Over on my usual blog (Sentire Cum Ecclesia) there is a discussion of John Bell's theology/ideology and his songs. Some commentators felt a little less positive than me about the merits of his songs and have given several caveats--especially about "Will you come and follow me" and "Sing Hey for the Carpenter).
Yes, all these caveats I share. Nevertheless his songs are not universally awful and and his poetry is regularly brilliant even if you don't agree with his sentiments. Especially clever is the way in which he uses traditional folk tunes that are very singable (compared to your average Haugen or Haas composition anyway).
I like (and I give Together in Song references):
+ "In you, O Lord, I found refuge" TIS 19 (A version of Psalm 31, and one of the only tunes I know to which the Hail Mary can be sung)
+ "Just as a lost and thirsty deer" TIS 26 (a version of Psalm 42, and a brilliantly plaintive tune)
+ "Clap your hands all you nations" TIS 29 (a good one for Ascension, a version of Psalm 47)
+ "Sing to God with joy and gladness" TIS 92 (a version of psalm 147)
+ "No wind at the window" TIS 287 (An annunciation hymn to a traditional irish tune)
+ "Christmas is coming" TIS 289 (An Advent Wreath lighting song--great for the kids)
+ "Who is the baby an hour or two old?" TIS 325 (a good Christmas carol)
+ "Pull back the viel" TIS 326 (A Christmas/Easter song that is a little bit daring, but not heretical, and has a terrific tune)
+ "Funny kind of night" TIS 329 (I don't recommend the words, which are a bit "funny", but the tune is tops and I have arranged the proper words of the Gloria in Excelsis to it -- email me if you want the full score -- for Christmas eve which works a treat)
+ "God beyond glory" TIS 678 (quite a good wedding hymn)
Then, of course, there are those that I wouldn't go near with a 40 foot barge pole, such as "She sits like a bird" TIS 418, a Pentecost Hymn that images the Holy Spirit in feminine form. Just too heterodox for words (It's a great tune, though.)
Interestingly, Together in Song has neither "Will you come and follow me" nor "Sing Hey for the Carpenter".
Showing posts with label Together In Song. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Together In Song. Show all posts
Thursday, 17 May 2007
Tuesday, 20 February 2007
Singing at St Bernadette's for 1st Sunday in Lent Yr C
I'm leading the singing this Sunday (1st Sunday in Lent, Year C) in my local parish. Here's the program I propose to use:
Opening: A Trusting Psalm (Kevin Bates, As One Voice I:115)
Psalm: Marty Haugen's "Be with me, Lord" (Psalm 91) (Gather Australia 53)
Offertory: Give us hearts renewed (Michael Herry, "Song of the Pilgrim")
Communion: Gregory Norbet's "Heal me, O God" (As One Voice Vol II:52) - just the chorus I think.
Closing: On Eagle's Wings (Michael Joncas, TIS 48 / Gather Australia 452)
The setting for the liturgy I use is a responsorial one (the people sing after me), Christopher Walker's Glastonbury Mass (taken from Music for the Mass edited by Geoffrey Boulton Smith).
Yes, I know that none of this is classical Catholic. Quite the opposite. But each piece has the following benefits:
1) They are easy to sing (well, Eagle's Wings can be tricky if you follow Joncas' suggested timing, but easy if you don't!) and fairly familiar to our crowd
2) The passages are fairly scriptural, and all are focused on God
3) there is a good link up with the scripture readings for the day and with the beginning of Lent
4) none of these contain any heresy.
Opening: A Trusting Psalm (Kevin Bates, As One Voice I:115)
Psalm: Marty Haugen's "Be with me, Lord" (Psalm 91) (Gather Australia 53)
Offertory: Give us hearts renewed (Michael Herry, "Song of the Pilgrim")
Communion: Gregory Norbet's "Heal me, O God" (As One Voice Vol II:52) - just the chorus I think.
Closing: On Eagle's Wings (Michael Joncas, TIS 48 / Gather Australia 452)
The setting for the liturgy I use is a responsorial one (the people sing after me), Christopher Walker's Glastonbury Mass (taken from Music for the Mass edited by Geoffrey Boulton Smith).
Yes, I know that none of this is classical Catholic. Quite the opposite. But each piece has the following benefits:
1) They are easy to sing (well, Eagle's Wings can be tricky if you follow Joncas' suggested timing, but easy if you don't!) and fairly familiar to our crowd
2) The passages are fairly scriptural, and all are focused on God
3) there is a good link up with the scripture readings for the day and with the beginning of Lent
4) none of these contain any heresy.
Ash Wednesday at St Patrick's Cathedral
There will be singing at St Pat's at the 1pm mass tomorrow. I am just planning it out at the moment.
The Psalm is the easy bit. Chris Willcock SJ's Psalm 51 is mandatory (cf. Psalms for Feasts and Seasons or TIS 32.)
We will use the entrance antiphon as it is in the missal, set to "Make me a channel of your peace", with the people using "You are the Lord our God" as a refrain.
During the signing with the ashes, I think I will use Michael Herry's "Give us hearts renewed" (from "Song of the Pilgrim"), which is short and repetitive. I have been looking at the "antiphons" that are suggested in the missal for singing during the signing, but I have no idea (at this point) how to sing them. Some work and research needed there. There is also a "responsory" listed, but again, no suggestion of how to use it. Mons Elliot, in his Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, simply says that "during the imposition the antiphons or appropriate penitential hymns are sung."
I think we will use "O Lord throughout these forty days" as the communion hymn. It is possible that you do not know this hymn. It is probably more current among Lutherans than among Catholics, but there is no reason why Catholics should not sing it. And it has a common metre 8.6.8.6 so it can be sung to a whole range of tunes. Lutherans use "Caithness", but you could use "Amazing Grace" or "Crimond"--though probably not advisable. Better would be "Belair" or "Tallis' Ordinal". In fact, I think I will use the latter (TIS 397). Here is the text based on an original by Claudia F. Hernaman (d. 1898) and Gilbert E. Doan.
1. O Lord, throughout these forty days
You prayed and kept the fast;
Inspire repentance for our sin,
And free us from our past.
2. You strove with Satan, and you won;
Your faithfulness endured;
give us your strength, your skill and trust
In God's eternal Word.
3. Though parched and hungry, yet you prayed
And fixed your mind above;
So teach us to deny ourselves
Since we have known God's love.
4. Be with us through this season, Lord,
And all our earthly days,
That when the final Easter dawns,
We join in heaven's praise.
The Psalm is the easy bit. Chris Willcock SJ's Psalm 51 is mandatory (cf. Psalms for Feasts and Seasons or TIS 32.)
We will use the entrance antiphon as it is in the missal, set to "Make me a channel of your peace", with the people using "You are the Lord our God" as a refrain.
During the signing with the ashes, I think I will use Michael Herry's "Give us hearts renewed" (from "Song of the Pilgrim"), which is short and repetitive. I have been looking at the "antiphons" that are suggested in the missal for singing during the signing, but I have no idea (at this point) how to sing them. Some work and research needed there. There is also a "responsory" listed, but again, no suggestion of how to use it. Mons Elliot, in his Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, simply says that "during the imposition the antiphons or appropriate penitential hymns are sung."
I think we will use "O Lord throughout these forty days" as the communion hymn. It is possible that you do not know this hymn. It is probably more current among Lutherans than among Catholics, but there is no reason why Catholics should not sing it. And it has a common metre 8.6.8.6 so it can be sung to a whole range of tunes. Lutherans use "Caithness", but you could use "Amazing Grace" or "Crimond"--though probably not advisable. Better would be "Belair" or "Tallis' Ordinal". In fact, I think I will use the latter (TIS 397). Here is the text based on an original by Claudia F. Hernaman (d. 1898) and Gilbert E. Doan.
1. O Lord, throughout these forty days
You prayed and kept the fast;
Inspire repentance for our sin,
And free us from our past.
2. You strove with Satan, and you won;
Your faithfulness endured;
give us your strength, your skill and trust
In God's eternal Word.
3. Though parched and hungry, yet you prayed
And fixed your mind above;
So teach us to deny ourselves
Since we have known God's love.
4. Be with us through this season, Lord,
And all our earthly days,
That when the final Easter dawns,
We join in heaven's praise.
Friday, 9 February 2007
Psalms of David: Psalm 90:1-17
Many years ago when I was parish pastor of the Lutheran Churches in Knox, Frankston and Berwick in Melbourne, I tried to get the folk singing psalms by paraphrasing the psalm for the day into metrical hymns to be sung to well known tunes. There is a long tradition of this in reformed Christianity, but it is fairly unknown in the Catholic Church. (In fact, it is prohibited to replace the responsorial psalm used in the liturgy with a paraphrase.) Over the years, I did a fair few of these, and many of them were published in the Lutheran Worship Resources, and every now and again I hear of one of them being sung about the traps.
Anyway, this following hymn is one of the better examples of the genre. It is a popular metre and can be sung to many tunes, including the ever popular "Ode to Joy", but for the best effect, use the Haugen tune I have suggested. Nb. On no account ever use the words that Haugen wrote for this tune. Pure pantheism which has more in common with American Indian spirituality than Christianity.
PSALM 90:1-17 Tune: Haugen's “Song at the Centre”, Gather Australia 399 or As One Voice, Vol. 2, No. 74; otherwise Hyfrydol TIS 233, Friend LH 426, or Austria TIS 93
8.7.8.7D
1. Lord, throughout all generations,
you have been our dwelling place,
long before the birth of mountains,
long before the world was made,
you were God then, now and ever,
everlasting still the same,
but one word returns us mortals
back to dust from whence we came.
2. For a thousand years of history
are as nothing in your sight,
they’re like yesterday now passing,
like an hour in the night;
they are swept away on waking
like a dream at break of day,
they’re like grass that grows in morning,
and in evening fades away.
3. Lord, your angry indignation
has consumed us all with fear,
for our sin and our transgression
by your light has been made clear.
Lord, your wrath has been our burden,
as our short lives pass away.
All our lives are filled with suff’ring,
and our years end with a sigh.
4. We may live for seven decades--
if we’re strong, then maybe eight--
but their span is grief and sorrow
when they’re gone, we fade away.
Yet before your mighty anger,
should we not all be afraid?
So that we might have true wisdom,
teach us how to count our days.
5. Turn, O Lord, and have compassion!
How long will your people wait?
Fill our hunger in the morning
with your steadfast love and grace,
so that we may rise rejoicing
and be glad through all our days.
For as long as we have suffered,
give us joy and happiness.
6. Let the work of your salvation
be made plain in human sight;
show your people and their children
the great splendour of your might.
Let your blessing and your favour
be on us, O Lord our God:
bless our passing small achievements
with your everlasting word.
Anyway, this following hymn is one of the better examples of the genre. It is a popular metre and can be sung to many tunes, including the ever popular "Ode to Joy", but for the best effect, use the Haugen tune I have suggested. Nb. On no account ever use the words that Haugen wrote for this tune. Pure pantheism which has more in common with American Indian spirituality than Christianity.
PSALM 90:1-17 Tune: Haugen's “Song at the Centre”, Gather Australia 399 or As One Voice, Vol. 2, No. 74; otherwise Hyfrydol TIS 233, Friend LH 426, or Austria TIS 93
8.7.8.7D
1. Lord, throughout all generations,
you have been our dwelling place,
long before the birth of mountains,
long before the world was made,
you were God then, now and ever,
everlasting still the same,
but one word returns us mortals
back to dust from whence we came.
2. For a thousand years of history
are as nothing in your sight,
they’re like yesterday now passing,
like an hour in the night;
they are swept away on waking
like a dream at break of day,
they’re like grass that grows in morning,
and in evening fades away.
3. Lord, your angry indignation
has consumed us all with fear,
for our sin and our transgression
by your light has been made clear.
Lord, your wrath has been our burden,
as our short lives pass away.
All our lives are filled with suff’ring,
and our years end with a sigh.
4. We may live for seven decades--
if we’re strong, then maybe eight--
but their span is grief and sorrow
when they’re gone, we fade away.
Yet before your mighty anger,
should we not all be afraid?
So that we might have true wisdom,
teach us how to count our days.
5. Turn, O Lord, and have compassion!
How long will your people wait?
Fill our hunger in the morning
with your steadfast love and grace,
so that we may rise rejoicing
and be glad through all our days.
For as long as we have suffered,
give us joy and happiness.
6. Let the work of your salvation
be made plain in human sight;
show your people and their children
the great splendour of your might.
Let your blessing and your favour
be on us, O Lord our God:
bless our passing small achievements
with your everlasting word.
Thursday, 8 February 2007
"Rest me in Jesus" (based on Thomas a Kempis)
This is probably the very first hymn that I ever wrote, more than 25 years ago. In many ways, it remains my favourite. It is a paraphrase of a passage from the "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis (III:21).
To be sung to Monksgate (TIS 561)
65.65.6665
1. Above all things my soul
must rest in Jesus.
In everything my soul
must rest in Jesus.
Help me, my loving Lord,
to take you at your word.
Let nothing be preferred
to rest in Jesus.
2. Beyond my body’s health,
rest me in Jesus.
Beyond all earthly wealth,
rest me in Jesus.
Beyond all fame and power,
all honour of the hour,
all passions that devour,
rest me in Jesus.
3. Above all gifts desired,
rest me in Jesus.
Above all hopes inspired,
rest me in Jesus.
Above all promises,
all comforts in distress,
all dreams of happiness,
rest me in Jesus.
4. I cannot be content,
except in Jesus.
Grant me my heart’s intent
to rest in Jesus.
You made us for your will
and we are restless still
in everything until
we rest in Jesus.
© David Schütz
To be sung to Monksgate (TIS 561)
65.65.6665
1. Above all things my soul
must rest in Jesus.
In everything my soul
must rest in Jesus.
Help me, my loving Lord,
to take you at your word.
Let nothing be preferred
to rest in Jesus.
2. Beyond my body’s health,
rest me in Jesus.
Beyond all earthly wealth,
rest me in Jesus.
Beyond all fame and power,
all honour of the hour,
all passions that devour,
rest me in Jesus.
3. Above all gifts desired,
rest me in Jesus.
Above all hopes inspired,
rest me in Jesus.
Above all promises,
all comforts in distress,
all dreams of happiness,
rest me in Jesus.
4. I cannot be content,
except in Jesus.
Grant me my heart’s intent
to rest in Jesus.
You made us for your will
and we are restless still
in everything until
we rest in Jesus.
© David Schütz
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)