Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

date

Entrance	See amid the winter's now
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 83	They are happy (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	What can we give (Catalan arr. Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas Lamb of God (Ebeling arr. mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	Our God has appeared (mtgf)
Communion	I saw a maiden (Basque arr. Pettman)
Final	Unto us is born a son

In the homily Fr Michael noted in trying to answer 'what this story was doing there' that the Gospel of Luke begins and ends in the temple and so this placing of Jesus in the Temple prepares for the transition into to his Baptism and adult ministry. This of course links with the First reading and the psalm - they are happy who dwell in your house. I resisted the idea of repeating Brahms' 'How lovely is thy dwelling place'.

Nativity of the Lord - Day Mass

25 December 2012

Entrance	Once in royal David's city
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 97	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Carol at Bethlehem Cave (Spanish arr. Walker)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (Ebeling arr. mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Communion	Infant lowly (Polish arr. Willcocks)
	Away in a manger
Final	O little town of Bethlehem

Nativity of the Lord - Mass during the Night

25 December 2012

Carol	Once in royal David's city
Choir	O radiant dawn (James MacMillan)
Carol	While Shepherds watched
Choir	Sing we the Virgin Mary (Appalachian)
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem
Choir	Alma redemptoris mater (Palestrina)
Entrance	O come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Profession of Faith	Credo III (with Et incarnatus est by Josquin)
Preparation of Gifts	Shepherd's Cradle Hymn (Bavarian arr. MacPherson)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (Ebeling arr. mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The Word became flesh (mtgf)
Communion	Night of Silence (Daniel Kantor)
	Silent Night
Final	Hark the herald angels
Voluntary	Dieu parmi nous (Messiaen)

I miscalculated the order of items in the pre-Mass section - and so we swapped around Sing we the Virgin and Alma redemptoris to allow time to move from piano to choir. In the event our mature thurifer decided to start the Entrance procession before we have even started the Palestrina at about 11.55. This meant the ministers heard it as they stood by the crib and before we sang the entrance hymn. On second performance I appreciated the Macmillan more - it certainly sings well.

The major innovation this year was Credo III. This was in part to mark the Year of Faith. It is, also with the interpolation from Josquin (it is only recently I discovered it comes from Missa Pange Lingua), a manageable way to allow time for the genuflection at Et incarnatus est.

The Lamb of God is based on All my heart this night rejoices, this year I decided to omit the repeat by all of 'have mercy…' and just bring the congregation in at that point - having done the setting for a couple of years it seemed to work.

4th Sunday of Advent

23 December 2012

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie - Orbis factor
Psalm 79	God of hosts (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	O child of promise (Andrew Maries)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Advent Lamb of God (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	Behold a virgin shall conceive (mtgf)
Communion	On the lips of an angel (Bach/Gounod/Soper)
Final	O come, O come Emmanuel

Some choir members could not be with us and so this meant a couple of changes. Whether the congregation thought they were getting Monteverdi when they were getting the Bach/Gounod/Soper mash-up I am not sure.

The reference in the Collect to Christ's Passion and Cross made a connection with Andrew Maries setting of James Quinn's O child of promise - the promise is salvation and it is won through his Passion, Death and Resurrection - this is what we invoke.

3rd Sunday of Advent

16 December 2012

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie - Orbis factor
Isaiah 12	Sing and shout for joy (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Song of God among us (Huijbers)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Advent Lamb of God (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	Say to the faint of heart (mtgf)
Communion	O radiant dawn (James MacMillan)
Final	Blest be the Lord (Alstott/Farrell)

The liturgical year is strange thing. Conceptually we thing of seasons as historical periods of time - Advent is the time before the birth of the Lord, just as Lent is this time before the death of the Lord, and Easter the fifty days following the resurrection. Perhaps a sign that they are later developments is that the gospels don't give us enough information to sustain such ideas over the relevant weeks and days. So in Advent the gospel is actually about the prelude to Jesus's adult ministry - it is an adult Christ we are preparing the way for. SInging the Benedictus at the end might be said to confuse the issue - John the Baptist of the gospel is no longer a little child. I would prefer to see it as enriching and making a link forward to next week.

It is interesting how Church music can seem to become ubiquitous. I am aware of 3 recordings of James MacMillan's O radiant dawn and it has been anthologised. I think deservedly so - it is satisfying to sing and arresting to listen to. It does confirm my ambivalence about MacMillan - or perhaps better my jury is still out - I am undecided whether his ideas are simply inspired or in other hands might seem just simple - perhaps the inspiration is doing it. As a setting of the 'O antiphon' for 21 Deecember we were a little early but it fitted and it was last Sunday we are a complete choir this term - so we ended with a bang.

2nd Sunday of Advent

9 December 2012

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie - Orbis factor
Psalm 125	What marvels the Lord worked (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	O comfort my people (Irish arr. mtgf)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Advent Lamb of God (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	Jerusalem, arise (mtgf)
Communion	There is a longing (Anne Quigley)
Final	The voice of God

A straightforward Sunday I think. The arrangement of 'O comfort my people' (or 'Hymn Concertato" as they say in US) I wrote about 20 years ago for the Challoner Choir in Westminster Cathedral.

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

7 December 2012

Entrance	The Angel Gabriel
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 97	Alleluia - Sing a a new song (John Bell)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	No wind at the window (Irish trad.)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion	I saw a maiden (Pettman)
Final	Tell out my soul ( )

We celebrated on the vigil of our Patronal Feast. The music was led by the College Choir which had already done the Carol Service on Monday and Carol Singing in Twickenham the previous evening. Items were repeated from the Carol Service - though we had our versions of Monteverdi's Ave maris stella ready if needed at Communion - but one piece was enough and some silence.

Carol Service

3 December 2011

Part 1 - Prepare a way for the Lord

Entrance	Yonder come day (Georgia Sea Islands Spiritual)
	Soon and very soon (Crouch)
Opening Responses
Reading	Isaiah 40:1–5 The prophet Isaiah tells the people of Israel to prepare a way for the Lord
Song	Did you not know (Bill Tamblyn)
Reading	Mark 1: 1-8 St Mark writes of John the Baptist who prepares a way for the Lord
Prayer
Hymn	O come, O come Emmanuel

Part 2 - Behold the virgin will conceive

Reading	Isaiah 7: 10-14 The prophet Isaiah tells of the coming of Emmanuel — God is with us
Carol	Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (English traditional)
Reading	Luke 1: 26-38 St Luke tells of the Incarnation of Jesus
Carol	No wind at the window (Irish/Bell/Haugen)
Prayer
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem

Part 3 - Today is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord

Reading	Luke 2:1-14 St Luke tells of the birth of Jesus
Song	While shepherds watched (John Foster)
Reading	Luke 2:15-20 St Luke tells of Mary who treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Song	I saw a maiden (Pettman)
Prayer

CarolSilent Night

Part 4 - The Word was made flesh and lived among us

Reading	1 John 1:1–4 St John reflects on the Incarnation
Motet	Love came down at Christmas (mtgf)
Reflection
Intercessions	Holden Evening Prayer Marty Haugen
Lord's Prayer & Blessing
Carol	O come all ye faithful

The idea last year was to set up a pattern for this service which could be repeated - to form a tradition. So this year the structure remained the same with some of the musical items changed. The second reason given then for the liturgy and its celebration of Christmas in these the earliest days of Advent is one of new evangelisation. We have also been carol singing this week and I have interested in the requests for particular carols (more so that secular songs). So this is a service of proclamation.

The musical changes were from the beginning. We have discovered that the back of chapel is a resonant place to sing and a dramatic way to begin the service. We sang two african-american pieces the first static, the second in procession. Musically I think with these pieces we have found a way to begin - I suspect that come next November when we prepare them again there will be looks of expectation.

Bill Tamblyn's joyous piece provided a good contrast to the other pieces with its ringing accompaniment and was actually connected with the last reading and so was a framing device.

'While shepherds watched' was once one of the very few permitted hymns in the Church of England. This scarify of texts led to a range of tunes including this Handelian setting knowing as Old Foster - which definitely has some sparkle. As John Foster was Yorkshireman it is unlikely we are related - my antecedents are the other side of the Pennines.

The second part of our tradition is that we offered some lighter fare afterwards with the mulled wine and mince pies.

1st Sunday of Advent

2 December 2012

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie - Orbis factor
Psalm 24	To you, O Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	O thou the central orb (Charles Wood)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Advent Lamb of God (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The Lord will bestow his bounty (mtgf)
Communion	Turn my heart (Marty Haugen)
Final	Hark a herald voice

And so we begin again and at the same time carry on. Nothing new in the core settings this season - but then it was the first anniversary of the full use of the new translation. I am not sure if today's texts are particularly memorable - or perhaps have strong images - but there was a familiarity about the collect and other prayers which seas interesting. We use the Eucharistic Acclamations of the Mass of Creation each year from September until the end of the Christmas and so encompass 3 seasons. This fundamentally practical. One of the benefits of this is that rehearsal time can be used for other things. It also allows the congregation to have confidence. The Mass of Creation is also our default setting which we use for any college Mass - such as later this week for the Immaculate Conception. It is also used at the term time Sunday evening Mass. So we need a setting which provides a common song to a number of sectors of community: the core Sunday morning community, those who are new each September, people from the evening Mass who come outside tern time, staff and students who come to major celebrations outside Sunday and those who visit over Christmas. Inherent in this is my belief that it is fundamentally the role of the core community to lead and encourage participation in the acclamations. And there was one change - we sang the 3rd Memorial Acclamation, Save us, Saviour, as suitable for Advent. I am keen that we use all three acclamations and not get stuck in the rut of only using the first, for example. However I do find this setting slightly awkward with a ¾ bar which feels rushed as though it should be 4/4 - and the first bar exhibits one of my bête-noires 6/4 when it should be 3/2.

Marty Haugen also appeared at Communion this was partly intendd as contrast to the Charles Wood anthem earlier which is a bit of a blast but fitted Advent with its please to 'Come, quickly, come'. We followed the view that the text at the end is a misreading or misprint: 'transforming clay' rather than 'day' - which makes more sense but is a little harder to sing to the music with the two consonants.

We moved to another stage in my antiphon project. The idea is to set the Missal antiphons to a formula which is used and adapted over a season. The Advent settings are musically related to those of Christmas - but with a change of modality.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

25 November 2012

Entrance	Rejoice the Lord is king
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 92	Lord, you are king (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Christ the glory (J F Lalouette)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	The Lord sits as king for ever (mtgf)
Communion	Ave verum (Mozart)
Final	O worship the king

At one during Mass I though that some of the choices were inspired by misreadings. The final hymn was partly chosen to lead into the organ voluntary — a Kenneth Leighton fantasia on the melody. As Laudate uses the hymn to begin the section Praise of the Creator it may seem wrongly addressed but context made sense of it.

I commented before that we choose music according to various levels, most Sundays it is the scripture as the predominant guide. On feasts it can be our image of the day that dictates our choices. I noted that one of the available liturgy guides for the choices for a choir was heavily into Ascension fare. This maybe theologically astute but the images from the text of the Mass provided ideas. Indeed 2 out of the 3 years the Gospel is Passion-related. It was the image of truth from John's gospel which led me to Ave verum but I think it's passion imagery fitted well.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

18 November 2-12

Entrance	Let all mortal flesh
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 15	Preserve me, God (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	In God's good time (Stephen Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	Amen, I say to you (mtgf)
Communion	How far is the night (Huijbers)
Final	Love divine

We had never sung Stephen Dean's eschatological hymn before - I think it is one of his strongest pieces - and it fitted with the readings about the end times. We have done the Huijbers before - and I am always struck by its simplicity and effectiveness - on paper it is a mundane idea, descending chords and a 3 part echo but it works.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Remembrance)

11 November 2012

Entrance	Eternal Rest (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 145	My soul give praise (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	How lovely is thy dwelling place (Brahms)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion	He that shall endure (Mendelssohn)
Final	O God beyond all praising (Holst arr. Proulx )

For Remembrance Sunday we are joined by the College Choir and this influenced some of the choices. The Choir will be singing Brahms' German Requiem next March in Birmingham and this was a step on the way. The Mendelssohn seemed harder than I remembered - all the notes were there but its texture means that it needs a sustained, balanced singing. At the beginning we recall the students who died in the First World War and use Eternal rest to add our prayers.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

4th November 2012

Entrance	Come praise the Lord
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 17	I love you, Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	These words (Tom Lowenthal)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	You will show me (mtgf)
Communion	Ubi caritas (Bob Hurd)
Final	For the healing of the nations
Voluntary	Music for the Royal Fireworks (Handel)

The choice seemed at one remove this morning - not quite what the readings were about. A generic hymn of praise in some ways to start - I would have liked something closer to the first commandment. These words springs out of the easing from Deuteronomy and Ubi caritas captures of love of God and of others. In the evening it was love all the way.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

28 October 2012

Entrance	We walk by faith
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 125	What marvels the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Exultate justi (Viadana)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	We will ring our out joy (mtgf)
Communion	Song of the man born blind (Bob Hurd)
Final	Be thou my vision

The sings made allusions to other gospel stories about the relationship between faith and sight: Thomas doubting and the Man born blind in John's gospel. The motet at Preparation of Gifts took up the general theme of rejoicing in the first reading which was also echoed in the Communion antiphon.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

21 October 2012

Entrance	Christ be our light
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 32	May your love be upon us (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Ours were the griefs (Stephen Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	The Son of Man has come (mtgf)
Communion	Christus factus est (Anerio)
Final	Praise to the holiest
Voluntary	Postlude Improvisation sur Ave Maris Stella (Dupré)

Another prophecy of the Passion - which is reinforced by the first reading. This lead to the Stephen Dean setting of Isaiah/1 Peter which we always enjoy and Anerio's setting of Philippians 2 at Communion. I had considered further Dean at Comminion - Father, if this cup which would have picked up the reference in Gospel to Can you drink the cup that I must drink? but with the Communion antiphon (this week a direct quotation from the Gospel) it seems to me that two antiphonal pieces might be too much.

I also went to the evening Mass to encourage the musicians. We used the same Mass parts, so that they can be used when we have a common celebration. I decided on a Common Psalm - 121 - which can be used in over the coming weeks. And apart from Christ be our light the other choices were different. As I am sure I have mentioned before it seems to me a strength of the reformed liturgy that the same liturgical texts can lead to different, yet appropriate, music choices.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

14 October 2012

Entrance	All my hope on God is founded
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 90	Fill us, Lord, with your love (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	The Word of God (mtgf)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	The rich suffer want (mtgf)
Communion	Song of Wisdom (Loomis)
Final	Will you come and follow me

The first reading from the book of Wisdom was picked up at Communion with the Song of Wisdom a beautifully fluid setting by Patrick Loomis. The second reading was echoed by the piece at the Preparation of Gifts which uses the text from Hebrews with Isaiah 55. Interestingly the visiting priest used both texts, starting with the simple images of Wisdom and Word, in his homily.

The Gospel was not forgotten. Both hymns were chosen in the light of it: the first for trust in God, the second because it articulates what it means to follow Jesus. The Communion antiphon was chosen as it seemed to provide another echo of the Gospel - the recommendation in the Missal is that preference is given for the antiphon which is in harmony with for the Gospel. Strangely I think this is one of the most explicit suggestions on the liturgical texts that the gospel should provide the source for making musical choices.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

7 October 2012

Entrance	Love is his word
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 127	May the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Jesu, joy of man's desiring (J S Bach)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	The Lord is good (mtgf)
Communion	Concerto for 2 violins - Largo (J S Bach)
Final	Love divine

Today was a sad occasion. It was final time our organist, who began as a student 23 years ago, played for us. His work now takes him around the world and the eagle-eyed may have noticed that he has not been with for us a number of Sundays. His one request was for the slow movement of the Bach double violin concerto which we had previously had one Easter Vigil. With the two violins Jesu, joy of man's desiring seemed a natural companion piece and fitted with the general theme of love that we had highlighted.

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

30 September 2012

Entrance	Your words are spirit
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 18	The precepts of the Lord. (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Faith, hope and love (Christopher Walker)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	(mtgf)
Communion	The love of the Lord (Michael Joncas)
Final	Forth in thy name

Like last week the second reading from James provided some of the inspiration today, in particular Michael Joncas' The love of the Lord which is uses Pauline imagery of relative wealth - what I have lost and gained in Christ. Faith, hope and love with Ubi caritas verses was employed as a commentary or tangent to the gospel - the company John should aspire to.

A new visiting priest who not only preached well but, and it seems odd to say this but the experience is the exception, when asked knew what Penitential Act he intended to use, the third, was happy with a sung Lord, have mercy and in practice was ready for it when it happened. This should not be remarkable but it is!

This was the last of the first group of Communion Antiphons. One of the ideas behind the setting was a formula used over a number of weeks - about 2 months seemed right for dividing Ordinary Time. Though they don't seem to have taken the congregation by storm yet - for reasons I have surmised in the past - it has been an interesting start/experiment. To me they sound simple and attractive in unaccompanied harmony and the choir sing them for the whole of the procession beginning when the priest receives from the chalice.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

23 September 2012

Entrance	Brother, sister let me serve you
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 52	The Lord upholds my life. (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	O God, you search me (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	I am the good shepherd (mtgf)
Communion	Christ our peace (Marty Haugen)
Final	Be thou my vision

I am not sure whether there are many good texts which deal with Christ's prophecy of his Passion - suggestions would be welcome. Singing a 'passion tide' hymn seems not quite to be the same, such as When I survey or My song is love unknown. All that is hidden is a possibility but as we were unaccompanied and it would be new to 1 or 2 it was discounted.

In the end I went in an opposite direction and went for the Servant Song which I hoped captured something of the truth of relationships in the Gospel. There was also an element of stewardship, which I think is another one of those skills referred to last week, it will be sung at the Academic Mass next week and so may prove more familiar to some at that point.

I did want to pick up the image of children in the Gospel and wondered about a setting of Psalm 130(131). The Walker setting was dismissed as again possibly unsustainable unaccompanied. I had suggested the Deiss My soul is longing for your peace but circumstances in the week meant I was not able to follow this through. Looking at the readings again I went for Christ our peace.

A final comment about the psalm response which is one of those I find too short - again is this a shared view?

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

16 September 2012

Entrance	Praise to the holiest
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 114	I will walk in the presence (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	He became poor (John Bell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The chalice of blessing (mtgf)
Communion	How can I repay (mtgf)
Final	At the name of Jesus

The moment of recognition and the turning point of the Gospel. A suitable response seemed to be the canticle from Philippians and this was the source text not only for the final hymn but also for the verses between the John Bell chant He became poor.

I find it odd that Praise to the holiest is a hymn I find difficult to shorten whereas At the name of Jesus can be happily chopped to 1, 3, 5, 7 and still make sense. As i mentioned a couple of weeks ago I am interested about people's expectations of meaning - whether that it is in the text itself or in its function. I expect the two to interelate - that is part of what liturgy does interpret or add meaning through function. I suspect that for many who do not have this interest surface level function is enough - we sing something at the opening and we have sung something and so the function is fulfilled. The same may apply to prayers. I think there are levels of nuance. To come at the question from another direction my guess is that many people in a similar position to me that hymn x would work well as an opening but not closing - something about function and flow. With these two hymns my what, instinct, knowledge, skill? says this way round - though I can conceive of Praise to the holiest at the end of Mass. I think this way round was partly musical, Camberwell is slightly more rousing and outward facing, similarly the text of At the name of Jesus has something of a response to the question 'who do you say that I am?' and follows the gospel (even reminds us) and send us out for the week.

Behind this is the question 'my what, instinct, knowledge, skill?' or a situation which I am sure familiar to many when face why can't we just sing x or y how do you communicate craft when it is not seemingly apparent to the other person nor be the liturgical terrorist either - you may need people's skills as well! I suppose part of the raison for this blog is to say this is not random, there may be method in the perceived madness.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

9 September 2012

Entrance	O changeless Christ
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 145	My soul give praise (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Song of the Man born blind (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	I am the light of the world (mtgf)
Communion	Ubi caritas (Bob Hurd)
Final	Praise my soul

Our changeover continues with the Gloria. We had another reunion group in again — and again they sang responded well. The Song of the Man born blind is a song of healing and so there was a connection but it also sound well unaccompanied with close harmony.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 September 2012

Entrance	Dear Lord and Father
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 14	The just will live (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	O God, you search me (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	How great is the goodness, Lord (mtgf)
Communion	Panis Angelicus (Franck)
Final	The Kingdom of God [Ave Maris Stella]

It's a year since we began using the new translation for the Order of Mass. We had a alumni group in celebrating 50 years - one of the qualities they have is keen participation - you can certainly hear the responses. As we begin September our Mass setting begins to change. There did not seem to be any hesitation in the Mass of Creation.

The alumni also wanted to sing Panis angelicus and Ave Maris Stella. The confidence exhibited in responses also can mean a certain myopia to a regular congregation. It had been suggested that we would sing Ave Maris Stella after the final hymn gathering round the icon of Mary given by the Pope. I realised that I viewed the hymn differently to the group - that the words had a specific meaning; to the group the meaning was that they had sung when they were students I am not sure the specifics of the text were relevant.

21st Sunday n Ordinary Time

26 August 2012

Entrance	Firmly I believe
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 33	Taste and see (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	How can I repay (mtgf)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	Whoever eats my flesh (mtgf)
Communion	One in body (Christopher Walker)
Final	Alleluia, sing to Jesus

We might have begun with Bernadette Farrell's Your words are spirit but we had a more credal statement. I could not think of a setting of Lord, to who shall we go or at least one that would work for us - but that might have been a stronger beginning.

I have been happier with this 'mini-season' this year, more so than in the past. One factor was the use of the Communion Antiphon, which echoed the gospel and provided a musical connecting thread over the weeks. I am not sure how well it was picked up, this stills seems to me to be the musical challenge to a liturgical sensibility. This week I wanted a sense of summation and thought Psalm 115 might provide a suitable text. I had originally considered Stephen Dean's setting but as we are unaccompanied at the moment it's chromatic wanderings were perhaps a little risky. I wrote a close harmony setting which I think we may use again.

This sense of a conclusion was behind using both the Walker at Communion and final hymn.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

19 August 2012

Entrance	Of the glorious Body telling
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 33	Taste and see (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Wisdom has built herself a house (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	I am the living bread (mtgf)
Communion	Taste and see (Michael Joncas)
Final	Love is his word

This was one of those Sundays, perhaps due to the weather, when we began the Opening Hymn with a small congregation which managed to grow by the time it was completed. I was struck that both opening and closing hymns were more explicitly linked to the Last Supper this week — if it was design it may be because the Gospel mentions both eat and drinking this week.

Wisdom has built is based on the first reading and the verses based on John 6 — thanks to Philip Jakob at NNPM for a reminder of this lovely piece. I had left behind the full music for the Communion antiphon (the music of the antiphon was on the service sheet), so true to its design we could adapt another weeks. I thought this a vindication of its design that we could adapt though suspect the sings would have had preferred the full copy.

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

12 August 2012

Entrance	Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 33	Taste and see (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Ave verum (Josquin)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The bread that I will give (mtgf)
Communion	Bread of life (Bernadette Farrell)
Final	O Bread of heaven

There was a couple present who had were celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary - having been married in the chapel. Though I did consider if there was anything obvious and suitable which linked the marriage with today's Liturgy of the Word nothing came to mind. Though it is lovely to have the visitors, and it sounds somewhat mean, but my general view is that the ongoing celebration of Sunday takes precedence. Today it was the unfolding of John 6.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

5 August 2012

Entrance	All who hunger
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 77	The Lord gave them bread (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Panis angelicus (Franck)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	I am the bread of life (mtgf)
Communion	I received the living God (arr. Proulx)
Final	Guide me, o thou great Redeemer

'Men ate the bread of angels' - so it seemed appropriate to sing about the bread of angels. As an aside the text Panis Angelicus comes from the Sequence for Corpus Christi Lauda Sion.

As an experiment over the next few weeks, while we hear John 6, we will sing the Communion Antiphon with suitable psalm verses. I having been looking at ways of simply setting the antiphon texts so that they could be easily sung using a common formula over a number of weeks. It is one way of connecting this series of Sundays.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

28 July 2012

Entrance	Gather us in
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 144	You open wide your hands (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Jesus, you are the bread (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion	Bread of life from heaven (Marty Haugen)
Final	God is love, his the care

I was away again this week and Mass was actually at 6pm on Saturday evening due to the Olympic Cycle races which closed all the surrounding roads. When I am away I go through the list of choices with those who will be singing and in some cases where something maybe less well know offer some alternatives - this is in part to give them some flexibility on the day.

This week we begin the reading of John 6 which is inserted into Mark's Gospel or Year B. The place it is inserted follows on from the preceding week of Mark and at the end Mark follows on - this is to say that this is less a tangent than an interlude. With the focus on the 'bread of life' it makes planning quite difficult, I think. If ever there is a time when you can use something one week and discover that it would be better next - this is it.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

22 July 2012

Entrance	I heard the voice of Jesus
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 22	The Lord is my shepherd (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Shepherd me, O God (Marty Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion	Christ our peace (Marty Haugen)
Final	Lord of all hopefulness

I was away this weekend (at NNPM) and the following (holiday) but our singers were happy to continue. Though they are perfectly competent they say they get a good response from the congregation who pity them for being abandoned!

Chrst our peace is simple song by Marty Haugen which unites the Ephesians text with verses suitable for communion.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

15 July 2012

Entrance	O the word of my Lord
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 84	Let us see, O Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Lord you have come to the seashore (Gabarain)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion	Bread of life from heaven (Marty Haugen)
Final	Forth in thy name

We had a first for us this morning. I had not asked the visiting priest, who is with us for July, what he was planning for the Penitential Act. The first week had spoke the invocations in the third form and we came in, the next we had the I confess and we followed on. This week, because I suspect he had our original Order of Mass card, he look non-plussed so I sang the invocations in the 3rd form - our first. I should note that people are singing the Kyrie well.

We also managed something I have long wished to try which is the verse of O the word of my Lord in parallel triads - which wasn't prepared but once one singer was adding the lower third I added the upper.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

8 July 2012

Entrance	Christ be our light
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 122	Our eyes are on the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Song of God among us (Huijbers)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion	Eye has not seen (Marty Haugen)
Final	He who would valiant be

It seems to me a key (set of) questions for those who prepare music has to be:

• Why this psalm?
• Why this response?
• How does this relate to the Gospel?

The first reading ends: (they) shall know there is a prophet among them' .'Our' in the response is us, the assembly and we are claiming that we will recognise Jesus both within the Gospel (i.e. at Nazareth) and also within this liturgy. Not only that he is a prophet but that we have faith and so he can show us is mercy. Singing psalm responses is dangerous stuff.

These thoughts partly come being asked about replacing the psalm. As will noted by regular readers we endeavour to sing what is given in the Lectionary each week. When musicians go beyond this it seems to me they are weighing two values: the Lectionary text and the value of singing at this point of the Liturgy of the Word. As usual there are levels of proximlty to the Lectionary text - the same psalm with a different response, a similar psalm and response on to a hymn which speaks of some of the same things. The further you get from Lectionary text the more levels of meaning you are losing. I commented a few weeks ago about the psalm being preached upon but I think there is generally an under appreciation of the role of the psalm in the Liturgy of the Word - and in particular its function and relationship. I am not aware of any book which explores this in detail among the myriad of Lectionary commentaries.

This reflection on the psalm makes a connection between faith and sight which is a familiar theme from from the Easter Season and guided many of the choices today.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 July 2012

Entrance	Lord of Life
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 29	I will praise you, Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Healer of our every ill (Marty Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 9 (mtgf)
Communion	Lord, your love has drawn us near (Stephen Dean)
Final	Praise my soul the King of heaven

Healing and thanksgiving for healing today. We had not used the Hebridean tune before so I sang it first and then it was repeated by all. I think it is a lovely tine and made a nice short entrance but not everyone was taken. Lord, your love started with the idea of thanksgiving and so a Eucharistic dimension. But I was struck by the idea of the Syro-Phoenician woman drawn to Jesus which gave the text and added dimension. I am sure I have said this before but I always wonder why we don't sing this more often - until we sing it and the use of the choir parts as an SATB echo means that we can't adapt it to our resources. By this I'm saying that it has to be both lovely and interesting for us.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist

date

Entrance	O the word of my Lord
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 138	I thank you, Lord (mtgf/Tamié)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	You know me, Lord (James Walsh)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Communion	The love of the Lord (Michael Joncas)
Final	Blest be the Lord (Bernadette Farrell)

Celebrating a Saint on a Sunday may seem a little random to some - particularly if not a holiday of obligation. I can remember a friend, someone the media would call devout - they went to Mass on Sundays - expressing shock as they had never realised in the ordinary course of the year Saint's days were subsumed by Sundays. Those which may replace Sundays have importance as central to our faith. Today is one of the marking points in the cycle of the incarnation.

The first hymn was taken from the first reading for Isaiah, what was true of Isaiah, and was true of Jeremiah was also true of the last of the prophets - God had called them in the womb. The final hymn filled out the missing part of the Gospel - the Canticle of Zechariah, the Benedictus. The other choices were in part dictated by resources. You know me, Lord is probably less familiar than O God, you search me by Bernadette Farrell. The Walsh setting is a simple dialogue between verses in the minor and major.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

17 June 2012

Entrance	Unless a grain of wheat (Bernadette Farrell)
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 91	It is good to give thanks to the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Parable (M D Ridge)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Communion	Ave Verum (Elgar)
Final	All creatures of our God and king

Today something unusual happened. The preacher mentioned the psalm in the homily. This was to link cedars of the first reading and the psalm with the trees in the gospel. I have probably mentioned before that one reason that the psalm is infrequently mentioned in the homily is possibly due to the practice of replacing it with a relative text - near or distant. This visiting priest would have recognised that we (nearly) always sing the psalm in the Lectionary. A recent book on the Lectionary Making the most of the Lectionary devotes 2 pages to the psalm which effectively says because the psalm may be sung in a number of ways or even be replaced it should be counted as music rather than as worth commenting on. In a similar way commentaries on the readings by scripture scholars often omit the psalm and just comment on the individual readings and so ignore the dynamic of the Liturgy of the Word — i.e. I am not sure you can comment on the psalm with reference to the other readings and therefore the relationship of one to the other.

Talking about relationships a couple of choices were at a tangent to the readings. At a tangent or giving a new angle. Unless a grain was true to the Gospel and brought out the paschal mystery (as perhaps the foundational theme of the Ordinary Time Lectionary). We ended with the 3rd verse and the hope we would 'bear much fruit'. As a passing thought when listening to the gospels and the tantalising ending about explaining everything whether the Gospel of John was in someways the explanation. A different angle was provided by Parable where the verses retell the parable of the sower. The refrain is based on Ecclesiastes: to everything there is a season — another way of looking at Ordinary Time perhaps?

I was struck the last few weeks by the Missal chants, particularly when we did them unaccompanied, how they 'slot into' the prayer and do not break up the flow of it. I wonder if one of the effects of many parishes using these settings first might give people a renewed appreciation of the place of the acclamations within the prayer — as an integral part rather than some added music.

The Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord

10 June 2012

Entrance	The heavenly word
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 115	The cup of salvation (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Whoever eats my flesh (mtgf)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Communion	Take and Eat (Michael Joncas)
Final	Alleluia, sing to Jesus

I have been told that every Catholic knows the hymns that St Thomas Aquinas wrote for Corpus Christi. I am not wholly convinced. What interests me in them is how the last couple of verses, or a short section, get extracted and did become popular—so from The heavenly word comes O salutaris. We sang the JM Neale translation to Rockingham which people did know.

We were unaccompanied but as the refrain of Take and eat was already in the Mass leaflet we used it. The cantors and choir managed well the modulation between verse and refrain. It is worth noting that the feast is now the Body and Blood of Christ and that the texts are balanced, if not weighted towards the Precious Blood — the scriptural images for the Blood of Christ are quite rich. I remember at a Conference on the Eucharist someone asking the speaker if Communion would still have been received under both kinds in the time of St Thomas Aquinas, given that he writes of both, and it was thought where Communion was received it would have been under both kinds - though the practice was dying out.

We had planned something else for the Preparation of Gifts but I had prepared a simple setting of the Communion Antiphon with verses from Psalm 23 which we were also going to sing at Communion but in the circumstances it fitted where it was placed.

Most Holy Trinity

3 June 2012

Entrance	God, whose almighty word
Penitential Rite	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 32	Happy the people (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Hymn of the Cherubim (Russian?)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Communion	God beyond all names (Bernadette Farrell)
Final	Holy God, we praise thy name

Easter time is past and this year we managed the total change of Mass settings. Simpler for the Summer. Indeed it is almost a year since we began singing the new translation - we delayed a couple of weeks due to Conferences last year. The Penitential Act and Lamb of God were new. It was a little odd that the Penitential Act is in F#m and is followed by the Gloria in C major. I may yet change the Lamb of God - I feel we need, for a contrast with preceding seasons, something a little more expansive.

We were unaccompanied but the congregation sang the opening hymn well - its strong melody working well.

Pentecost Sunday

27 May 2012

Entrance	Cpme down, O Love divine
Gloria	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 103	Send forth your spirit, O Lord (mtgf)
Sequence	Come Holy Spirit, Lord divine (arr. mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	Spirit of God (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Enemy of Apathy (John Bell)
	The Spirit come to us in our weakness (mtgf)
Final	We have a gospel to proclaim

Joining a choir can be a like an apprenticeship where you learn the ways and repertoire of the place. It also means when you are a small group that the repertoire may need to be simplified to allow all to take part.

I found it hard to choose a final hymn. Someone once suggested to me that it was odd on an Advent Sunday to sing 'Wait for the Lord' at Communion I have a similar sense of singing 'Come, Holy Spirit' at the end of Mass - it seems a bit late. As we had (5) baptisms the connection with mission seemed important but there were not many choices that brought out the role of the Spirit - or at least that I would have sung. In the end we sang We have a gospel which with its Easter verse encompassed the whole season which was coming to an end.

This will be our last use until next Easter, I think, if the Mass of Wisdom. I am aware that we have only used one of the Memorial Acclamations and we will need to introduce the others next year, lest we get stuck.

The Ascension of the Lord

20 May 2012

Entrance	Praise him as he mounts the skies
Gloria	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 46	Our God goes up (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	One is the Body (John Bell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Christ the Glory (Lalouette)
	Alleluia hymn (Orthodox/mtgf)
Final	Lord, you give the great commission

There was a large congregation at Mass this morning - partly baptism party, partly because the evening Mass has finished. A direct effect of this was that we need a second piece at Communion. I had considered the Alleluia Hymn as alternative item this morning so I could reach across the piano top for the music - even so we managed 8 verses.

Praise him as he mounts the skies is James Quinn's alternative text to Hail the day that sees him rise. As an aside I always think that Llanfair, the hymn tune is a little bit 'could do better'. The Quinn text brings out the eschatological dimension of the feast and that together with the reference to Christ the head and the body in the collect made me wonder how theologically sophisticated we expect congregations to be? Is today just about celebrating Jesus ascending to heaven after Easter as an event or more than that. (It seems to me that if it is primarily about event you would be less than happy about the transference to a Sunday.)

THe last hymn was the same as last year and once again we sang it to Ode to Joy (another weak hymn tune?) for the same reasons.

One thing where I think we currently weak is how does this Sunday (and next etc.) stand out as a 'full solemnity'. To be worked upon I suspect.

6th Sunday of Easter

13 May 2012

Entrance	Love is his word
Penitential Rite	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Gloria	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 96	(mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Live on in my love (Collegeville Composers Group)
Final	God is love

I am not sure if it is because at this time of year it seems harder to sustain or as I have mentioned before that the Easter Season is more diffuse but even when more fully planned it seems less imaginative than Lent - that is the right word. We were unaccompanied today so that meant some of the planning had to be adjusted. Live on in my love I thinks sounds best a cappella.

It was a test of the Mass setting to see how it worked unaccompanied. It was the same last week and then you could hear the congregation joining. This week the disposition of voices was different so it was a question of was the harmony sustainable without accompaniment - it seemed to work.

5th Sunday of Easter

6 May 2012

Entrance	Christ is alive
Penitential Rite	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Gloria	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 21	I will praise your name (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Many are the lightbeams (Widestrand arr. Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	We have been told (David Haas)
Final	O praise ye the Lord

Today's Responsorial Psalm is a good example of the selectiveness of the Lectioney. It is from the same psalm that is used on Palm Sunday, probably the least hopeful response in the liturgical year, My God, why have you forsaken me? and here it is in the Easter Season - perhaps we are singing the words of Paul: You, Lord are my praise in the great assembly. I notice writing this that I changed the text of the response (probably 9 years ago) to I will praise your name, O Lord, in the assembly of the faithful.

The opening hymn tune Vulpius seems to have different underlay for the Alleluias at the end of each verse in different hymnbooks. I prefer the crotchets (as opposed to minim-crotchet) as it has more rhythmic drive. The division seems to be denominational and reminds me of being in Germany and discovering that for chorales such as Wie schön leuchtet die morgenstern Lutherans and Catholics sang different rhythms (the Lutheran was I think an attempt to restore the original rhythms - neither was that regular) and so were not able to sing together. One in Christ is the refrain of Many are the lightbeams which comes to us via Carthage in North Africa in the 3rd century, Lutheran Sweden, Lutheran US Midwest working in a Catholic context to an English hymnbook.

4th Sunday of Easter

29 April 2012

Entrance	All people that on earth
Penitential Rite	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Gloria	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 117	The stone which the builders rejected (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Eye has not seen (Marty Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Shepherd me, O God (Marty Haugen)
Final	Hail Redeemer

I was away this Sunday. The parish I went to had a good liturgy with music sung by all, quite large group of singers including many children. Though the primary accompaniment was piano at the front the organ at the back was used to sustain and enrich - it did give the feeling of being surround by the music and so the singing of the congregation was supported. All the music was well-chosen for the day and the season but none of it the same as the list above. One of the starting points for this blog was not this the right music to choose but see the richness and variety which is possible in the liturgy.

3rd Sunday of Easter

22 April 2012

Entrance	We walk by faith
Penitential Rite	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 4	Lift up the light (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	On the journey to Emmaus (Marty Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	I received the living God (Anonymous/Proulx)
Final	Thine be the glory ( )

 
I started writing this on a train for Leeds almost 2 weeks ago, not only did the wifi fail but the train never left the station.

I still find it hard to discern or understand the structure of the Easter Lectionary. Today's Gospel is a continuation of the previous passage in Luke (Emmaus) which we heard a year ago. How important is it to know that connection? Can music act as an aide-memoire. I don't think we had used the Haugen On the journey to Emmaus though we had used the arrangement of the melody. I am not sure whether I found it focussed or restricted in its emphasis on welcoming the stranger.

We have used I received the living God for a long time but I can see us using it again when we have John 6 in the summer.

2nd Sunday of Easter

15 April 2012

Entrance	O sons and daughters
Penitential Rite	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 117	Give thanks to the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Now we remain (David Haas)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Put your hand here, Thomas (Collegeville Composers Group)
Final	This joyful Eastertide

The plan is that the Mass of Wisdom will be our Mass setting for the Easter Season. We introduced it earlier this year so that people would begin to know, in particular when sung at the Easter Vigil. This is not instant music. I do think one of the gifts of the last 30-40 years was the idea that because the parts of the Mass should be sung by all we need music which could be sung by all - instantly. However the large danger is that it becomes the only model when actually those who come to Mass are pretty constant. I remember in another parish using a responsorial Mass for a time and realising that the congregation were bored of it, and perhaps they were even saying we are better than this. (Responsorial Masses have their place when the congregation has no common repertoire or when you are introducing singing at Mass). I am sure I have said before that one the things I like about the Mass of Wisdom is that it is written with an eye to how the congregation will pick it up - there is plenty of melodic repetition. In the Gloria the first and last section (as is often the case) use the same melodic material - the middle section is being sung by the choir alone - possibly next year everyone will sing everything. I am not sure though I am keen that the congregation should during the year sing the whole text of the Gloria, not just have only a series of refrains, but I also like the musical/ministerial contrast.

I wondered with *Put your hand here, Thomas* whether the world of medical soaps have transformed how we view this moment - from a discrete wound to real flesh.

Easter Sunday

8 April 2012

Entrance	Jesus Christ is risen today
Gloria	Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 117	This is the day (Marty Haugen)
Sequence	Praise to the Paschal Victim (mtgf)
Sprinkling	Acclamation (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	Christo resurgenti (Couperin)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Sicut cervus (Palestrina)
	I have seen the Lord (Bob Hurd)
Final	Thine be the glory

On Easter Sunday the chapel is always packed and today we had two infant baptisms which always added to the numbers. Because we only have one Mass on the Sunday day I read the numbers as a shift away from Good Friday (which was full but not this full) to Easter Sunday. I suspect the reasons of are sociological and even commercial rather than theological. How it does present a challenge to participation. I am aware that with the Mass setting we are in for the long haul - though I think it is accessible, singable and can be easily picked up - it is not instant. My concern is however with the ordinary regular parishioner. Though we used this setting from January to the beginning of Lent I suspect that though it is becoming familiar they may not yet sing it with confidence. One of my tenets is that it is primarily the role of the congregation to lead the singing of those parts which belong to them and so invite and engage the visitor.

One of the decisions we took when preparing the liturgies of the Triduum was not to include the 'new responses' in the booklet (we have one booklet for Thursday, Friday and Vigil). The Order of Mass card was available for those who wished. Our expectation, and experience seemed to bear this out, was that as we do not recite the Creed nor were we going to use the first form of Penitential Act on Thursday people would know by now the remainder of the responses, which are much shorter.

Christo resurgenti is a delightful two part piece by Couperin which is part of a longer motet for Easter day. WIth its inegales (dotted rhythms) and syncopations it suggests the joy of Easter. I was struck that the melodies of both opening and closing hymn were about the same date. it would not be difficult to transform Jesus Christ is risen today to similar piece of French gracieusement.

Easter Vigil

7 April 2011

Procession	The Lord is my light (Taizé)
Exsultet	Missal
Psalm 103	Send forth your spirit (mtgf)
Psalm 15	Preserve me, God (Christopher Walker)
Exodus 15	I will sing to the Lord (mtgf)
Psalm 29	I will praise you, Lord (Paul Inwood)
Psalm 41-42	As the deer longs (Palestrina/Bridge)
Gloria	Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Liturgy of the Baptism	Litany of the Saints (Missal)
	Acclamation after Blessing of Water (mtgf)
	Sprinkling: Amen, Amen (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	For peace (Antoine Oomen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Lamb of God	Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Communion	Sicut Cervus (Palestrina)
Final	Christ be our light (Bernadette Farrell)

When doing some sessions on the Triduum earlier this year I was interested that there was, it seemed, universal reaction of surprise to the rubric that the lights go on in the church before the Exsultet. A rubric which was unchanged since the previous edition. There was a general feeling that the Exsultet made best sense when the light of the Paschal Candle was seen to effective. Perhaps a gentler understanding of this rubric would be that the light increases (it doesn't say all the lights). I have much sympathy with this - that we may appreciate the light better if we stand back from our electrical ability to flood the place with light. The only disadvantage was that if you are singing the Exsultet and you manage to blow your own candle out and there is not enough ambient light to actually see the text. I was aware that the previous text was one which I had heard over the years before I sang it and so it had a familiarity which of course the new translation did not. On the whole I enjoyed the new translation, as a rule it sings better than it looks. I also enjoyed the workout of the Missal tone - I sang it to what my mind now is 'Glenstal style', that is a fair pace and seeing melismas more as decorations. I used the Easter Proclamation to proclaim from. As should be the case my views about the publication were influenced by using it in practice. First of all it is a beautiful ritual edition with sumptuous icons throughout. I think it be a great resource for mystagogy. Yes, there are a fair number of page turns but the majority of the chant being a few lines at the bottom of the page was less a problem than I thought as that is where it was easiest to read it. Indeed I would happily use it again which I did not expect to be the case. It uses ICEL's setting of the chant. I do wish that this was broken up into paragraphs with the text (i.e. a line break and shorter line before each new paragraph) it would make reading the text and therefore singing considerably easier. I can remember at one stage there was a proposal that the music should follow the sense lines of the text - for the setter a complicated task but I do wonder if it would help the singer or does the eye work differently when a text is read?

Many years ago I had a parish priest who said at the end of every Easter Vigil this will only really make sense when we have a baptism let us hope next year we will. This year we had an adult baptism at St Mary's and it was that difference between what you know and experiencing anew what you know. To give one example I was struck how the psalm responses can be seen as forming a dialogue between the Church and the Elect preparing for baptism.

For communio we sang Palestrina's Sicut Cervus I wonder how many of the congregation recognised the link with psalm response sung earlier.

Good Friday

6 April 2011

Psalm 31	Father, into your hands (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Adoration of the Cross	Invitation (A Gregory Murray)
	Vexilla Regis (Anton Bruckner)
	Reproaches (Peter Jones)
	O vos omnes (Victoria)
	Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
Communion	O Crux ave (Rihards Dubra)
	When I survey the wondrous cross

It was noticeable both this afternoon and the previous evening is that the congregation likes to have some something to get it vocal teeth into (if that isn't a mixed metaphor!). One of my concerns about current movements in liturgical music is that they seem to have a premise of "Catholics don't sing' so if we just give them some short phrases they might manage that. One of my basic premises is that people will sing melodies which express the words which make sense in the liturgical context.

Again not many changes this year (that will also be a factor in people singing - this is the piece we sing on Good Friday). A little more Bruckner. When doing some preparation work on the Triduum I was reminded that for Adoration of the Cross there is a balance between texts of praise and those of lament (actually the weight is towards praise). Our devotional instinct rather than our liturgical one - edges us towards lament, indeed the new rubric about the Stabat Mater being a custom in some places reinforces this. It seems to me it does need to be both and Bruckner setting was a way of redressing the balance.

Maundy Thursday

5 April 2012

Entrance	For God so loved the world (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria	Mass of Wisdom (Steven Janco)
Psalm 115	The blessing cup (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Washing of the Feet	Faith, hope and love (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Lamb of God	Remembrance (Marty Haugen)
Communion	Take and eat (Michael Joncas) Ave verum Corpus (Byrd)
Procession	Pange lingua (Ricky Manalo) Tantum ergo (chant)
Watching	Pange Lingua (Anton Bruckner) Jesus remember me (Taizé)

The main aim this was to change where needed for the new translation but otherwise keep most things the same. I had wondered about doing another Gloria. One of the main reasons for doing this would have been if more members of the music group were with us so that they might learn some new settings. However it made more sense, this year at least, to use the same setting as we will use at the Vigil. As a through setting it is not instant music but one of the reasons we introduced it in January was so that we could use it now.

Manalo's Pange lingua seems to have bedded down and once we got to the crypt was well sung. For singing the crypt is an awkward space - not that resonant and packed with people making it hard for the singers to find a palace where it is possible to make a cohort. (Note to self - try opposite piano by other door next year.) Looking at the wrong piece of paper meant that we ended with Jesus, remember me rather than the planned Stay with me — it did not not work.

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

1 April 2012

Entrance	Hosanna from Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Psalm 21	My God, my God (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	Christus factus est (Anerio)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Lamb of God	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion	Ours were the griefs (Stephen Dean)
Final	My song is love unknown

It is strange that after many years use the vestige of the Gathering Mass will be the entrance chant on Palm Sunday. Possibly in years to come a student will look at this at wonder at the time when this different translation was used - as I once did with for example Bevenot Masses of 1960s.

More than the liturgies of the Triduum today is a day of contrasts which is well expressed in My song is love unknown. It also found in the psalm in the contrast in the between the last verse and the rest. The text of the refrain is one of the most powerful in the liturgy (and when we sing unmediated the words of Christ) which is heard again in the Passion reading again. The Walker setting gives you a refrain to get space to express this. As it was being sung I reflected on the pros and cons of different types of settings. This which tries to express the word through melody, harmony and tessitura or perhaps a simple unaccompanied setting - which offers a starkness. The contrast between glory and sorrow, which will return on Good Friday, can also be found in the text common to both days - Philippians 2 - Anerio's seting with its quicker middle section - and raised above al.l

5th Sunday of Lent

25 March 2012

Entrance	For God so loved the world (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm 50	A pure heart (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	Unless a grain (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Lamb of God	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion	Ave verum Corpus (Byrd)
Final	Lift high the Cross

Lift high the Cross was new to us. I was surprised that none of the other musicians had come across — what sheltered lives they must have lived — it as a strong melody which is easily picked up. And the words were lifted from the Gospel and there was also a sense of moving forward to the end of Lent.

In my experiment with the revised Grail Psalter I gave up with Psalm 50. The setting is melodic but has a flexibility but it could not cope with 2 additional lines in most verses.

4th Sunday of Lent

18 March 2012

Entrance	For God so loved the world (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm 136	O let my tongue (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	God so loved the world (Stainer)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Lamb of God	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion	When I am lifted up (Bob Hurd)
Final	God is love, his the care

The history of salvation that some speak of being offered at the Easter Vigil is in someways more clearly offered in the first readings of Year B. This is the story of a relationship between God and his people in a covenant. One of the effects of this is that the dynamic of the Liturgy of the Word is more progressive than more usual circular motion. The Gospel is not another view of the first reading but a development or a response. So, finally we have got the point where 'God so loved the world'. I am not sure if it age but i recognise that once I thought of as Victorian sentiment is well-crafted writing. Perhaps today because we sang it one to a part and unaccompanied.

The Bob Hurd Communion song, which has been a series over the weeks, picked up the other strong image in the gospel of Christ being lifted up. The final hymn in addition to adding a note of rejoicing did draw together the history of salvation.

3rd Sunday of Lent

11 March 2012

Entrance	For God so loved the world (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm 18	You, Lord, have the message (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Lenten (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	Locus iste (Bruckner)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Lamb of God	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion	We proclaim Christ (Bob Hurd)
Final	Praise the Lord, ye heaven adore him

There are places where I find the revised Grail Psalter clunky or worse prosaic. I can see that it is, presumably, suggesting that the meaning of the original is different but 'quantities of gold' is a bit more of a mouthful than 'purest of gold' and the punctuation of 'they are, all of them, just' is quite hard to sing.
I was pleased with Locus iste as a motet for the dedication of a Church there is a danger that it is infrequently sung but linking 'this place' with the temple 'made by God' made sense to me at least. It is one of those pieces where he writes the acoustic into the music. The final hymn picked up the idea of the Law.
It was good to sing the Eucharistic Acclamations unaccompanied.