Church Music

My amazing brother, Dr Michael Madden PhD, has written a booklet about music in Church which can be purchased at Amazon.

I won’t review it per se, as I am not qualified to comment too much. The issues revolve around what sort of music is suitable in Presbyterian churches, a church I left a long time ago. Basically his thesis is that unaccompanied psalms, which were the original musical expression of Calvinist churches, should continue to be the standard for that church and all the other music currently used in Presbyterian churches should be removed from church services but can be used elsewhere.

What I thought was interesting is that I gather his views are very much a minority in his church now and, coming from a completely different direction, I feel much the same about the Catholic church. All I can say is that more than one Madden is interested in church music but we always seem to be rowing against whichever stream we find ourselves in. I can only think our Irish heritage has something to do with that.

Some of his arguments sound very much like those of chant only Catholics, which is passing strange. What is more strange is that we had a fairly identical early formation in the church and wound up with very diverse religious ideas. Michael remains a faithful and conservative Presbyterian and I am a hopelessly liberal, vaguely postmodern Catholic. He is certain in his beliefs and I am certain that no-one should be certain about belief.

He did prompt me to have a look what other books I had on the subject of church music more broadly.

For a rather different Presbyterian viewpoint, I have John L. Bell’s The Singing Thing and The Singing Thing too, as well as his DVD, “Singing the Unsung”. Brian Wren’s Book Praying Twice is a very thoughtful read. From a Catholic perspective, Kathleen Harmon’s, The Ministry of Music and Jan Michael Joncas’s From Sacred Song to Ritual Music are very helpful.

My position is that each assembly has a culture and language, including a musical language, in which they can express their praise of God and that it will vary from time to time and place to place within any tradition. It will doubtless be influenced by what has come before, but I don’t see how the Holy Spirit is limited by situational human constraints. As usual, I am never certain about what God is – likely a verb rather than a noun for a start – but I am sure what God isn’t, and limited is one of the things God isn’t. All our discussion is, however, limited by our human thoughts and language, which are also inevitably culturally determined.

Buy Michael’s book anyway and make him famous.

This song turned up in Gather Comprehensive and here in Gather 3rd edition. It is a gathering song by Rae E. Whitney set to STUTTGART.

Gather only has a handbell arrangement available, likely because STUTTGART is too well known to bother making a new arrangement to copyright, and the words are published by Selah Publishing. They must be an interesting crowd, because where you can purchase her hymn book, they have given us a reprint of a review that is not entirely glowing.

I can’t find the words anywhere, but look for an old copy of Gather Comprehensive or Gather 3rd edition.

To hear this sung in a normal church service go to 5 minute mark in this video.

Having covered an awful lot of GIA songs over the years, those in Gather 3rd edition that I haven’t got to are sometimes songwriters with little traction on Australia, but often those songs from other cultures that an Australian assembly might find a struggle – often in, GIA’s case, curated by John Bell via Wild Goose.

This is a Zimbabwean gathering song by Alexander Gondo, here arranged by John Bell. I was rewatching John Bell’s “Singing the Unsung” DVD recently and he mentions that African songwriters write on their feet and use their whole body, and this is a good example of that observation.

The sheet music available to buy at GIA now has verses by Gary Daigle not in the Gather 3rd ed. version – the text is in their preview. The text is bilingual: Shona and English. It is also available in this inexpensive collection at Wild Goose.

In my BIAB backing the descant kicks in the second time through.

I can find any number of white Americans singing this YouTube, but no African versions – here is a selection of the many.

A tutorial:

Rory Cooney is not someone whose work has got much traction in Australia, and have covered him here when his work has turned up in requests from overseas for the most part.

But he must be a big deal in the States, because he is an OCP artist that was anthologised repeatedly at GIA, including in Gather 3rd edition. You can even buy a handbell version at GIA, but the ordinary sheet music can be purchased at OCP. The text is the second page of this leaflet.

The sheet music in Gather confusingly puts the melody on the bottom line and the descant above it. It is also in Db so guitarists will use a capo and everyone else will curse.

It is a simple singable tune for gathering.

Having already looked at many songs in Gather 3rd edition already, I can skip to this Gospel song by the late Derek W. Campbell, which is in the “Gathering” section of the hymnal.

It is interesting in that everything is repeated, verses as well as the refrain.

It has met the fate of many looked over GIA songs, in that it remains on their site in a handbell arrangement only. Hymnary lists the hymnals in which it can be found, and the text is in the previews there.

We have stepped into the section of Gather 3rd edition on the theme of unity.

This lively song from Argentina is based on Psalm 133 and was written by Pablo D. Sosa.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA , where the text is in the preview. It sounds so much better in Spanish.

This song in the peace section of Gather 3rd ed. has a text by Mary Louise Bringle set by Lori True. There is an SATB arrangement for the refrain.

It would suit anointings and funerals.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA, where the text is in their preview.

This is a song on the theme of peace from Gather 3rd edition by Michael Mahler.

This is very sophisticated melody writing that your rarely find in church music. I fear it is more for a choir rather than an assembly.

The sheet music can be purchased at GIA and the text is on page three of this leaflet.

I rarely get to use a BIAB style like this.

There are many songs in Gather 3rd edition on the theme of peace, but I have already blogged most of them from other sources.

But not this heartfelt gentle text by Fred Kaan, set the the traditional Irish tune ST COLUMBA. I think it’s fine, but then I didn’t grow up singing it ad nauseum like my cradle Catholic wife, who is having PTSD flashbacks hearing this now. I get that with “Onward Christian Soldiers,” which I don’t think is about peace as such.

The words and music are at Hope Publishing. The version in Gather 3rd ed. was arranged by A. Gregory Murray OSB and is so copyright to Downside Abbey, so GIA fixed that by copyrighting an arrangement by David W. Music, which is available there. Sadly, David W. Music is a real person, a respected music director and editor of The Hymn, not as I hoped a fake name used to make money out of public domain music.

There are lots of arrangements of this one about, but it is best kept simple.

For those who didn’t grow up with “Onward Christian Soldiers”, why should you not suffer – Mea Culpa:

I am still in the social concern section of Gather 3rd edition, where I find a Zimbabwean text set to an Zimbabwean adaption of a traditional English tune, LINCOLNSHIRE POACHER, here arranged by John Bell.

That version’s sheet music can be purchased at GIA.

If you believe and I believe and we together pray,
The Holy Spirit must come down and set God’s people free,
And set God’s people free, and set God’s people free;
The Holy Spirit must come down and set God’s people free.