Thursday, December 27, 2012

Nativity of the Lord - Mass during the Night

25 December 2012

CarolOnce in royal David's city
ChoirO radiant dawn (James MacMillan)
CarolWhile Shepherds watched
ChoirSing we the Virgin Mary (Appalachian)
CarolO little town of Bethlehem
ChoirAlma redemptoris mater (Palestrina)

EntranceO come all ye faithful
Penitential RiteSt Gabriels (mtgf)
GloriaChristmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95Today a Saviour (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel AcclamationSalisbury (Christopher Walker)
Profession of FaithCredo III (with Et incarnatus est by Josquin)
Preparation of GiftsShepherd's Cradle Hymn (Bavarian arr. MacPherson)
Eucharistic AcclamationsCreation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of GodChristmas (Ebeling arr. mtgf)
Communion AntiphonThe Word became flesh (mtgf)
CommunionNight of Silence (Daniel Kantor)
Silent Night
FinalHark the herald angels
VoluntaryDieu 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.

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