Church Music

This is Bob Hurd’s song, but I gather the verses that are usually sung are by Michael Downey. You can hear the original version here. The quality of the recording is not great but the noble simplicity of this version is wonderful. This is another song I have played so often, it is hard to know anymore if it has merit, but any song that acknowledges Jesus as stranger has my vote.

It can purchased for download at OCP.

It is a risk having the same tune for the verse and chorus, but it seems to work. The revised verses make it a much more generally applicable communion song but I quite like the first original verse, although we never sing it.

Refrain

In the breaking of the bread

We have known Him; we have been fed.

Jesus the stranger, Jesus the Lord,

Be our companion, be our hope.

Verse 1

Bread for the journey, strength for our years,

Manna of ages of struggle and tears.

Cup of salvation, fruit of the land,

Bless and receive now, the work of our hands.

Refrain

Verse 2

Bread of the promise, people of hope,

Wine of compassion, life for the world.

Gathered at table, joined as one body.

Sealed in the spirit, sent by the Word.

Refrain

Original verses:

Once I was helpless, sad and confused;

Darkness surrounded me, courage removed.

And then I saw him by my side.

Carry my burden, open my eyes.

 

There is no sorrow, pain or woe,

There is no suffering he did not know,

He did not waver, he did not bend.

He is the victor. he is my friend.

© Bob Hurd 1984, revised text Bob Hurd and Michael Downey 1987.

This is another very popular choice of liturgists over the years at our church. It is by Dan Schutte and in 6/4 time so is hard to do on BIAB. It gets around a certain singsongyness by having a third verse, which is a bridge that blends into half a verse and a fourth verse that is also half a verse long.  That said, we rarely get past the first two verses anyway.

I don’t think it is his best tune (and I love Dan Schutte music usually) but perhaps repetition has dulled my senses. If it is done like a dirge it is sadly funny when our tears are “turned into dancing” and it sounds as if dancing is the last thing anyone wants to do.

It can be purchased for download at OCP.

Listen to it here in the original or here for a full on treatment in a mass. I hope my backing has the easy swaying rhythm suggested.  I’ve put the melody and the descant at opposite sides of the stereo mix to assist with learning the parts.

Verse 1

Awake from your slumber! Arise from your sleep!
A new day is dawning for all those who weep.
The people in darkness have seen a great light.
The Lord of our longing has conquered the night.

Refrain
Let us build the city of God.
May our tears be turned into dancing!
For the Lord, our light and our love,
has turned the night into day!

Verse 2

We are sons of the morning; we are daughters of day.
The One who has loved us has brightened our way.
The Lord of all kindness has called us to be
a light for his people to set their hearts free.

Refrain

Verse 3
God is light; in him there is no darkness.
Let us walk in his light, his children, one and all.
O comfort my people; make gentle your words.
Proclaim to my city the day of her birth.

Refrain

Verse 4
O city of gladness, now lift up your voice!
Proclaim the good tidings that all may rejoice!

© Daniel Schutte 1981.

I gather the Sacred Harp music that Marty Haugen used for this song was meant to be sung unaccompanied. (… or did he take the words and write new music?) This may explain my difficulty in constructing a backing that doesn’t cause me to cringe.  I have heard it played like an Irish ballad on piano at a mass once in Port Stephens, which was nice, but usually it tends to become stodgy when it should be light. I once made a MIDI file by inserting every note I could find as I just couldn’t get BIAB to do anything with the 3/2 timing and the result was predictably unlistenable.

The text is available here.

These schoolboys have an interesting take on it and you can hear a minute of the original here. My backing is still rather disappointing. Don’t forget the key change at the fourth verse and the dynamics – the verses are soft/loud/soft/soft/loud.  Lastly, I play it capo 3 to save my poor fingers, at least until the key change.

The Beatitudes we do most in our parish is the one by Mike Balhoff and Darryl Ducote from a band called The Dameans way back in the 60s & 70s. Way before my time in the Catholic Church but it appears they were very big.  It is a great song and builds up to a rousing chorus, which is a neat trick when you think of the gentle nature of the Beatitudes. You can hear their version and see them dressed like every respectable American folk group of the era here.  They were very Mitchell Trio, Kingston Trio sounding, which is great. You could also watch a clip of the everglades (what!) and listen to a light funk version here.

Now when I first played this song I had never heard anybody play it outside our church so my MIDI version was little strange.  This is a render of the original MIDI done on Band in a Box version 1.

Since you can hear the melody line so well in that version, here is a proper backing track from BIAB today with no melody line cluttering things up, so you can hear the Mark Knopfler soloist having fun.

Verse 1

Blest are you, the poor who trust the Father with your lives.

For within your heart is born, the kingdom of the Lord.

Blest are you the sorrowing, who know your Father wise.

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Verse 2

Blest are you, the lowly ones, who know your need to share.

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Blest are you whose searching souls will draw you to God’s care.

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Refrain

Let your light shine for all the world to see

The brightness of your life within, the peace that sets you free.

Let your light shine to fill your nights and days;

All will see the deeds you do and give your father praise.

Verse 3

Blest are you whose mercy shows the Father’s love to all.

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Blest are you the pure in heart, who live the Father’s call.

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Verse 4

Blest are you who work for peace among the Father’s own,

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Blest are you who suffer hate to prepare the day to come,

For within your heart is born the kingdom of the Lord.

Refrain

© Damean Music 1978.

This is the Beatitudes that every Australian Catholic knows.  It was written in the 60s by Peter Kearney.  It isn’t in As One Voice, so I thought I’d drop it in after David Haas’s setting in the previous post.

The text is here.

Do go to his website.

NB it is now available in Catholic Worship Book II 456.

This setting of the Beatitudes has never been used in our church to my knowledge.  Being Australian we know the Kearney one and we also do the Balhoff/Ducotte setting, so that might be enough. David Hass has written a very beautiful setting nonetheless.

The text is available here. It can be purchased for download at GIA.

It does suffer from the problem of the same tune but words having to fit differently in each verse.  A nice instrumental version (piano) with instructional video is available here. This ordinary (in the best sense) choir do a nice version here. My version tries for the tender and prayerful as instructed in the music.

This is a song from the nineteenth century to the tune Kingsfold with words by Horatius Bonar.  I have a distorted memory that every second song in the old blue hymnal in the Presbyterian church I grew up in was by Horatius Bonar and this one one of the three tunes to which we sang everything.  That can’t be right of course, this is much too nice a tune for us to have sung. This site has a cd with 13 000 pages of Mr Bonar if you feel the need.

This is a version by an angelic young voice that will make you feel plain and old, but there you go. I’m not sure what’s going on with my version but you should be able to learn the tune from it, and that may have to do.

Verse 1

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
and he has made me glad.

Verse 2

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.

Verse 3

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s light;
look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk
till traveling days are done.

© Oxford University Press

This is another reflective chant from Erica Marshall with lots of uses. If you go to her site you can click on this track as one of her sample tracks and you can hear the whole thing done as a very effective four part round.

Receive the light of Christ.

may he shine within our hearts.

May the Christ light fill us

With joy and peace.

© Erica Marshall

I like the idea of Mary singing a folk song. It sounds much more likely than the more magnificent settings, as it is a protest song after all.

Peter Kearney has been writing songs forever, or at least since 1966 (The Beatitudes).  I was astonished to see him large as life at the AOV conference a year ago, when he claimed he must have been a child prodigy.  You can hear a nice simple guitar and vocal version of this song here.

Peter has put the text up here. You can also visit his website.

Br Rufino Zaragoza’s song based on St Francis’ Canticle of Brother Sun is a pretty tune and can be used as a four part round, which would be wild.  A cute children’s choir, complete with very enthusiastic pianist, sings it here. My backing is a country waltz played through three times.

All praise, all glory, all blessing

To our most high God.

You alone deserve honour and praise,

Holy, loving God.

© OCP Publications 1988