Scott Soper wrote this hymn that is in the Communion section of Spirit & Song Vol 1. I’d see it more as a funeral song, actually, but it is a fine hymn and is more traditional and singable than many from the nineties.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
Oops – I am getting forgetful – I have blogged this already because it is in As One Voice. Oh well, it is a different backing. The sheet music in Spirit & Song adds the harmony line for the chorus but is otherwise much the same.
I am in the Eucharist songs from Spirit and Song Vol 1 and have got to this song written by John Michael Talbot. It strikes me as being better for solo voice, it’s so delicate and quiet, but I’d love to hear of parishes that sing it well together.
The text is here and it can purchased in a collection at OCP.
This is a communion song by Steve Angrisano and Tom Tomaszek. It is reasonably singable despite the syncopation and key change but I don’t think I want to use it. It’s not the singing in God’s voice problem, I just can’t sing “though you suffer as I suffered.” I could live with “you may suffer as I suffered” I suppose.
If you are comfortable with that the text is at spiritandsong and it can be purchased for download there.
This is gentle communion hymn from Bobby Fisher. It has instrumental interludes and a key change for added interest if desired, but it a reasonable enough effort in plain vanilla mode as well. It’s nice that a hymn from the nineties can be just three verses with a singable melody.
The text is at spiritandsong where it can be purchased for download.
My backing can’t do all the subtlety of the arrangement so I had to fudge things a little.
I’ve reached communion songs in Spirit & Song Vol 1 and I’m hoping that there are gems to be discovered in the songs that weren’t selected in the As One Voice Collections.
“As One Unknown” is an excellent hymn but the version here needs some explaining.
The text of the verses is by Timothy Dudley-Smith a retired Anglican bishop set to the tune “Repton” by C. Hubert H. Parry, who was so famous he is buried in St Paul’s, London. I love the poetry of the text which you can find here.
This is a stirring brass band version which is slightly different to the tune in Spirit & Song (the note for “heard” goes down to an A rather than up to an F#) and has a tag on the end which repeats the last phrase to get you back to the verses. The music for that version is here.
So far so good. Cyprian Consiglio has stripped the tag, added 2 lines, repeated one of them and called it the refrain and written some music for it.
This recessional by Paul Hillebrand has a lot going for it but it does require a cantor for the call and response verses.
The text is at spiritandsong. It can be purchased as part of the “Songs of the Good Shepherd” collection at Hillebrand’s website where you can hear a snippet of it done as a childrens’s song. OCP has the sheet music to purchase for download and a funky sample for listening purposes.
My backing is at 107 bpm and I think the note to play it at 152 in Spirit & Song Vol 1 is a typo. I, too, have gone the funk route.
This is as much a show tune as a recessional, but at least this song by Fr Ricky Manalo hasn’t too much trickery to actually be sung with one voice. Oddly, however, the chorus is harder to sing than the verses with a high E and some rhythmic interest that would require some work.
The text is at spiritandsong where you can purchase the sheet music for download. You can hear it at soundcloud.
This parish does a terrific version including the section with just handclaps for accompaniment but even they don’t get the “spread the goodness of God” bit in the chorus right.
Scot Crandel has set a text by Delores Dufner OSB in a gentle funk style for this song. I could be another sending forth song but has a specific intention for mission and ministry. The third verse is more like a bridge starting quietly in minor chords and then building until you are blasting out “Christ we proclaim!”
It is an interesting setting and although I wonder at its singability would love to try it. The text is at spiritandsong and it is available to purchase for download there.
I suppose this is meant to be a recessional but it sounds more a solo vehicle with perhaps a singalong chorus. It is by Rory Cooney and he has fun finding rhymes for Lord (hoard, bored, sword and horde – as in pagan horde).
The text is at spiritandsong and it can be purchased for download at OCP.
My backing is a bit electronic.
The choir appears to be having trouble staying together in this clip and I suspect it is because the song does not lend itself to this task.
I've worked my way through the As One Voice books and other collections making backings on Band in a Box to help me (& you if you're interested) learn new songs for church. This is aimed at churches and musicians that own the collections but haven't exploited them fully. If you don't have them they are certainly worth buying. This site is educational, nonprofit and designed to enhance the commercial prospects of songwriters. This site does not distribute copyrighted sheet music.
Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed here are personal views and not the responsibility of any Church.
All music backings posted are created by myself and the intention is for them to be used to learn the songs. If any copyright holder wishes me to cease publicising and promoting their wares and directing people to where sheet music can be legally purchased please let me know.
Mason’s “Mass of Glory and Praise”
To access my backings for Paul Mason's mass go to Feb 2011 in the archive.
