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.