Saturday, January 19, 2013

Baptism of the Lord

13 January 2013

EntranceWe shall draw water (Paul Inwood)
Penitential RiteSt Gabriel (mtgf)
GloriaNewman (James MacMillan)
Psalm 103Bless the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel AcclamationSalisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of GiftsThere is one Lord (Owen Alstott)
Eucharistic AcclamationsSt Annes (James MacMillan)
Lamb of GodChristmas (Ebeling/mtgf)
Communion AntiphonBehold the one (mtgf)
CommunionSicut cervus (Palestrina)
FinalO praise ye the Lord

This morning we introduced what I am least at the moment expecting to be our last two new Mass settings for a while. We have used the St Anne's Mass before so I am hoping it has lodged somewhere in some the congregation's grey matter. I see both settings, and particularly the Gloria, as ones which need at least a 3-year commitment. The main reason we are using the St Anne's Mass is that it has been chosen as a diocesan setting - with the idea that it will be used at the Cathedral for diocesan occasions. This seems to me to be a 'good thing' which outweigh my reservations about the setting and whether it would be what I would choose as a diocesan setting (this does depend on your criteria). I do have reservations about how the new translation has been applied to the melody - but we shall see if the experience of using modifies my views.

Since hearing it at the time of the Papal Visit I have liked the Gloria from MacMillan's Blessed John Henry Newman Mass. At training events people have enjoyed it as a good sing. In introducing it I suggested to the congregation that they may wish to listen for the next couple of weeks and, though I think it will take a while for them to get familiar, and even a couple of years before they enjoy it as a good sing, it is well constructed from just a couple of motifs which will make learning easier.

What I suspect will be a recurrent theme over the next few weeks is the lack of good hymns (and other pieces) on key gospel narratives. What I wanted here was a good final hymn that picked Jesus' baptism, the beginning of his public ministry and our baptismal calling. I would note that some of the obvious 'Baptism' hymns seem to just to deal with the first and use tunes (metres) which I suspect would be unfamiliar to many. I could have used 'Forth in the peace of Christ' but I am not sure people would have got the baptismal imagery...

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