksgiving: Star Child (Shirley Erina Murray – Carlton R. Young) AOV 2/43
Recessional: All the Ends of the Earth (Dufford) AOV 1/76)
This song by Sarah Hart and Bob Halligan Jnr is based on a hymn attributed to St Patrick.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
Sarah Hart’s pretty version:
The wonderful Arch Street Band:
A sweet cover:
There are many other settings that are more traditional &/or Irish. It is also known as “The Deer’s Cry”.
For example:
