Church Music

I’m planning to spend most of the rest of the year going through the astonishing work, The New Living Parish Hymn Book, but as a brief change of pace I am going back to the recent past of 2005-6 and Emmanuel Worship’s Revolution.

Emmanuel Worship is a Brisbane based youth ministry that has been going many years and producing music along the way.

Much as I like uptempo, noisy music, I fear this was the apotheosis of rowdy, before becoming much more user friendly in recent years. It’s like the last hurrah of nineties numetal sound bleeding into this millenium.

Nonetheless, I’m hoping to find gems amongst them, and as with all forms of sacred music we can see lived faith in these songs even if we don’t always have the circumstance to use them.

Pope Benedict XVI’s quote, “Only from God does true revolution come, the definitive way to change the world,” is their starting point.

In previous communication with Emmanuel Worship, they were happy for out of print resources like these songs to be posted.

This song by Patrick Keady is a call to arms for a youth rally. The lead line goes impossibly high but there are singalong elements for the crowd to sing and jump up and down to.

My backing goes someway to domesticating the song, although I suppose that isn’t really the point.

I couldn’t find Youtube clips for this era of Emmanuel Worship but I can link to previews on Spotify.

This is the last song in Psalms for All Time Vol 3 by Paul Mason. Volumes four and five are planned for those with the stamina to match Mason.

The sheet music is at Liturgical Song.

This “psalm” is Isaiah 12 for the Third Sunday in Advent Year C.

It is typical of Paul Mason – clear well set out sheet music, guitar chords with bass runs and clear capoed options. He has notes for the piece, this time ten pages before it. After this song in the book there is the Liturgical Index and then what appears to be notes about the notes.

… and his music is uniformly of a high standard either for use as the psalm, if you have the cantors and such, or for consideration as a hymn.

His YouTube clips are great, we just need more of them.

Response

Cry out with joy and gladness:

For among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

1 Behold, God is my salvation!

I will trust and not be afraid,

For the Lord is my strength and my praise,

And he has been my salvation.

With joy will you draw water from the springs of salvation.

2 Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;

Make known among his peoples his deeds;

Proclaim that his name is exalted.

3 Sing to the Lord for he has wrought wonders;

Let this be known through all the earth.

Shout aloud and sing praise, shout and sing praise,

You who dwell in Zion.

For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

This clip is listed as from Psalms for All Time Volume 4, even though the words are the old Grail and it was written in 2002, so who knows what he has in his filing cabinets already. So as a preview until it is released…

For Vigil this year, we are doing what we did last year:

For Vigil we will use Tony Alonso’s Exsultet and I’m hoping our priest will sing his bit. Last year we had an opera singer booked but she lost her voice and Father chanted the whole thing. Hoping for better luck this year, although he did a fine job. The sheet music for Alonso’s piece is available at GIA.

Here we use three psalms in the readings and we will sing the responses using Amanda McKenna’s settings.

Psalm 32

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord,

The goodness of the Lord.

Psalm 15

Keep me safe O God; you are my hope.

Keep me safe O God; you are my hope.

Exodus 15

Let us sing to the Lord;

He has covered himself in glory.

We use Taylor’s Mass of St Francis as always, except we still use the Celtic Alleluia. We plan to switch to Taylor’s Gospel Acclamation soon.

Sprinkling Rite: River of Glory (Schutte)

Gifts: Blessed be Our God (McKenna)

Communion: Glory in the Cross (Schutte) – Easter verses

After Communion: Alleluia! Love is Alive (Angrisano, Manibusan, Hart)

Recessional: Jesus is Risen (O’Brien/Ogilvie)

Our priest likes things quiet and basic for Good Friday, with no music except for Veneration of the Cross and Communion. That is fine with me, except I don’t think we should have communion on Good Friday.

Behold the Wood (Schutte)

Holy Darkness (Schutte)

Jesus Remember Me (Berthier)

The music for the Triduum is not going to change without a good reason.

Entrance: Glory In The Cross – Holy Thursday (Schutte)

Psalm 115 (Mason)

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

Washing of Feet: As I Have Done For You (Schutte)

Gifts: Blessed Be Our God  (McKenna) AOV NG 13

Communion: Bread Broken, Wine Shared Bread  (Horner) AOV 2/155

Procession to the Altar of Repose: Stay With Me (Berthier) AOV 2/88

This is Isaiah 12, which can be used as the “psalm” for the Baptism of the Lord Year B, as well as Easter Vigil and Sacred Heart (B).

For some Australian Catholics, we can only hear Frank Andersen’s lively chorus, so this is refreshingly different. Mason’s sheet music never has typos, but the “Lord” is missing from the text where I have put it in brackets.

This is by Paul Mason from Psalms for All Time Volume 3.

I must have been getting bored because this is the backing I made:

This is somewhat more sensible:

Response

You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

Draw water joyfully.

1 Behold, God is my salvation!

I trust and will not be afriad,

For the [Lord] is my strength and my praise,

and he has been my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation.

2 Give thanks to the [Lord] invoke his name;

Make known among the peoples his deeds;

Proclaim that his name is exalted.

3 Sing to the [Lord] for he has wrought wonders;

Let this be known through all the earth.

Shout aloud and sing praise, shout and sing praise,

You who dwell in Zion.

Fo great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

We will likely go with the same music liturgy as in the past:

Entrance: Blessings on the King (Lynch)

Gifts: Glory in the Cross (Schutte)

Communion: We Remember (Haugen)

Recessional: Jesus Remember Me (Berthier)

The psalm response is Psalm 21:

My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?

If we sing it it will be Amanda McKenna’s tune.

This is from Daniel 3 and is sung at The Most Holy Trinity Year A.

Read the commentary on the YouTube clip below (ie open it in YouTube) to get an idea of the commentary in Paul Mason’s book, Psalms for All Time Vol3. Interestingly, he notes this as the inspiration for his Mass of Glory and Praise. The sung text in the clip differs from what is in this volume so I suppose is from the old Grail.

In this case the response so closely meets the cantors verses that they wuld be best with separate voices.

Response

Glory and praise forever.

Glory and praise forever. (twice first and last time)

1 Blessed are you, O Lord the God of our ancestors.

2 Blessed is your glorious and holy name.

3 Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory.

4 Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom.

5 Blessed are you who looks into the depths, seated upon the cherubim.

6 Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven.

There are still a few psalms to get to in Paul Mason’s astonishing Psalms for All Time. In volume three we have Psalm 147 for the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Year A.

With this psalm chosen for Corpus Christi there is a remnant of the triumphalist Catholicism of the the past.

Response

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem. Alleluia, Alleluia!

or

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

1 O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

O Zion, praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates;

He has blessed your children within you.

2 He established peace on your borders;

He gives you your fill of finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth,

And swiftly runs his command.

3 He reveals his word to Jacob;

To Israel, his decrees and judgments.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;

He has not taught them his judgements. Alleluia!

… and this is also Psalm 146, this time for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. Once again, Paul Mason carries over essentially the same tune. The response is from Matt 5:3.

The sheet music for Psalms for All Time Vol 3 is available at Liturgical Song.

Response

Blessed are the poor in spirit;

The kingdom of heaven is theirs.

1 It is the Lord who preserves fidelity forever,

Who does justice to those who are oppressed.

It is he who gives bread to the hungry,

The Lord who sets prisoners free.

2 It is the Lord who opens the eyes of the blind,

The Lord who raises up those who are bowed down.

It is the Lord, the Lord who loves the just,

The Lord who protects the stranger.

3 The Lord upholds the orphan and the widow,

But thwarts the path of the wicked.

The Lord will reign for ever, your God,

O Zion, from age to age. Alleluia!