Church Music

This is another song we have never done at our parish, probably because we use Fr Frank Andersen’s setting of Ps 116.  Bob Hurd’s song is however delightful, if a little complicated in its parts.  I even like the recorded version which you can stream here.  I also like this version from an Ash Wednesday service. “Agnes Dei, qui tollis” is sung against the refrain.  I can find no “Yes” for this song from the NLMB and I’m struggling to understand what is objectionable.

It can purchased for download at OCP.

My backing is at 75bpm.

Refrain

Our blessing cup is a communion with the blood of Christ;

And the bread we break, it is a sharing in the body of the Lord.

Verse 1

How can we make a return for all the goodness God has shown?

We will take the cup of life and call upon God’s name.

Refrain

Verse 2

Precious indeed in your sight the life and death of those you love.

We are your servants, for you have set us free.

Refrain

Verse 3

Gracious and merciful God, we give you thanks and bless your name:

With all your people, praise and glory to your name.

Refrain

Verse 4

For you have heard my voice, for you have heard my pleading.

Though death surrounded me, you heard and answered me.

Refrain

© Bob Hurd 1988.

Br Michael Herry wrote this song, “Lord, to Whom Shall I Go,” and it gets a tick from the NLMB.  It is obviously a Eucharist song and is simple and direct.  Looking at Google shows it turning up in liturgies everywhere.  Even Schutz likes him:

Offertory song: “Lord, to whom shall we go?” by Michael Herry (As One Voice Vol 1, no. 6)

I like Herry’s stuff. It is as good as Taize. Again, simple and dignified. This one is Eucharistic and picks up the themes in both the Old Testament reading and the Gospel.

I don’t know why we don’t use it – perhaps it is too simple and could get sing-songy if not dealt with sympathetically.  Maybe worth another look.  I doubt it was intended to be played by a country string band, but that’s how I have imagined it in my backing.

Refrain

Lord, to whom shall we go?
You are our bread, broken and shared,

Lord, to whom shall we go?
Yours are the words of life

Verse 1

Our fathers ate, yet their hunger remained.
Their hearts were not satisfied.

Refrain

Verse 2

O Lord, you feed us with the finest of wheat,
our pledge of eternal life.

Refrain

Verse 3

The bread you give is the living bread,
your flesh for the life of the world.

Refrain

Verse 4

Your word, O Lord, is a lamp for my steps;
a light for my path of life.

Refrain

© Spectrum Publications.

http://www.spectrumpublications.com.au/

Fr Frank Andersen wrote this very popular song.  I hated it originally and had to be told that a lot of people who came to the church late in life found this song described their spiritual journey and so meant a lot to them.  So it’s OK now with me.  It’s not on the NLMB Yes list but that’s not likely to stop anyone singing it now.

This version is a fun update by James Maher’s band at last year’s AOV conference.  It isn’t 100% faithful to the original but everyone sang along, which was great.

Frank describes himself as the Slim Dusty of Australian liturgical music so I’ve done a slower country version as a backing.

Verse 1

Deep within my heart, I feel voices whispering to me.
Words that I can’t understand; meanings I must clearly hear!
Calling me to follow close, lest I leave myself behind!
Calling me to walk into evening shadows one more time!

Chorus

So I leave my boats behind!
Leave them on familiar shores!
Set my heart upon the deep!
Follow you again, my Lord! (rpt)

Verse 2

In my memories, I know how you send familiar rains
Falling gently on my days, dancing patterns on my pain!
And I need to learn once more in the fortress of my mind,
To believe in falling rain as I travel deserts dry!

Chorus

Verse 3

As I gaze into the night down the future of my years,
I’m not sure I want to walk past horizons that I know!
But I feel my spirit called like a stirring deep within,
Restless, ’til I live again beyond the fears that close me in!

Chorus

© Frank Andersen and Chevalier Music 1993.

This is not in “As One Voice”, but it is my favourite Marty Haugen song, so I thought I’d put it in.  We use it often as a gathering song and pick the most appropriate verses to match the liturgy of the day. We only found it because we were looking for the full music for “The Hand of God Shall Hold You,” which someone wanted us to use, and it turned out to be part of Haugen’s “All Are Welcome” collection.  It reminds me of a trade union song or something by Billy Bragg – a good thing!  You might want to follow Adam Copeland’s thread on this song.

Haugen’s version is here. It can be purchased on its own or as part of a collection at GIA.

Cantus Mundi has the text and several You-Tube versions.

My backing uses the brass introduction in the sheet music since I can’t do a convincing whistle in BIAB, but otherwise this is a stripped back Irished up version.

This setting of Ps 98 by Bob Hurd is not used at our church and I think it is because we use Bob Dufford’s instead. These older songs (1988) leave all sorts of interesting tracks across the net.  You can hear a MIDI version here along with lots of other older songs. (I’d forgotten about this site and assumed it had been shut down.)  This site has streaming MP3’s of lots of church music including this song.  Usually you will find several church choirs doing a song on You Tube but I had no luck with this song, which is a pity because the arangement on the original recording has the odd singing style again that I find very grating and I’m sure it would sound better sung with a normal choir.

It can be purchased for download at OCP.

As to the song itself, it has merit and interest.  The last line of the verse is somewhat startling in melody when first played and at least isn’t the same old same old. Weirdly it didn’t get the the tick from the  NLMB – it can’t be the text as I think the Psalms are still allowed – perhaps it lacks true art. It all seems pretty arbitrary to me.

Technical notes for Band in a Box:  This backing is all MIDI based except for the strummed acoustic guitar real track.  I find the sound of a real (OK sampled) guitar can fool you to think the rest of the tracks are less MIDI than they really are.  If in doubt, compare with the MIDI version above, which sounds very very MIDI indeed.

 Refrain

All the ends of the earth have seen salvation

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God,

The saving power of God.

Verse 1

Let us sing a new song for the wondrous deeds of our God,

Whose holy arm has prevailed,

Bringing salvation and vic’try.

Refrain

Verse 2

All the ends of the earth have seen the power of God.

Ring out your joy, break into song;

All you lands sing praise.

Refrain

Verse 3

Sing the praises of God; with harp and song give praise.

O trumpets sound! Joyfully sing;

Sing to the ruler of all.

Refrain

© Bob Hurd 1988.

Marty Haugen wrote this and we are still singing it thirty years later. It even got a yes from the NLCMB.  I suppose folk is OK if the words adapt St Francis of Assisi.

Haugen is, however, the boogy man for those who dislike every thing musical in catholic circles.  I suspect this is because his songs have had wide appeal and are therefore widely used and are therefore regularly mangled to the extent that they form the worse nightmares of some peoples’ being. This is unfair on Haugen, and his work seems to upset people out of all sensible proportion.  After all, if a parishioner really thinks this music is unworthy of their liturgy, then they become liturgists and musicians in their parish and influence and educate their fellow parishioners to use something else   …or be influenced by those who see the merits of this music in that process and calm down.

This is not my favourite Marty Haugen song and I was surprised when it turned up again to be sung the other week in our parish, but it is well enough remembered to have had the assembly singing and is a fair enough song of praise.  When you listen to it here you will hear what I do get upset by though, the weird ensemble singing – I don’t mind the soloists that much, but I have no idea how the choir gets that nauseating sound.  I figure it must be what American church singing aspires to, because you hear it all over the place. I don’t have the musical knowledge to know why it sounds odd, but it sounds like no choral work I’ve ever heard in any other context – I probably need someone to explain it to me.  When sung by an ordinary assembly this song has far more charm, so I think it means folk idiom music should not be sung with any compromised vocal style to appease those who hate folk music.

Now this is odd – this is a GIA song and here are the lyrics at spiritandsong. There are minor differences between these lyrics and those in “As One Voice.”

Verse 1 – “Sing to the sun” replaced by “Praise for the sun.”

Verse 5 – “Sing to the earth” replaced by “Praise for the earth.”

Verse 6 – “Praise to our death” replaced by “Praise for our death.”

This site has a translation of the poem upon which the lyric is based.

• NB The lyrics link is dead I fear – try this one.

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.