Church Music

This is the Taize Kyrie No1 and is quite fast.  Listen to it here.

My backing is to learn the tune and then I suggest you sing it unaccompanied.

Kyrie, Kyrie, Eleison

© Ateliers Et Presses De Taizé

This song by Monica O’Brien and Gina Ogilvie is not in any collection but is available at the AOV site for $5 or so to download.  It was used at the AOV conference last year and is a song exhorting song!  The second verse has a variation in the tune to watch out for.  It was the gathering song for that meeting and I see no reason it could not be a gathering song for mass.

Gina Ogilvie can be heard singing it at the beginning of this clip. It can be purchased for download at As One Voice.

Verse 1

Through the ages to this hour,

Songs have risen from the deep.

Telling stories of God’s people,

Shaping faith that has endured.

Our lives form many colours,

Diverse and rich and true,

We call upon God’s blessing

In ev’rything we do.

Refrain

Many voices, many nations sing God’s praises as one voice.

Sing for justice, sing for healing!

As one voice we are set free.

Verse 2

As we look toward the future

And the song continues on,

As we share our dreams and visions

With a faith that’s burning strong.

If we put aside our diff’rences

And open up our hearts,

And strive for peace together

We’ll sing in harmony.

Refrain

Bridge

We come together looking for the truth,

We stand together searching for peace.

We’re invited to come in the name of love,

We are called by name.

Final Refrain

Many voices, many nations sing God’s praises as one voice.

Sing for justice, sing for healing!

As one voice

Many voices, many nations sing God’s praises as one voice.

Sing for justice, sing for healing!

As one voice we are set free.

As one voice we are set free!

Set free.

© Gina Oglivie and Monica O’Brien 2010.

This song is by Kevin Bates.  It’s the first song in the collection and I’ve never heard of it.

It didn’t make the Bishop’s list, probably because it speaks as God to us in a familiar, colloquial way and has a folky, Irish style to it.  I like it but I’m not sure of the liturgical situation for its use.

It can be purchased for download at As One Voice.

 Refrain

A shepherd I’ll be to you I know your name,
I know the heart of your story.

A shepherd I’ll be, I hope you feel at home,
no matter how long since you saw me.

Verse 1

Some people think I’ve lost int’rest in them,
Just because they’ve got dust on their clothes,

Or because on the track somewhere something was said
That made them feel sheep without homes.

Refrain

Verse 2

And some people think that a shepherd’s no fun,
Just because the road sometimes gets narrow,

But I love looking out just to find where you’ve been.
What a joy when your face turns to home.

Refrain

Verse 3

And just while I’ve got your attention on me,
There are other sheep I need to find.

Will you seek them and welcome wherever they be,
‘Cause I’m dyin’ with them on my mind.

Refrain

© Kevin Bates 1989

I’ve been looking again at the original AOV collections published by Willow.  I assumed that since I’ve been regularly playing at mass since the last millenium I’d pretty much know them all, but as it happens I don’t.  I’m not sure why some were in and some out locally, but I know that the parish bought them very early on, long before my time, and I gather there are still lots of copies of the pew versions from before we used overheads somewhere about the church.  I’d like to make backings to learn for myself the ones that didn’t catch on to see if we are missing some gems, and have a fresh look at some old warhorses to see if they can be rehabilitated.

If you think these books are ancient history, read Dr Paul Taylor’s excellent PhD thesis.  (Yes the nice young man who wrote that mass.)  Apart from looking at chant he does a lot of basic research and tabulates the collections of music being used in parishes and so even if you could care less whether chant is thriving or not, it is worth reading for the background research.  AOV is the most modern collection out there and hasn’t even reached a lot of parishes.  It is still  available at the AOV website. (ie buy the thing if you don’t own a copy.)  If you just want a pew version, they regularly turn up at the huge Lifeline booksales in Brisbane.

I have a unique two volume guitar version of AOV that is not for sale.  My guitar edition Vol 1&2 was used until it fell apart, so I repaired it into two separate volumes.  It cost me only $20 years ago on special, so it was a real bargain.

The original AOV has more liturgical music than the Next Gen collection and P&W had yet to be invented.  I think I’ll take things a bit slower with this collection and supplement it with P&W stuff from other collections, just so I have something to a) make noise with and b) grumble about.  I’ll also omit anything made redundant like old mass settings.

Since these songs are from as far back as the seventies, they may have special meanings for people.  If so, do let me know how they are special, especially if I note an ignorance of the tune or composer.

I attended the inaugural general meeting of this organisation in Sydney on the 25th of June at Mary McKillop Place in North Sydney.  The election bits were painless – all nominees elected and the two workshops interesting.

There were a lot of ideas for the network to work towards and I suspect they will turn up on their website when the dust settles.  Getting music taken seriously and properly funded and trained for in the Church was emphasised.  Providing a network for resources and ideas to be exchanged and available to all pastoral musicians on line seems a sensible suggestion.

What need to happen now is an avalanche of members.  Anyone involved in pastoral music or liturgical music in Australia should join as soon as possible and then get networking.  The current people involved are mainly from the songwriting and publishing area but if the network is to flourish it needs the support and contribution of talent from those providing music for mass in the suburbs and the rural areas where the struggle for musicians and resources is at its most acute.   Let’s make a start.

We start using this mass this weekend. The Gloria gets a little high so I’ve made a backing 2 semitones lower.  I’ve also made it less abrasive but still with melody line fairly obvious to assist singing along if you are new to the tune, or even worse having to relearn it with new words and tune.

The MP3s I’ve put up are for the purpose of learning the songs and were done quickly on Band in a Box.  As in, too fast for any reflection on their suitability for anything other than learning a song.  The version I did here is a fun Latin version but that isn’t how I’ve been playing it at mass.  I don’t know if this is any better, but it might be more useful if you want a funk version.

Dashboard tells me this is the 200th post and a fine time to look at the collection of songs I’ve been blogging since last year.

This book is really the only practical way to get your hands on the best material of Australian Catholic composers.  It also usefully aggregates a selection of the best overseas songs, and not just from the USA.  I spent A$57.95 on the book at St Pauls Book Centre in town, which was an absolute bargain. If you haven’t bought it yet you should – go to the AOV site and do yourself a favour.

They have tried to get as much as possible into the sheet music and have run the risk of obscuring the main melody line at times, but it all could be worked out and the properly musically trained will fix it on the fly with no trouble at all.  We less gifted will just have to slog it out.  The errors in the sheet music are overall minor and I suppose will be picked up in future editions.

Prior to getting this collection at our parish we had already used Michael Mangan’s, “Hearts on Fire” and “Holy Spirit Come”, emmanuelworship’s “Lord, Send Me Your Spirit” and “My Witness You’ll Be” and Wild Goose’s “The Summons”.  (Oh well…and “Shout to the Lord” from Hillsong)

We have now used:

Blessed Be Our God

Come to the Table (Burland not Angotti)

Gather as One

Go Make a Difference

Like a Candle

Jesus is Risen

Send Out Your Spirit, Lord

We have also previewed many songs at our “Sing Along with Ed”sessions including a Judy Bailey evening.

We will be using this resource for many years to come and adding more of the songs as they fit into our liturgies and at a rate paying attention to the assembly’s acceptance of new material.

The 156th and last song in the collection, As One Voice: the Next Generation, is “Your Grace is Enough” by Matt Maher.  It ends things in an upbeat P&W mode.  His version has a touch of neoprog rock about it and you can hear it here.  Chris Tomlin does a noisier version here if you like that sort of thing, although in leaving out the “of Jacob” he makes you wonder if he missed the whole wrestling with God idea.

As usual with spiritandsong they helpfully provide the lyrics, a snippet of the song and sheet music that can purchased for download here.

My backing is rather basic and unnecessarily noisy but suitable for singing along to.

At No155 in As One Voice: the Next Generation is a delightful pop song based on Ps 139 called “You Are There.”  Anne-Maree Higgins sings the version on the AOV NG CD, but the song is written by Kathryn Radloff of Keystone Creations.

My backing does not take up the option of further repeats of the chorus with a key change from E to F#.

Verse 1

Lord you have searched me you know me
You know when I sit, when I rise

You’re standing behind and before me
There’s no place from you I can hide.

Chorus

And even if I go up to the heavens
Even if I travel distant roads
And even if I find myself in
darkness you are there.

Verse 2

I praise you, O God my creator
I’m fearfully, wonderfully made

My days have been set out before me
You knew them before they began.

Chorus

Bridge

Search me, know me
Be there to guide and hold me
The night will shine as bright as day

Search me, know me
Be there to guide and hold me
The night will shine as bright as day
Bright as day

Chorus x2

© Kathryn Radloff 2002, 2007.