These early Easters certainly let Lent sneak up on you.
Ash Wednesday is his week. One thing I’ve noticed in this small town I live in, is that many events assume that you either retired and can attend at any time, or you are working and too busy to be bothered. I can’t get to any Ash Wednesday service locally, as there is one at 9am, including the school, and one half an hours drive away at 5.30pm. In the suburbs there was usually a 6.30am Ashes for the workers. I only work three days a week but it includes Wednesdays and let’s just say there is a shortage of GPs in rural Tasmania so on the days I work I am there before 8am and rarely way before 6pm, so neither service locally is feasible. I should be grateful there is a Catholic church here at all, but there is a little irony if my Lenten penance is to not attend Ash Wednesday services.
It also means I hadn’t thought much about music for Lent. It will be low key and have lots of repetition over the weeks leading up to Easter.
For Gifts over Lent we will do “Oh God, Why are You Silent.” We will do Mason’s “With the Lord There is Mercy” as a seasonal psalm. I will insert Alonso’s “Merciful God” in its various guises and use “Glory in the Cross” as well.
Entrance: Merciful God – Entrance (Alonso)
Psalm 129 (Mason)
With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Gifts: Oh God, Why Are You Silent (Haugen)
Communion: Tree of Life (Thompson) AOV NG138
Recessional: Lord, the Light of Your Love (Kendrick) AOV 2/59
This is the psalm for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time as set by Paul Mason in Psalms For All Time Vol 2.
The refrain is actually from Luke 8:8, “The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.” The verses are Psalm 65: 10abcd, 10e-11, 12-13a, 13b-14.
I’m looking through Paul Mason’s Psalms For All Time Vol 2, which can be used with cantor and assembly if you are up for that, or just as hymns in themselves.
This one is for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time and the refrain is the title sung twice. The verses are Psalm 54: 3-4,5, 6, 8.
This is Paul Mason’s setting of the psalm for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B from his Psalms For All Time Vol 2. I’ve already blogged the psalm with the same refrain and some of the same verses that is for the Easter Vigil from the original volume.
There are two tunes used for the verses so practice is needed. I note that compared the analogous tune in the original volume, Mason has smoothed things out a little. The refrain is just, “Create a clean heart in me, O God,” twice. The verses are Psalm 51: 3-4, 12-13, 14-15.
I am working through Paul Mason’s Psalms For All Time Vol 2, which can be purchased at Liturgical Song.
This is his setting of Psalm 42 for the Easter Vigil and Anointing of the Sick. The refrain used here is, “Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for you, my soul longs for you, my soul longs for you, my God.” The verses are Psalm 42: 3, 5bcd, Psalm 43: 3, 4.
Mason has an SATB arrangement for the refrain with a descant for the final chorus. I don’t usually look at keyboard accompaniments much because I strum a guitar and BIAB uses the chords too, but even I can tell that there he is going above and beyond in the sheet music and I would love to hear it played properly. Very few of these psalms have sample music at Liturgical Song or on Mason’s Youtube page unfortunately.
My backing is much more basic and all BIAB strings.
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.