Epiphany of the Lord

6 January 2019

Entrance	Bethlehem of noblest cities
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 71/td>	All nations shall fall (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	This is the day (Fernand de la Tombelle)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Comfort & Joy (mtgf)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	We have seen his star (mtgf)
Communion	He became poor (John Bell)
Final	We three kings

A repeat of the Tombelle piece and a chance to review the text. Though I don't think we have done it before on the Epiphany I thought He became poor with verses from Philippians 2 worked well today.

Epiphany of the Lord

7 January 2018

Entrance	Bethlehem! of noblest cities
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 71	O Lord, all the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	The three kings (Cornelius)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Comfort & Joy (mtgf)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	We saw his star (mtgf)
Communion	Jesus the Word has lived among us (French)
Final	We three kings

Further reflection suggests that my 'ideal' celebration may be related to resources available. As a rule for Christmas and the Triduum there is a full range of voices available, whereas for the Epiphany while holidays and visits are still occurring it is less certain. So today we were just cantor and piano. I think there is also the feeling at Christmas that there is time to do all the carols and other music we hope t, whereas the Epiphany has one 'shot'.

Today we had the phenomenon, which have suspected for a number of weeks that our microphones are turned up quite high, this with the addition of a visiting priest who projected as though they were not there affected the delicate alchemy of congregational singing.

Nativity of the Lord - Mass during the Day

25 December 2016

Entrance	Once in royal David's city
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 97	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Sing we the virgin Mary (arr. mtgf)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (Ebeling arr.mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	All the ends (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 2016

Choir	Hodie Christus natus est I (Rihards Dubra)
Carol	Once in royal David's city
Choir	Angelus ad virginem (arr. mtgf)
Carol	While shepherds watched
Choir	O holy night (Adaml)
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem
Choir	Peace Child (Bernadette Farrell)
Entrance	O come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour has been born (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Profession of Faith	Credo III - Et incarnatus (Josquin)
Preparation of Gifts	What shall we give (Catalan arr. Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The Word became flesh (mtgf)
Communion	Night of Silence/ Silent Night (Daniel Kantor)
Final	Hark the herald angels

Not a time for innovation (ironic given the nature of the feast) the significant departure was at the beginning with a short choral acclamation by Dubra.

The Body and Blood of the Lord

29 May 2016

Entrance	Of the glorious body telling
Penitential Rite	At the table of the Lord (Collegeville)
Gloria	At the table of the Lord (Collegeville)
Psalm 109	You are a priest for ever (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Profession of Faith	Credo III
Preparation of Gifts	Ave verum (Byrd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal
Lamb of God	Nores (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	Whoever eats my flesh (mtgf)
Communion	Take and eat (Michael Joncas)
Final	O thou, who at thy Eucharist did pray

One of the possible purposes of this blog is to record what we do so that I know what we have done before. In fact, I generally remember whether we have done it before just not necessarily when. And if you have not done it before well when is never. So I was aware that we had not sung the final hymn before - and I was surprised that the rest of the choir did not know it. Whether it is still the case it seemed to be one of few hymns that got sung at Cathedral (large-scale) liturgies. The list includes Praise to the holiest, Soul of my Saviour — it doesn't speak well for a common repertoire.

Nativity of the Lord - Day Mass

25 December 2015

Entrance	Once in royal David's city
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 97	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Sing we the virgin Mary (arr. mtgf)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (Ebeling arr.mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	All the ends (mtgf)
Communion	Away in a manger
Final	O little town of Bethlehem

Again the chapel was full and people sang well. As all the musicians had also been at Mass at midnight it is important to recognise that for the majority of the congregation this is their first Mass of Christmas and keep the energy levels up.

Nativity of the Lord - Mass during the Night

25 December 2015

Carol	Once in royal David's city
Choir	On Jordan's bank (Monteverdi)
Carol	While shepherds watched
Choir	Peace Child (Bernadette Farrell)
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem
Choir	In the bleak midwinter (Holst)
Entrance	O come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour has been born (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Profession of Faith	Credo III - Et incarnatus (Josquin)
Preparation of Gifts	What shall we give (Catalan arr. Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The Word became flesh (mtgf)
Communion	Night of Silence/ Silent Night (Daniel Kantor)
Final	Hark the herald angels

We learnt the lessons of last year and restored the readings and ended with a 'choir carol'. Both things are practical and about stamina. Continuous music beforehand, even with variety, is a little exhausting - so the readings provide a break (and, of course, have a value in themselves!). Finishing with an unaccompanied carol before the beginning of Mass allows for our organist to get to the organ. It was good to repeat Peace child from the carol service, The Monteverdi was i part suggested by our violinist being there. It is an adaptation of one his hymn settings from Selva morale e spirituale. To be honest the English text does not fit well - the mis accents are not interesting verbal syncopations.

We again repeated Credo III with the inserted Josquin. After a moment's hesitation the genuflection worked and though people were singing it is hard to gauge how well it is known to what is a 40%, I would guess, unfamiliar or annual congregation. I do need to make a note to include the responses as they were definitely uncertain.

All Saints

1 November 2015

Entrance	For all the Saints
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 23	Blessed are they (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Gaudent in caelis (Dering)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	Blessed are the clean (mtgf)
Communion	What does the Lord require (mtgf)
Final	Holy God, we praise thy name

I had hoped to use Peter Jones' We praise you, O God at the end of Mass but with a number of possible visitors I had second thoughts. This was the annual Mass for deceased Simmarians. It is only in the last couple of years that we have separated this from Remembrance Sunday. I can see the pros and cons both ways - what make it challenge is that last year we had it on Christ the King, and this year All Saints, While I would be the first to argue that through the Paschal Mystery it is possible to proclaim Resurrection and consolation within in any Sunday liturgy - it does feel that there is a tug in a number in two directions. Also if you wish to encourage students who may not come to Mass every week to come and pay tribute to their predecessors there seem to me advantages of their meeting their living predecessors.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

16 August 2015

Entrance	Hail Queen of heaven
Penitential Rite	At the table of the Lord (Collegeville)
Gloria	At the table of the Lord (Collegeville)
Psalm 44	At your right stands the Queen (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	O holy Mary (Alstott)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal
Lamb of God	Nores (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	All generations shall call me blessed (mtgf)
Communion	I sing a maid (Michael Joncas)
Final	Tell out my soul

Christmas - Day Mass

25 December 2014

Entrance	Once in royal David's city
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 97	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Sing we the Virgin Mary (Niles)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Communion	Child of my heart (Scottish arr. Hagen)
	Away in a manger
Final	O little town of Bethlehem

Both Mass during the night and at 11am were full - I would suggest more than our usual congregation.This will partly because outside term time we gain those who may usually go to the evening Mass but as well as regulars having families staying we also a fair number of the less frequent locals and former students.

I realised that I need to make a list of our Christmas repertoire as we fall on various pieces each year with different choir members having their favourites. And each we add a couple of new pieces or perhaps resurrect. Child of my heart is a Marty Haugen arrangement of a Scottish tune which also used by the Iona Community. Where the Iona version (Cloth for the cradle) is lively; this is a gentle lullaby. It is probably 20 years since I last used it but it is a lovely melody. On re-looking I find I want to tweak the words for either sentimentality or what is possibly dated cliché — but a lot of Christmas music would be at risk in the light of those comments.

All Saints

2 November 2014

Entrance	For all the Saints
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Psalm 23	Blessed are they (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Gaudent in caelis (Richard Dering)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Angels and Saints (Steven Janco)
Communion Antiphon	Blessed are the clean of heart (mtgf)
Communion	What does the Lord ask (mtgf)
Final	We praise you, O God (Peter Jones )

Christmas - Day

25 December 2013

Entrance	Once in royal David's city
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 97	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	()
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Communion	Away in a manger ()
Final	O little town

The lack of comment for some of the last Masses is because I have been away with friends in SE Asia. This was planned over a year ago - it is good to be in a position where you can leave the music in the hands of sensible and competent musicians. So the list represents what was planned but may not been what has been delivered.

The English Mass in the Cathedral this morning was full. Midnight Mass was in Thai with an English language booklet (and the opening hymn was 'O holy night' - perhaps the remains of the French influence). There was a choir, psalmist and keyboard who all did a good job. There was a commentator to tell us where to stand and sit (I quite like standing for the processions of gifts, including candles and flowers, it made a connection between the gifts and ourselves. I was less sure about standing for the Doxology.) The hymn book was Gather Combined 2004 together with a booklet. You can set aside Credo III and Pater Noster in the English-speaking world and replace them with Haugen and Schutte. Some of the compositions were no doubt home grown: the Lord's Prayer - I was reminded about the old argument of not singing the Lord's Prayer where it may exclude rather than include. On the whole I was struck by how well they catered for what must a sizeably different polyglot congregation week-in, week-out.

Christmas - Mass during the Night

25 December 2013

Carol	Once in royal David's city
Carol	O child of promise
Carol	While shepherds watched
Carol	No wind at the window
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem
—	—
Entrance	O Come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour has been born (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	What shall we give (arr. Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (mtgf)
Communion Antiphon	The word became flesh (mtgf)
Communion	Night of Silence/ Silent Night (Damile Kantor)
Final	Hark the herald angels sing

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.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

14 August 2011

Entrance	Hail Queen of heaven
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group)
Psalm 44	On your right stands the Queen (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(A G Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Magnificat (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Missal (ICEL)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	O holy Mary (Owen Alstott)
Final	Tell out my soul

This week we down in numbers as both I and our accompanist were away. There was a pre-Olympic Cycle race which closed local streets. So a choir member reports:

Congregation were a little tentative at first but were clearly singing the Gloria and the Acclamations. We used two versions of the Magnificat (Farrell and Tell out my soul), but this seemed to be an appropriate response to the Gospel. It was something we knew and could sing unaccompanied, and somehow, 'Tell out my Soul' never quite feels like a Magnificat to me...

Meanwhile I was at the parish of Saint Jacques in Reims where Sunday Mass was for 20th Sunday. (Today, Monday, was the Assumption and a bank Holiday with large Mass in the Cathedral.) We had a cantor and an organist as well as congregation and priest who sang. Leaving aside a version of 'Make me a channel of your peace' with 'A new commandment' words. The two main things to note were a brief organ interlude after the Homily, which was effective (and also done at the Cathedral today) and there were baptisms after Mass and the infants with parents and god parents were brought to the Sanctuary after Communion and welcomed and the infants signed with the Cross. We then sang once through the Taizé Magnificat as both an acclamation and preparation for tomorrow. Otherwise it was done simply and well, in particular the disposition of ministers.

Christmas: Mass during the Day

25 December 2010

Entrance	Once in royal David's city
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 97	All the ends of the earth (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Carol at the Bethlehem Cave (Spanish, arr. Walker)
Eucharistic Prayer	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (Ebeling arr. mtgf)
Communion	Peace Child (Bernadette Farrell)
	Away in manger
	Night of Silence (Daniel Kantor)
Final	O little town of Bethlehem

Though it was still cold the weather was not adverse. Numbers on Christmas morning which seem to vary from year to year were high, it had been full at midnight as well. The numbers meant there was a scramble for a third piece at communion as people were still processing — and Night of Silence was on the top of the pile. Though I rarely comment on the logistics of our liturgy the simple rule of 2 chalices to 1 ciborium is a good starting point: 4 to 1 much less so, hence the length of the procession. I am not necessarily say that a lengthy procession is a problem just that it can have consequences.

Peace Child by Bernadette Farrell is a lovely gentle carol. The gentleness however doew not temper the strength of the text by Shirley Erena Murray.

Christmas: Mass during the Night

24/25 December 2010

Carols & Readings
	Once in royal David's city
	A boy was born (Gesius/JS Bach)
	While shepherds watched
	There is no rose (Medieval)
	O little town of Bethlehem
	On the lips of an angel (Bach/Gounod/Scott Soper
Entrance	O come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour has been born (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	What can we give (Catalan, arr. Dean)
Eucharistic Prayer	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Christmas (Ebeling arr. mtgf)
Communion	Night of Silence (Daniel Kantor)
	Silent Night
Final	Hark the herald angels

For the carols before midnight the slashes mean different things. A boy was born 4 verses were sung to the spirited harmonisation of Bartolomaus Gesius and the last verse, more steadily, to a more chromatic harmonisation of Bach's. On the lip of an angel always reminds of a recipe by Sophie Grigson fro a triple cream vanilla mousse written for the weekend before Ash Wednesday. She argued that if that you clearing the larder of foodstuffs before Lent and could only manage pancakes it was a sorry larder. The mousse piled excess on excess and so to Gounod's confection of Bach Scott Soper adds another layer. I m not sure it is necessarily more cream rather an additional ingredient that adds flavour and meaning. To some Gounod is already an iconoclast let us just say that Soper is as successful as Gounod.

The choir carols before Mass were the changes this year the rest, as usually the case with solemn occasions, was unchanged or at least changes slowly. But I was aware that this time next year we were likely to using the new translation. Some settings you hope the composer will revise. I have a fondness for Paul Gibson's Christmas Gloria. It might be thought slightly naff, with the Gloria in excelsis refrain but it's effective naff. The greater loss maybe having a sung Eucharistic Prayer or at least a change that would require careful preparation. It is obvious that people are especially attentive when the prayer is sung and singing it at Christmas heightens the solemnity. We shall see how we manage next year. My suspicion is that Missal tones are not an adequate replacement. My experience is that 2-3 notes of the chant do not have enough character to engage a celebrant who sings well but does not read well.

One other change has already been made and has so far gone by without remark. In previous years we have always sung John Bell's Behold the Lamb of God as a Lamb of God from the end of November until first couple of weeks of Ordinary Time. It did bind together the season from the Lamb on the throne to the Lamb so long expected through to the acclamation of John the Baptist. However its seems to me that the forthcoming translation is an opportunity to reflect on our practice and it ain't a Lamb of God, arguably an acclamation rather than an invocation, a text addressed to one another rather than to the Lamb. Hence an Advent Lamb of God referring to Rorate Caeli and Veni Emmanuel and a Christmas Lamb of God adapted from a hymn tune from Ebeling (cf. Carols for Choirs 2). The leaflets were printed before the Christmas was adapted and so a broad rubric of repeat have mercy on us etc. was included. We will use it for the coming two Sundays and maybe try a combination English and Latin response. I am thinking next year that the congregation might be invited to sing the whole thing through. Though it is not that long it is still longer than the Breaking of Bread - an action which contrary to some is rarely over emphasised.

There seems a certain expectation of O coime all ye faithful and Hark the herald angels at beginning and end. O come all ye faithful works well with a pause before the last verse as the crib blessed and baby placed in the manger. Over the years we have tried alternatives for the final hymn but Mendelssohn has returned. What I find interesting is the popularity of texts which speak in the language of late 18th/early 19th century piety/theology.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

15 August 2010

Entrance	Sing we of the blessed Mother
Penitential Rite	Mass for 3 voices (Byrd)
Gloria	Jeanne Jugan Gloria (Christopher Walker)
Psalm 44	On your right stands the Queen (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia (Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Ave Maris Stella (Monteverdi)
Eucharistic Acclamations	No Greater Love (Michael Joncas)
Lamb of God	St Gabriel (mtgf)
Communion	O holy Mary (Owen Alstott)
Final	Hail Queen of heaven

I continue to be surprised by what hymn tunes our congregation knows or doesn't as the case may be. We sang the opening hymn to Abbot's Leigh (very pedantic footnote: the hymn tune has an apostrophe, the village doesn't), which I am sure we did not use last year and when we have used for other texts I am sure the response has been lukewarm. So we took a risk singing it unaccompanied but being unaccompanied we could hear people singing it. If there was any factor that might have changed the congregation's knowledge it may have been that the presider could be heard singing it. And it is a good tune. The text which in some ways is based on the mysteries of the rosary gives a good context to the feast and suits our building with its windows based on the rosary.
The arrangement of the Monteverdi Ave Maris Stella begins and ends with the chant melody on which it is based and so you can hear the skill with which Monteverdi transform this melody into one of rhythmic vitality. The psalm response and verse are also based on the same chant. Ave Maris Stella is the college hymn from which the motto is drawn: Monstra t'esse matrem. The chant is a much more interesting melody than the usual hymn tune.
Today is this blog's first anniversary. For those who wish to wind back the clock you will see there is a great deal of consistency between last year's celebration and this. I hope this is consistency rather than lack of imagination! Though I think that music for the liturgy works well when there is stability — so don't expect many changes this time next year!

Christmas: Mass during the Day

25 December 2009

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 Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Carol at Bethlehem Cave (Spanish arr. Christopher Walker)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Sing we the Virgin Mary (Niles arr. mtgf)
	Away in a manger
Final	O little town of Bethlehem

The core singers and organists return to sing on Christmas Morning — it usually seems as though we have hardly left the chapel but it is good to provide a 'full set' of music for those who come in the morning.

Christopher Walker's Carol at Bethlehem Cave is based on a Spanish Villancico and is delightful. Sing we the Virgin Mary shares similar origins to I wonder as I wander. First published as an anonymous Applachian folk carol which scholars thought to be survivors of medieval texts they are now considered to be the work of John Jacob Niles. The question of authenticity is not a bar to the charm of the piece. The arrangement is simple - the accompaniment has what I think of as a 'Biedermeier' quality and the four parts are built up one by one: S, SA, SAT, SATB over the four verses.