Church Music

We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection

until you come again.

 

When we eat this bread and drink this cup,

we proclaim your death, O Lord,

until you come again.

Save us Saviour of the world, for by your cross and resurrection

you have set us free.

 

all music © Kate Keefe 2013

These are all fine tunes and don’t leave the workman like taste for these acclamations that you get in some settings, although it is a huge challenge for anyone setting these shorter pieces. Someone more conventional (like me) would have repeated the last line of “when we eat” to have a resolution to the tune, but Kate leaves it hanging. The “Save us” tune is probably the pick of them, or at least the most distinctive.

Continuing with Kate Keefe’s Mayfield Mass, this is the Sanctus.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Music © Kate Keefe 2013

Kate’s sample backing is faster than mine and might be at a tempo more practical for the assembly, but this waltz could be taken in a more restrained fashion, as I have done, to allow the tune to blossom a little.

This week we are celebrating the installation of our new priest.

Entrance: Christ Be Our Light (Farrell) AOV 2/3

Psalm 102 (O’Brien)

The Lord is kind and merciful, kind and merciful.

Offertory: A Trusting Psalm (Bates) AOV 1/115

Communion: Come to the Table (Burland) AOV NG 33

Bread Broken, Wine Shared (Horner) AOV 2/155

Thanksgiving: Here I Am Lord (Schutte) AOV 1/90

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

The Mayfield Mass was written by Kate Keefe and the sheet music is available here.

I have blogged the Gloria before here and I’ve finally got around to looking at the whole setting. Since then Kate has put up the real guitar chords for her music so you can ignore my guesswork on my previous blog post.

I’ve redone the Gloria with the proper chords. It has lots of good points: it is a straight through setting, there are gaps to catch your breath, the tune is memorable and it isn’t in 6/8 time. There is a fair range and while we groaners will baulk at the Ds and held Cs, much of the assembly will doubtless cope. What you have here is a lovely, professionally composed piece of music that we will all need to consider along with the avalanche of other settings out there.

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you,

we give you thanks for your great glory,

Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,

Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father,

You take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;

You take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
You are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

 

Music © Kate Keefe 2013

I’ll get the rest of the parts of the mass up soon.

I’ve had the chance to play this mass at our new parish for a while now and I think I have the hang of it now. The backings I made for it here are pretty average and the Sanctus is much too fast in my backing so just ignore that.

The music is rather subtle and I like playing it on guitar because it has lots of interesting chords and rhythmic invention. Its weakness may be that it can get stomped all over by an assembly and lose all its nuance. Perhaps this is a mass for small assemblies and minimal accompaniment.

I think these backings for the Gloria and Holy Holy are less terrible.

Having made backings to the parts of this mass, I can see why people are so impressed by Liam Lawton‘s setting. The tunes are lovely and, as with most of the masses I’ve looked at here, I’d love to listen to an enthusiastic assembly sing it.

It would be a challenge to teach with the wide vocal range of the Gloria and the timing issues in the Sanctus but if they were overcome it would be a inspiring setting to unleash on your assembly.

The guitar version that I bought here includes the SATB parts, which is great if you want them, but simple strummers like me may prefer melody line + chords and nothing else. I was surprised to find MIDI versions on the web that may be of use if you plug these files into your keyboard.

The last song from Liam Lawton’s Glendalough Mass is his Agnes Dei. This is a reverent litany in a restrained waltz time.  He has John Bell’s knack of writing music that fits so well with its idiom that it could be a classic folk tune from centuries ago.  This sounds very singable indeed. The repetition at the end serves the tune and resolves the piece neatly.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,

Grant us peace, grant us peace.

The music liturgy team has chosen these songs for mass. We are still using Paul Taylor’s Mass of St Francis, supplemented by the Celtic Alleluia as a Gospel Acclamation.

Entrance: Summoned By Love (O’Brien/Watts) AOV 2/18

Psalm 119 (Jenny O’Brien)

Happy are they who follow the law of the Lord.

Offertory: Our Supper Invitation (Bates) AOV 1/185

Communion: Lord to Whom Shall We Go (Herry) AOV 1/6

To Be Your Bread (Haas) AOV 1/65

Thanksgiving: We Walk By Faith (Haugen) AOV 1/63

Recessional: Sing a New Song (Schutte) AOV 1/80

I haven’t bothered with the Lord’s Prayer settings in the past, but one of my current aims is to get our parish singing it.  The options are to learn the Lord’s Prayer of whatever mass setting is being sung, our perhaps something like the Australian chant setting that I understand quite a few parishioners vaguely remember.  It will be a point of discussion, but I also need to convince people that this is actually meant to be sung.

Our Father’s are often almost as upbeat as the Gloria but this one is a restrained flowing piece with three recognizably similar motifs (Our Father… , Thy kingdom… , and As we forgive… ) acting as microverses and a micro bridge (Give us…) It is a thoughtful piece of composition.

In the music I have there is no music for after the embolus so assume none is intended.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Liam Lawton’s Glendalough Mass continues with the Great Amen.  I should add that there is music for the introduction to the memorial acclamations (ie “The Mystery of Faith”) if you can rouse your presider, and here the doxology also is set.

My backing is somewhat stodgy and the feel should be lighter, but as always this is merely to sing along to to help the learning process for those of us who can’t just look at the music and sing.

Amen, amen, amen,amen.

Fr Lawton’s setting is all you could hope for when singing one word four times, each in a different way and in only twenty seconds or so.