This is a Steven C. Warner song that has a refrain for the assembly or choir and verses for a cantor. The melody for the verse has enough subtle changes to make the cantor earn their keep and the refrain can be sung SATB. It is simply gorgeous (especially if you have a choir) and is most suitable for Lent. It is based on Psalm 16.
The text is in the sample at WLP where the sheet music can be purchased.
This song for cantor and assembly by Lucien Deiss is being done by Chris’s parish for Gifts this week.
The text is here (page 3) and the sheet music can be purchased at WLP.
BIAB is not really designed for free chant by the cantor but here goes.
This is yet another Paul A Tate song in “Voices As One”. It is a trinitarian gospel song with obvious liturgical uses.
It is a WLP copyrighted song but does not show up anywhere on their website so I suppose it has fallen out of favour, but it is quite singable. You can hear a snippet at Amazon of all places.
In the absence of lyrics or downloadable sheet music, I suppose you’ll need “Voices As One” if you wish to use this song.
This song is Paul A Tate’s paraphrase of Psalm 136. He leaves out the bits about killing the first-born and powerful kings, but the rest is there.
WLP subscribers can download the sheet music here, but the rest of us will just have to get Voices As One because I can’t find the lyrics anywhere on the net.
The verses are conversations between cantor and assembly, but I’d get everyone singing the cantor line and a solo voice doing the answers.
It is noted to be played moderately, with a steady beat, so without further guidance my backing came out funk lite. The two melody lines in the verse are at opposite ends of the stereo spectrum.
These songs were selected for music this week:
Entrance: A New Heart for a New World (O’Brien/Watts) AOV 1/158
Psalm 51 (O’Brien)
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Gifts: Heal Me O God (Norbet) AOV 2/52
Communion: Unless a Grain of Wheat (Farrell) AOV 1/35
Bread Broken Wine Shared (Horner) AOV 2/155
Recessional: Into the Darkness (Dawn) from “Songs of Fellowship” Book Five (No 70)
Ah the glory of the metrical hymn. Growing up in the Presbyterian tradition our wonderful long suffering organist, who must have endured hell from we dreadful children, seemed to me to be playing every hymn to one of about three tunes. While this was not actually true, the metrical hymns we sang did allow the same tunes to pop up for different texts.
In the case of “Love Divine” it is 87.87 and so suitable for several tunes.
Charles Wesley wrote the text:
1. Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down; fix in us thy humble dwelling; all thy faithful mercies crown! Jesus thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation; enter every trembling heart. 2. Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast! Let us all in thee inherit; let us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be; end of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. 3. Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive; suddenly return and never, nevermore thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above, pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love. 4. Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee; changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
I note the second verse is omitted in some hymnals.
Rather than battle the dodgy church organ VST sound I use with BIAB all just put some MIDIs from the net up for each setting and some You-tube clips because I’m probably the only church musician who doesn’t know this tunes.
Chris’s parish sings this as entrance today to the tune HYFRYDOL by Rowland Huw Prichard as found in Gather Australia 463.
Together In Song has this version, but also John Stainer’s setting.
They also suggest BLAENWERN by William Penfro Rowlands.
John Zundel’s BEECHER is also noted as a popular setting.
I’m blogging the music book “Voice As One Vol 1” and since WLP songs have very little penetration into the Australian market, I’m finding lots of useful songs for liturgy that I didn’t know, and a few nonliturgical sacred songs. OCP and GIA have been the dominant American players here so it is good to hear something different and since most can be purchased on-line they are worth considering even if you haven’t bought the collection yet.
Here I was thinking WLP was just Ed Bolduc when it turns out it’s mostly Paul A. Tate, who wrote this song.
This is a Eucharist song that again has the cantor (or choir) – assembly conversation that we would usually ignore and just have the assembly sing the lot. There really is nothing here an assembly could not attempt. It’s long enough for most sized churches to get through communion. The fifth verse is really a bridge in a different key if you get to it.
The text is in the sample at WLP where the sheet music can be purchased.
This church has lovely accompaniment but does struggle a little.
So does this group so perhaps it is harder than it looks.
I’ve already done “Go Light Your World”, so I’m up to Paul A. Tate’s “God So Loved the World”.
This is suitable just about anywhere in a liturgy being based on John 3: 14-21 -entrance, gifts, communion – it fits. The tune is a little fiddly and the third verse is a bridge with a different tune to learn but it would repay the investment of time. Some effort will be needed to avoid being “sing -songy” in the chorus.
The text is in the sample at WLP where the sheet music can be purchased.
This is a song by Paul A Tate and Deanna Light that could be both a gathering song or a Eucharist song. I’d ignore the cantor call and response and just sing the whole thing together.
The text is in the sample at WLP where the sheet music can be purchased for download. A handbell version ,which would be wild, is available at GIA.
This is joyful liturgically useful song from Paul A. Tate. It can be used in praise and thanksgiving situations (ie all the time).
The timing in the verses is rather tricky and will take lots of practice or a cantor but the chorus is fine.
The text is in the sample at WLP where the sheet music can be purchased for download. There is a snippet there to get an idea how it is meant to go.
My backing is a little slower, which might help with learning the song:
