Holy Family

27 December 2009

Entrance	Gaudete
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 83	They are happy (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Coventry Carol ()
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Peace Child (Bernadette Farrell)
Final	Unto us is born a Son ( )

The 2nd edition of the Lectionary - which we have had in UK since early 80's - added for a number of feasts readings for 3 year cycle. Holy Family is one example, Baptism of the Lord another. Due to lack of communication I had prepared to use the year C readings, prepared the Mass leaflet, and even made sure Lectionary was on right page. But the reader began with Ecclesiasticus The Lord honours the father…. The Gospel for year C is not optional - so the psalm fitted with that at least. We also had a whimsical, for want of a better word, Pastoral Letter - which apart from a broad swipe at the 'readings' which could have been any year and a particular reference to Colossians. Better improve methods of communication before the Baptism of the Lord.

This morning we were unaccompanied but everything worked well without accompaniment. In general I find this a Sunday where the season Christmas has greater prominence than the texts of the day in choosing music. I would rather sing Christmas repertoire in its proper season - to me well chosen texts about the finding in the temple would dampen the occasion. Gaudete was a recent addition to the schedule. It was partly there because I had suggested for a liturgy elsewhere and it was suggested that people would not know it. Well they know it in Strawberry Hill and it suited being sung unaccompanied in 3 part refrain and unison verses. In a similar way the Coventry Carol sounded well in the acoustic.

Peace Child is a carol by Bernadette Farrell and text by Shirley Erena Murray. If we had had accompaniment we might have used the arrangement in Go Before Us but instead used the simpler 4 part arrangement in Sounding Glory. This is a useful resource which gathers new hymn texts and settings from OCP's recent publications. Actually seeing Peace Child in the simpler arrangement made we aware of the beauty of the melody - something which I had missed before.

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.

Christmas: Mass during the Night

24–25 December 2009

Preparation
Carol	Once in Royal David's City
Reading
Choir	No wind at the window (Irish Traditional arr. Bell)
Carol	While shepherds watched
Reading
Choir	Cantique de Jean Racine (Fauré)
Carol	O little town of Bethlehem
Choir	In splendoribus sanctorum (James MacMillan)
Mass
Entrance	O come all ye faithful
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Christmas Gloria (Paul Gibson)
Psalm 95	Today a Saviour has been born (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	What shall we give (Catalan arr. Stephen Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Night of Silence (Daniel Kantor) Silent Night
Final	Hark the Herald Angels sing ( )

We celebrate at Midnight - with carols before at 11.30pm. I think we are in the minority celebrating at this time in the local area and this is one is one reason why we are always full. Often of people who are not recognisable regular Sunday attenders. Another factor is that the chapel looks fine with candle flickering along the galleries and on the sanctuary.

We had a good small group of singers this year and a couple of violins. In years past I have done Midnight Mass as just cantor and organ - that is quite tiring.

The carols beforehand is intended as a particularly structured service - just a sequence of carols with a couple of pieces for choir and readings. The observant will see that 2 of the pieces had already been sung at the Advent Carol Service. It is the second year that we have sung James MacMillan's In splendoribus Sanctorum. It is one of his Strathclyde Motets. The rest of the series is written for Strathclyde University Chamber Choir and are for an 8 part choir. This one is for his parish choir and is 2-3 parts with the basses straying rarely from a pedal F. It is a setting of the Communion chant for the Mass - with chant melody sung, for most of the piece, in organum (parallel 5ths) by women and tenors. Each phrase is interrupted by a trumpet (or organ) fanfare which overlaps with the singers. I am still unsure about the piece. It's simplicity of construction maybe 'Brittenish' genius. One thing is certain is that we sang it better last year. This was, I think, mostly a question of logistics. Last year we sang from the gallery with the organ fanfaring; this year from the front with the piano. Part of my uncertainty is logistical. For the piece to work I think the voices need to be disembodied - not seen - and also, the fanfares I think need to come from a different part of the space so that the acoustic (and the congregation) blend the piece together. I also wonder how the piece works at its intended point - accompanying Communion within Midnight Mass - that I can't imagine. The idea of singers being disembodied voices has also been a cause of reflection. I am uncomfortable with the idea — though I can imagine its appeal to some. It is the opposite extreme to the over personalised liturgical minister and I think as misguided.

The choice of music for the Mass seems to be settling into tradition with changes seeming to be made every few years. For those unfamiliar the Paul Gibson Christmas Gloria is ine of the more successful attempts to marry the Gloria in Excelsis refrain of 'Angels we have heard' with the Gloria text. It success, to me, is that it uses the proper text of the Gloria adapting the music accordingly and that the appearance of the first refrain after the cantor sings the first verse of text seems surprise and delight the congregation.

At this Mass and the following morning the Eucharistic Prayer is sung using Marty Haugen's Mass of Creation setting - adapting the Preface tone to one of the Christmas prefaces. Singing the prayer adds to the solemnity of the occasion — it allows the Eucharistic Prayer to takes its places as the centre and summit amid all the carols etc.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

20 December 2009

Entrance	Longing, Trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie Orbis Factor
Psalm 79	God of Hosts (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Ave Maris Stella (Monteverdi arr. Washington)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	No wind at the window (John Bell)
Final	O come, O come Emmanuel

Psalm 79 mirrors the first reading and both are fulfilled in the Gospel. We are all called to believe that God's promises will be fulfilled, for Mary that promise is fulfilled through her response to God. I am often struck how different composers respond to and express the psalm text in a variety of ways. There are settings which are more gentle and pleading. This setting, which is a kind of chaconne with a walking bass, is more urgent and demanding.

As previously suggested we sang a version of Henry Washington's arrangement of the Monteverdi's Ave Maris Stella today. Washington's arrangement alternates the plainsong with a 4 part reduction of Monteverdi's settings. Our version uses the chant for first and last verse and alternates Monteverdi's choral setting with 2 solo verses.

A quick calculation was necessary to make sure that we at least sang the correct O Antiphon for 20 December — O clavis, O Key of David. I think there can be a tension between the Sunday and Weekday liturgy or more precisely between those for whom the primary continuity is to week to week rather day to day. This, I think, can be seen in Advent and Christmas period. The O antiphons are not found in the Sunday Lectionary, and they are recent additions to the Weekday Lectionary; their proper home is in the Office, the celebration of Evening Prayer. They would seem to make best sense where they are prayed daily and cumulatively. Within a Sunday context it would seem to make as much sense to say that they should not be sung at Sunday Mass as it does to say they should not be sung on a Sunday before 17 December. However one can be too much of a purist or a rigorist. I think one needs to separate the hymn from the liturgical antiphons and recognise that the hymn has a value, even a symbolic value, in its own right. It is for many, I guess, the primary Advent hymn - it would be strange not to have sung it. One possible sign that the hymn is a different text to the antiphons seems to me implicit in that the first of hymn seems always to have been Emmanuel i.e. the last antiphon.

Third Sunday of Advent

13 December 2009

Entrance	Longing, Trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie Orbis Factor
Isaiah 12	Sing and shout for joy (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	O Come Divine Messiah (French 17th C.)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Song of God among us (Huijbers)
Final	The Voice of God

Gaudete Sunday. I am never sure about these mid-season 'reprieves'. It does not seem to sit well with a renewed understanding of Sunday as Dies Domine— the day of the Lord and that Advent is not primarily a penitential season. I would prefer to see the Sunday in the context of the other Sundays rather than as a 'week off''. Yes, the first and second readings together with the canticle are about joy and happiness but one does not want to presage the joy of Christmas.
Joy and happiness did appear in the setting of the canticle which mixed 7/8 and 4/4 bars, in O Come, divine Messiah one of the jauntiest of Advent hymns and in the Song of God among us — 'now be carefree, full of joy'. The Huijbers is a piece I find immensely satisfying; the conjunction of simple melody in quavers against the three other voices moving in crotchets carries the piece forward.

Advent Carol Service

10 December 2009

Opening	Come, O God, of all the earth (Marty Haugen)
Reading	1 Cor 13:4–x, y–13
Responding in Faith
Song	No wind at the window (John Bell)
Reflection
Response	Gift of God (Marty Haugen)
Living in Hope
Reading	Philippians 1:3-6. 8-11
Psalm 24	To you, O Lord (Marty Haugen)
Reflection
Choir	Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré)
Acting in Love
Reading	1 John 4:7-10
Song	Love one another (mtgf)
Gospel	Luke 1:39-44
Song	I say 'yes', my Lord (Donna Pena)
Intercessions	Response: Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Presentation of Carol Singing Cheques
Concluding Prayer
Final Song	Joy to the world

Our Carol Service is an Advent Carol Service though I do have some sympathy with idea that this might be the only proclamation of Christmas that some people might hear. In practical terms this is about as late we hold it as the students will soon have disappeared and I have always wondered about the time given to practising a Christmas repertoire which we would not use.

For the last few years we have included the presentation of the cheques to local charities with monies raised by the student's carol singing. This becomes a factor in the planning. Preparing this year's service the conversation started from what we say yes to - what we are positive about - to the idea of faith, hope and love. This gave the service a structure though I am not sure the idea is pursued forensically.

One intended characteristic of this year's service which I think came over is that it was meant to be a joyful celebration. This is in contrast to other years which have been more reflective

A textual note for those interested. Love one another which I wrote for the 150th anniversary of College uses verse from John's Gospel for the verses and was first used in the Easter season. For this celebration I adapted some texts from the first letter of St John.

Immaculate Conception

8 December 2009

Entrance	The Angel Gabriel
Penitential Rite
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 97	Sing to the Lord a new song (Haas/Haugen)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Bernadette Farrell)
Preparation of Gifts	No wind at the window (Bell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
	Ave Maris Stella
Final	I say 'yes', my Lord (Donna Pena)

The College is dedicated to St Mary and the Immaculate Conception is the College Feast Day with a Mass followed by a meal. This year the celebration was in the evening for the first time, after the end of lectures. The chapel, however, was still full. The Mass is an occasion when the Choir and the Music Group join together. Though the choice of music usually leans towards the repertoire of the music group those who are familiar with these pages will recognise that there is also a shared repertoire.

A challenge of the Immaculate Conception which I am not sure that we have ever successfully responded to is the feast itself. The Annunciation Gospel steers one towards that as an image and hence the choice of opening hymn and No wind at the window. It also influenced the final hymn which took the image of Mary's fiat — let it be done or I say 'yes'. We adapted the words, which I have always presumed work better (mean something) in Spanish so that they had an Advent flavour.

Ave Maris Stella is the College hymn. Sung in Latin to the uninspiring 19th century tune it always feels imposed rather than integral. I sure it was sung lustily by the student teachers of the 1950s but give me chant or Monteverdi any day! (and watch this space)

Second Sunday of Advent

6 December 2009

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie Orbis Factor
Psalm 125	What marvels the Lord worked for us (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Winding Ways (Bill Tamblyn)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Rorate Caeli (chant)
Final	Blest be the Lord (Benedictus) (Alstott/Farrell )

Longing, trusting serves as an Entrance Song over the four weeks of Advent. The refrain or antiphon remains constant and the text of the verse changes to reflect the themes of the Liturgy of the Word. As the themes of the Sundays of Advent are consistent over the three years of Lectionary Cycle there are only 4 sets of verses rather than 12 (though there are also a set of verses drawn from Psalm 24). Apart from providing a unifying element to the season it does also make the business of choosing easier!

We sang Rorate Caeli with a Latin refrain and the verses in English. Luke Connaughton's translation shows that if you want to retain the shape of the Latin melodies the translation cannot be too exact. For example, the opening words of the English refrain Come, Saviour, come have no equivalent in the Latin.

The Benedictus is surprisingly absent from the Sunday Lectionary. It is a powerful Advent text and, I think, should be on people's lips and so we ended with Owen Alstott's versification of the text 'to guide our feet into the path of peace'.

First Sunday of Advent

29 November 2009

Entrance	Longing, trusting (mtgf)
Penitential Rite	Kyrie Orbis Factor
Psalm 24	To you, O Lord (Marty Haugen)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	There is a longing (Anne Quigley)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Final	Hark a herald voice

Christ the KIng

22 November 2009

Entrance	At the name of Jesus
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 92	Lord, you are king (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Dulcis Christe (Grancini)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Ave Verum (Edward Elgar)
Final	Hail Redeemer ( )

Whereas on ordinary Sundays the readings and other texts are the main source for choosing music with Solemnities and liturgical seasons an extra layer is added — our image/understanding of the celebration. There is danger that layer can obscure what is actually being celebrated. For example, a devotional understanding of Lent can contradict the content of the Lenten Lectionary. On this Sunday the juxtaposition may not be that great but Year B offers a different perspective to the other two years. Christ is king through his death and resurrection, one who is a witness to the truth.

The original choice for first hymn was "Rejoice, the Lord is king' (to Gopsal) but it seemed that only I knew it. You can always be surprised by what people do not now (myself included!). So it was changed to 'At the name of Jesus' which as a paraphrase of the Philippians canticle is a song about Christ triumphant through death.

Ave Verum was a response to the end of the gospel and the following line: 'What is truth?' and this is what is true - the body of the Lord. Elgar's version has a regal feel particularly the second section, cujus latus with its steady tread and, potentially, vulgar crescendo.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

15 November 2009

Entrance	Let all mortal flesh
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 15	Preserve me, God (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	How far is the night (Huijbers)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Centre of my life (Paul Inwood)
Final	Love divine, all loves excelling ( )

When planning music for November it seemed to easy to miss this Sunday - coming in between celebrations of All Saints, Remembrance, Christ the King and then Advent. However the 'Adventness' of this Sunday was hard to ignore. This wa most brought out in Huijber's lovely 'How far is the night?' The lack of conclusion in the text means it fitted this Sunday. Musically, I think it is a good example of Huijber's skills as a composer. Yes, it is simple idea — 4 chords in descending sequence with the 3 parts echoing from voice to voice. It is simple but you still have to have the imagination in the first place. It was good to be able to do sections in 3-equal parts.

The text of Psalm 15 (16) occurred twice in this Mass: the responsorial psalm and at Communion. I am interested in how the meaning of a psalm changes whenit is repeated on different Sundays. Today's psalm with the same response is also heard after the second reading at the Easter Vigil when it might be seen as the articulating the voice of Isaac grabbed for sacrifice by Abraham. Today the response is corporate rather than individual.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Remembrance

8 November 2009

Entrance	Eternal rest (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 145	My soul give praise (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Thou knowest, Lord (Henry Purcell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Behold the Lamb (Iona)
Communion	Christ our peace (Marty Haugen)
Final	All my hope on God is founded ( )

Remembrance Sunday is the day of special prayer which is most marked in our liturgical celebration; Education Sunday, in comparison, does not get a look in. Though I have mused at other times that Remembrance Sunday is replacing All Souls as the key focus for praying the departed - in part because it is on a Sunday - our celebration remembers those students who died in WW1 and WW2 as well as those who have died in the last year. This year we recalled the 75 who lost their lives in WW2. It is one of the few things that we do that explicitly connects us with the past.

Many years there is the question as to whether we should use the Lectionary readings or there is one Mass permitted for the Dead. Apart from the higher value it seems to me placed on using the Sunday readings and continuity from week to week, it also seems to me that as the guiding theme of the Lectionary is the Paschal Mystery it is likely that the readings can be understood as about death and resurrection. This seems particularly true in the final Sundays of the year. So we used the Lectionary. I was struck that widows implies dead husbands and widows are 'by-product' of wars. I guess, though, that the students we remember were mostly single and mourned by families rather than wives.

The theme of remembrance was the key to most of the choices. Only 'All my hope' tried to draw in the scriptures as well.

My setting of 'Eternal Rest' was written for use on this Sunday. The antiphon text is the familiar one and there are choir verses from psalm 64 as is traditional. Part of the desire was to set a text where people did not need to learn new words. This morning (I note this partly so we might remember next year!) the procession was accompanied by antiphon-verse-antiphon, then there was silence, and then the names of those students who died in WW2 were read out. After each 12 names the second half of the refrain was sung, May they rest in peace… and then the full refrain after the last name. It seems to work. It also seems to be an example of an assembly's long-term memory where they remember a setting they only sing once a year. This is particularly true in the Triduum, I think. Though there may be something effective about the music my guess is that it is the connection between music and liturgical action and the rightness of the connection.

All Saints

1 November 2009

Entrance	For all the Saints (Walsham How)
Penitential Rite	Mass for 3 voices (William Byrd)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 23	Blessed are they (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Good and Faithful servant (Andrew Everson)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 6 (mtgf)
Communion	Happy are those — Beatitudes (Russian Chant)
Final	Holy God we praise thy name

Choosing which verses of a long hymn to sing is a delicate task. As our Entrance procession usually only consists of 1 person, the priest, not much music is needed. This week he was at the sanctuary by the end of the first verse. Now I guess that it is one of those liturgical-musical dichotomies whether you place greater weight on the liturgical action or on the narrative integrity of the hymn. One of the reasons that hymns are not generally at home in the Mass is that where hymns occurs there is usually liturgical action going on and the Roman Rite in the Eucharist is weighted towards the action. The exception would be a hymn after Communion. In choosing verses from 'For all the saints' I wanted to draw out the eschatological strain found in the readings. It strikes me that though this aspect may seem obvious that Saints are part of a heavenly reality our discourse is about lives of heroic virtues and saints as individuals rather than the communion of saints — a body of the blest.

Good and Faithful Servant was introduced to us by Christopher Walker at the SSG Summer School this year. It is a nicely honed piece, about heroic virtues; its apparent simplicity hiding some good craftmanship. Part of the skill is that it is easy to perform effectively and interestingly it brought a number of postive comments from members of the congregation.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

25 October 2009

Entrance	He healed the darkness of my mind (Fred Pratt Green)
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 125	What marvels the Lord worked (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Eye has not seen (Marty Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 6 (mtgf)
Communion	Behold the Lamb (Martin WIllett)
Final	Praise my soul

There is some criticism of texts which use the first person singular but it is not as ban everything in the first person - as someone once pointed out to me there goes the Magnificat... There is a danger of making sweeping statements and ignoring tradition - this includes the words of Jesus.

However the opening hymn this morning the first person voice was the blind man. (I expect the hymn was originally written about the blind man in John's Gospel heard on Lent 4 rather than Bartimaeus) We used Tallis' Canon for the melody and people sang well. This was interesting as the text was direct and particular. You would need a reason to sing this text - my guess is that people do appreciate that texts are chosen in response to the readings and are not random whims.

Whether this is true for more familiar hymns, such as Praise my soul, is less clear. A paraphrase of Psalm 102, a psalm of thanksgiving and healing. Though other choices reflected blindness, light, darkness and sight; the last hymn reflected more the psalm response: What marvels the Lord worked us.

There can be an interesting question - why this psalm and not for example Psalm 26 - the Lord is my light and my help? The main reason will be that the Gospel and the first Reading have not been chosen for the surface story. So it's not just about blindness but also about what God does for us.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

18 October 2009

Entrance	Christ be our light (Bernadette Farrell)
Penitential Rite	omitted
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 32	May your love be upon us (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Ours were the griefs he bore (Stephen Dean)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 6 (mtgf)
Communion	He became poor (John Bell)
Final	Praise to the Holiest (John Henry Newman)

A baptism with Sunday Mass is not something we do well yet. Apart from improving communication so that it is not a surprise on a Sunday morning there are two aspects that relate to the choice of music. At present the rite feels very wordy so how might music be used. Secondly, the congregation which normally sings the parts of the Mass well and could be said to have a leadership role is sounds muffled. This relates to a non musical issue that they are uncertain what their role is.

The presence of a baptismal party affects the choice of music on the day. Often when there is a baptism we use Archbishop Denis Hurley's text 'God at creation's dawn' which articulates what is happening and our part in it. This time we sang 'Christ be our light' as something which seems to be quite well known.

I wondered about using 'Ours were the griefs he bore'. We can shy away from the more painful aspects of the gospel. Or was this 'too miserable' for a joyful baptism? How might it affect this potential moment of evangelisation? In the end I decided to keep it. We had after all prepared it. It is a lovely piece demanding a sustaining of line in the verses by the choir. It was also a piece that was relatively new to our repertoire and this was an opportunity to consolidate it. And it linked the readings with the rite expressing the mystery the child is baptised into - Christ suffered for you.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

11 October 2009

Entrance	All my hope on God is founded
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 89	Fill us, Lord, with your love (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Restless is the heart (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 6 (mtgf)
Communion	I loved wisdom (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	Will you come and follow me (John Bell & Graham Maule)

Wisdom is the pearl of great price in these readings. The young man wants knowledge and answers rather than wisdom and so he went away dissatisfied.

Bernadette Farrell's setting of Psalm 89 (90), written for the Irish Church Music Association Summer School — there is a wall hanging in the Irish National Centre for Liturgy with the words Restless is the heart which I have always presumed to be part of the inspiration for this beautiful piece. The matching of the text from St Augustine with the psalm bring an extra depth to the readings — the young man is a restless heart searching for God.

The Communion Antiphon from Psallite again picked up the theme of wisdom — as it is an unusual but attractive theme in the first reading I presume — however either of the Antiphons given in the Missal might have picked up the gospel better, particularly the first:

The rich suffer want and go hungry, but nothing shall be lacking to those who fear the Lord.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

4th October 2009

Entrance	Love is his word
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 127	O blessed are those (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 6 (mtgf)
Communion	Your words are life, Lord (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	Love divine, all loves excelling (Charles Wesley)

It was wondered when I mentioned the opening and closing hymns before Mass whether there was a theme going on. Is love the dominant theme of today's readings? What else might we have sung that illuminated the Gospel? I looked at the GIA Hymns for the Gospels which offers text related to the Sunday Gospels. It offered two texts, the first Enter in the realm of God focussed on the end of the passage about welcoming little children; the second God! When human bonds are broken apart from having an irritating exclamation mark seems to presuppose a modern pastoral answer before the question is even asked. The Michael Forster text in the edition of Hymns Old and New where he provided a text for every Sunday seemed to make a better job of this task. It was probably easier as he started from the first reading from Genesis. Now I am not sure I would use any of these as I think the task of a chosen sung text is to illuminate and make connections not to reiterate or interpret the particular text.

A little know fact about Love divine that the text was written to be sung to Fairest Isle by Purcell, which it fits very nicely and memory suggest that Wesley is alluding to the original text, if not parodying it.

This week slightly suffered from lack of opportunity for second thoughts or what do you do when the Mass sheet is already printed - don't be so well prepared? Anyway I did consider changing the psalm so that it used the actual given response but the Inwood setting does work well. I also would have changed the Communion response - the chosen text was a scrabble to find something but a better something would have been better, possibly based on 1 Cor Missal text. The psalm tone was pleasing.

Bob Hurd's Ubi Caritas is lovely. It is also interesting how he inserts 2 new verses into the text which bring more contemporary theological concerns in without, in my opinion, damaging the original - actually enhancing it.

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

27 September 2009

Entrance	God whose almighty Word
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 18	The precepts of the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	The love of the Lord (Michael Joncas)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Lamb of God 6 (mtgf)
Communion	Let the word (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	Forth in thy name

I have noticed before that the Sundays which occur at the beginning of the new Academic year for us are often full of 'hard sayings'. Not the easiest weeks to choose appropriate music for. I suspect that 'God who almighty word' may get quite a few outings over the year — it's the mixture of a strong melody and words with Trinitarian focus which are apposite to Sunday.

The starting point for choosing The Love of the Lord was the second reading but the idea of the refrain of having nothing more than Christ to offer was related to the Gospel.

Our adventure with Psallite continues. I suppose that I am looking for three things: a good melody for the refrain, the use of a text that illumines the moment of Communion, something of musical interest for the singers. Too often, even when looking beyond just the Song for the Table, there is little of musical interest and/or the refrain seems too short, or not particularly memorable. Is the desire for musical interest selfishness on the part of musicians? Not when I think the attractiveness of the piece is contributed to.

This week's Communion antiphon was a repeat from 22nd Sunday - chosen in the light of the comments above.

A different Lamb of God which begins in Fm with the last invocation in the major.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

20 September 2009

Entrance	Brother, Sister, let me serve you (Gilliard)
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 52	The Lord upholds my life (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Like a child rests (Walker)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	I am your Saviour (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	God his love, his the care (Dearmer)

The Gospel seems to run on and even echo last week's with the prophecy of the passion. However, in between in Mark's Gospel is the Transfiguration - this is the mountain Jesus and his disciples are leaving. The attractive end of the reading seems to be the latter half with its argument about who is the greatest and the invitation to welcome a little child.

I am not sure there are hymns, or at least nothing came to mind, that is linked to the prophecy of the passion — which is a significant turning point in each year of the lectionary. There is plenty about the passion: last week we used 'Praise to the holiest', this week there was reference in both opening and final hymns. Perhaps there is possibility with the canticle from 1 Peter Christ suffered for you?

This morning we had a Pastoral Letter so no homily on the scripture.

This week's Communion song was down as the 'Song for the Week' (i.e. Entrance Antiphon) in Psallite. The text is based on that of the Entrance Antiphon so does it matter that we transferred it? Part of the way that the Roman Rite uses scripture particularly the Psalms and the rest of the Old Testament, it seems to me, is that context is everything. I am your Saviour is given as Entrance Antiphon for all three years by choosing Psalm 55 (56) (the Graduale has Ps 77) the authors of Psallite preface and prepare for the first reading but can also be heard as a post-passion statement of Christ — I will be with you for ever. At Communion this phrase (in this context) comes to be about the Eucharist. To reflect this adjustment of meaning another psalm or other canticle may have been better for the verses.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

13 September 2009

Entrance	All that is hidden (Bernadette Farrell)
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 114	I will walk in the presence (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati(Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	He became poor (John Bell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	I am the way (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	Praise to the Holiest (John Henry Newman)

We expected to be unaccompanied today - and were. This often means that the first hymn needs to be familiar so that people can sing with confidence and recognise that we can do this without accompaniment. All that is hidden seemed to work well. I have long thought that it is a piece that is not immediately attractive or easy. In part this is because it needs to be sung with conviction to actually work.

Alleluia Beati was new and will accompany us through to Advent. People picked it up without any rehearsal. As the music was on the leaflet perhaps we have a congregation of closet sight readers! The repetition of the same melody twice seemed to work and it was effective to diminuendo into the gospel.

We pair He became poor with verses from Philippians 2 sung to a simple French tone. This in part dates back to an uncomfortableness with simple ostinatos which some musicians have - not believing that the ostinato might be enough. As a reflection on the Paschal Mystery this picked up on the Gospel. The choice of music this Sunday more reflected the prophecy of the Passion rather than Peter's statement of faith.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

6 September 2009

Entrance	O changeless Christ (Dudley Smith)
Penitential Rite
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 145	My soul give praise to the Lord (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(A Gregory Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Song of the Man born blind (Bob Hurd)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	O praise the Lord (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	Praise my soul ( )

The beginning of September is when change Mass parts for Ordinary Time=- Autumn. It is usually staggered over a few weeks. Today we moved back to Mass of Creation which usually sees us through until the Baptism of the Lord. The GLoria was new last year but seemed to be sung well. Space permitting it would be interesting to put the verses on the leaflet to see if all would join in — perhaps just the last verse.

O praise the Lord seemed neither one thing or the other - there was neither harmonic nor melodic tension to make the repetition of the short phrase rewarding. Though the sung repetition of the words after each phrase of the verse was interesting it did not blossom into a longer refrain which may have been needed.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

30 August 2009

Entrance	Dear Lord and Father
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Jeanne Jugan (Christopher Walker)
Psalm 14	The just will live (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(A Gregory Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	O God, you search me (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	No Greater Love (Michael Joncas)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	Let the Word (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	The Kingdom of God (Rees)

A few weeks ago we changed our practice for Communion and instead of receiving Holy Communion first and the singing we now begin singing once the priest has received and join the procession at the end. To allow the possibility of the congregation also joining (something which they do at other parts of the Mass) the music is given in the Mass sheet. As there is always the possibility of being unaccompanied, as we were this morning, we are using Psallite as that will work whether accompanied or not. With accompaniment last week there was a good improvisation for the latter half of communion; today there was silence. Which though I know to be preferable I wonder if a reprise might be worthwhile.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

23 August 2009

Entrance	All my hope on God is founded
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	Jeanne Jugan (Christopher Walker
Psalm	Taste & see (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation	(A Gregory Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	Your words are spirit and life (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	No Greater Love (Michael Joncas)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	Living Word (Marty Haugen)
Final	Alleluia, sing to Jesus

The end of the series of readings from John 6. The Bernadette Farrell psalm was chosen as it echoed the Gospel — I would have preferred, perhaps, a setting of the later phrase 'Lord, to whom shall we go' but none were familiar. Living Word we sang on the first week of John so it made a suitable bookend and for musical reasons it was good to sing it with the accompaniment this time.

It is, I think, a difficult series of weeks. There is an abundance of material, particularly for communion, but the challenge is, first, to apportion it wisely. The greater challenge is not just how do you provide something appropriate for each Sunday and even make it into a mini 'season' but how do you accompany, illustrate, enhance the narrative development over the weeks. Full marks to our preacher who made connections between the weeks every Sunday and offered us a summary today.

The Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary

16 August 2009

Entrance	Sing we of the blessed mother (GB Timms)
Penitential Rite	Mass for 3 Voices (William Byrd)
Gloria	Jeanne Jugan (Christopher Walker)
Psalm 44	On your right stands the queen (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	(A Gregory Murray)
Preparation of Gifts	O Holy Mary (Owen Alstott)
Eucharistic Acclamations	No Greater Love (Michael Joncas)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	Neither death nor life (mtgf)
Final	Hail Queen of heaven (John Lingard)

Unaccompanied. The melody of the psalm's verses was based on the chant for Ave Maris Stella and the response derived from it too. This may have benefited from being unaccompanied.

The Byrd Kyrie is one way we mark Solemnities. Otherwise the Mass parts have been those we have been using over the summer.

The reference in Sing we of the blessed mother to Christ as the everlasting Bread was an unplanned but serendipitous connection with previous Sundays.