Feast of the Holy Family: Our Lady of Ransom, Rayleigh

Sunday, 30 December 2012

 
Entrance Unto us is born a son
Sending out of the children to LotW We are marching (Siyahamba)
Gloria Isobel Kennedy
Psalm Ps 83 (Paul Simon, adapted)
Gospel Acclamation Isobel Kennedy
Preparation of the Gifts O little town of Bethlehem
Sanctus St Anne’s Mass (James MacMillan)
Acclamation B St Columba (Irish melody)
Amen Missal tone
Agnus Dei Isobel Kennedy
Communion In the bleak midwinter (Harold Darke)
Away in a manger
Recessional What child is this?
 

The Cathedral choir had its customary week off for good behaviour, and I visited the parish where I spent my teenage years. Music in the parish is in the immensely capable hands of Isobel Kennedy, who with her husband Tom was today celebrating forty years of marriage. The choir did them proud, especially in the Darke In the bleak midwinter and in an energetic rendition of the MacMillan Sanctus. The responsorial psalm was cheekily adapted from Bridge over troubled water (a favourite song, I’m told, of the celebrating couple) and performed with panache by Mark Kennedy. Parish priest Fr Martin Joyce sang his part with confidence in the Eucharistic Prayer.

In all, this is a parish that knows what it’s doing.

Christmas Morning Mass (2012)

Tuesday, 25 December 2012

 
Entrance Hodie Christus natus (chant)
O Come all ye faithful
Gloria Psallite
Psalm All the ends of the earth (Alan Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts See amid the winter’s snow
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion In the bleak midwinter
Postcommunion A noble flower of Juda (choir)
Recessional Hark, the herald angels sing
 

Men’s voices as usual for Christmas morning, and the seven of us were in good voice. The music was mainly bright and bold, but the chant introit and the songs during and after communion had a gentler touch.

Christmas wishes to everyone!

Christmas Vigil and Midnight Mass (2012)

Monday, 24 December 2012

 
Introit O Emmanuel (chant)
Opening Hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Reading Isaiah 11:1-10 (A shoot springs from the stock of
Jesse)
Choir Wake, O wake with tidings thrilling (Phillip Nicolai & J.S. Bach)
Hymn It came upon the midnight clear
Reading Luke 1:26-38 (The Annunciation)
Hymn Once in royal David’s city
Reading John 1: 1-18 (In the Beginning was the Word)
Choir All my heart this night rejoices (J.G. Ebeling/Paul Gerhardt, tr. C. Winkworth)
Bishop’s entrance and procession to the crib Adeste Fideles
Gloria Gloria de Noël (Thomas Niel)
Reading Isaiah 9:2-7 (The people that walked in darkness)
Psalm Christmas Psalm (Bernadette Farrell)
Reading Titus 2:11-14 (God’s grace has been revealed)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Reading Luke 2:1-14 (The Nativity)
Preparation of the gifts Angels we have heard on high (trad., arr. Eric Paździora)
Angel voices, richly blending
Sanctus, Acclamation Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion My Lord has come (Will Todd)
Silent night
Postcommunion O little town of Bethlehem
Recessional Hark the herald angels sing
 

The choir tonight numbered just twelve plus yours truly, so we had to work hard. But there was something for everyone in the mix of music, from plainchant and Bach to Bernadette Farrell and Will Todd, and Celebration Brass added their usual sparkle.

4th Sunday of Advent (Year C, 2012)

Sunday, 23 December 2012

 
Entrance Come Saviour, Come
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Ps 79 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts Ave Maria (Edward Elgar, 1857-1934)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion (i) O Clavis David
(ii) Veni Immanuel (Bell)
Postcommunion Rorate Caeli (Francisco Guerrero, 1528-1599)
Recessional O come, O come Emmanuel
 

Today’s entrance antiphon begins

Drop down dew from above, you heavens
and let the clouds rain down the Just One;

Two of our musical choices were based on this text. Guerrero’s polyphonic setting uses a composite text that no other composer, to my knowledge, has also set, namely the entrance antiphon text (in Latin) followed by a verse from Ps 84(85) and the words veni Domine, et noli tardare (come Lord, and do not delay). Our entrance song, on the other hand, was Luke Connaughton’s translation of the so-called Advent prose, a seventeenth-century French composition which also takes the beginning of the antiphon text as its refrain, interspersed with penitential verses loosely (I think) derived from Isaiah and others.

3rd Sunday of Advent (Year C, 2012)

Sunday, 16 December 2012

 
Entrance Rejoice for ever (mcb)
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Isaiah 12 (Laurence Bévenot)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts Adam lay ybounden (Boris Ord, 1897-1961)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion O Radix Jesse
Be strong, our God will come to save us (Psallite)
Postcommunion Rejoice in the Lord alway (anon. c. 1600)
Recessional Hail to the Lord’s anointed
 

Plenty of rejoicing for Gaudete Sunday, in keeping with St Paul’s instruction in the entrance antiphon:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.

repeated in the second reading. Musical offerings on this theme included our opening song, our motet after Communion, and the responsorial psalm with its response Sing and shout for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

There was rejoicing too in Boris Ord’s setting of the famous macaronic poem from the Sloane Manuscript of c. 1400, the concluding Deo Gratias extolling Adam and Eve’s felix culpa that brought about not only the fall but also our redemption.

Christmas is Coming!

Music and Readings for Advent and Christmas

Sunday, 9 December 2012

 
Cathedral Choir & Notability The truth from above (Traditional, arr. R Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958)
All Come, thou long-expected Jesus
Notability Mirabile dictu (Carol Ann Duffy/Sasha Johnson Manning)
Jesus child (John Rutter)
All Once in royal David’s city
Cathedral Choir My Lord has come (Will Todd)
All While shepherds watched their flocks
Anthony Hunt (Organ) Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (J.S. Bach)
Notability Mary, Mary (Mary Donnelly/George Strid)
All O little town of Bethlehem
Cathedral Choir All my heart this night rejoices (J.G. Ebeling, tr. C. Winkworth)
All God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Cathedral Choir Angels we have heard on high (trad., arr. Eric Paździora)
Notability
All Hark the herald angels sing
Cathedral Choir & Notability O magnum mysterium (Morten Lauridsen)
All O come, all ye faithful
All O come, O come Emmanuel
Anthony Hunt Vom Himmel Hoch, (J.S. Bach)
 

Our usual partner charity AgeUK (formerly Age Concern) was unable to join us in mounting this year’s event, so instead we teamed up as usual with ace chamber choir Notability and put the show on ourselves. Speakers came from our two chosen charities, and there were scripture readings, and words of welcome, a prayer and a blessing from Canon Tony.

Overall my aim in compiling the programme was to give the event a more nuanced Advent feel, compared with the usual full-on Christmas celebration of previous years. This was probably more evident from the readings (Luke 1:26-38, Isaiah 40:1-5;9, John 1:1-5; 9-14) than from the music, though beginning and ending with Advent hymns seemed to set the tone successfully.

From a musical point of view, the high point was undoubtedly the two choirs joining together to sing Lauridsen’s stunningly beautiful setting of the famous Christmas text. It was a joy to sing.

2nd Sunday of Advent (Year C, 2012)

Sunday, 9 December 2012

 
Entrance Song of Consolation (Peter Jones)
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Ps 125 (Romuald Simpson, 1930-2012)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts Lucis Creator Optime (Plainchant & G.P. da Palestrina, c. 1525-1594)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion (i) O Adonai
(ii) There is a longing in our hearts (Anne Quigley)
Postcommunion Hierusalm Surge (Heinrich Isaac, c.1450-1517)
Recessional Come, thou long-expected Jesus
 

Plenty of chant this morning, in the Missal chants for the ordinary of the Mass, the alternate verses of Palestrina’s vespers hymn, this week’s O antiphon and the incipit from Isaac’s setting of the Communion antiphon. But we maintained our trademark mix, with Peter Jones and Anne Quigley in particular both providing elements that were more direct and accessible.

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force Carol Service

Saturday, 8 December 2012

 
Choir Angels we have heard on high (trad., arr. Eric Paździora)
All O Come, All Ye Faithful
Choir    The Truth From Above (Traditional, arr. R Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958)
All O Little Town of Bethlehem
Choir My Lord has Come (Will Todd)
All Silent Night
All While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
All National Anthem
All Hark the Herald Angels Sing
 

We followed the same pattern as for the last two years, with Celebration Brass joining us in a cathedral packed with young army cadets and an array of visiting dignitaries. The programme was slightly slimmed down from previous years, with one fewer reading and one fewer carol, and the running order in between the musical items more or less conformed to the template of readings–reflections–prayers. I thought in this form it made for a highly effective celebration.

Our musical highlight was undoubtedly Will Todd’s enchanting offering from Carols for Choirs 5. I'm not completely convinced by Todd’s text: no place for them but a stable sounds like it ought to refer to the holy family, but in fact he’s referring to the shepherds and wise men (and later me as well), and I don’t know what he means. Musically, though, it’s irresistible: I expect it to become a Classic FM favourite in no time.

1st Sunday of Advent (Year C, 2012)

Sunday, 2 December 2012

 
Entrance Awake awake, fling off the night
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm To you, O Lord (Marty Haugen)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Preparation of the Gifts Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Edward Bairstow, 1874-1946)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion (i) O Sapientia (chant)
(ii) Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
Postcommunion Zion hears the watchmen’s voices (J.S. Bach)
Recessional Love divine
 

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, derived from the Cherubic Hymn of the fourth-century Liturgy of St James, is inherently an Advent text. In the familiar words of the hymn setting:

Christ our God to earth descendeth
our full homage to demand

The text in Bairstow’s atmospheric choral setting is closer to the ancient liturgical text:

For the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Christ our God,
cometh forth to be our oblation,
and to be given for food to the faithful.

though in comparison to Moultrie’s hymn text, this version perhaps conjures a more abstract image of the incarnation in favour of a more direct connection to the eucharist.

We had two pieces – the opening hymn and our postcommunion rendition of the famous fourth movement of Bach’s cantata Wachet auf, BWV 140 – reflecting our Lord’s instruction to stay awake in today’s Gospel reading.

We’re singing the O antiphons again this year, one per Sunday. These too are ancient Advent texts, ascribing a succession of names to the coming Saviour – today’s was Wisdom – and dramatising the one-word plea come. The text is of course better known as the hymn O come, O come Emmanuel, which we’ll come to in three weeks’ time.

Christ the King (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 25 November 2012

 
Entrance Crown him with many crowns
Kyrie Mass of the Celtic Saints (Liam Lawton)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm The Lord is King (Paul Wellicome)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts Let all the world
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen German Mass (Schubert/Proulx)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Te saeculorum principem (chant) & Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
Postcommunion The Truth From Above (Traditional, arr. R Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958)
Recessional Christus Vincit (arr. Martin Baker)
 

Our Lord’s words in the Gospel were:

I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.

Vaughan Williams’s haunting folk-song arrangement began and ended:

This is the Truth sent from above…
Be pleased to hear what he did say.

Our closing chant Christus Vincit was given redoubled vigour by Martin Baker’s fiery organ part. It was followed immediately by Marcel Dupré’s Placare Christe Servulis: more organ fireworks from our excellent organist Anthony Hunt.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Presentation of Candidates for Confirmation & First Communion

Sunday, 18 November 2012

 
Entrance Here I am, Lord (Dan Schutte)
Kyrie (Dinah Reindorf)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Keep me safe (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Presentation of Candidates Christ be our light (Bernadette Farrell)
Preparation of the Gifts For the beauty of the earth (John Rutter)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen German Mass (Schubert/Proulx)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Take and eat (Michael Joncas)
Recessional Lo he comes with clouds descending
 

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) and Remembrance Sunday 2012

Sunday, 11 November 2012

 
Entrance Requiem Aeternam (chant)
Two minutes’ silence
Abide with me
Kyrie Mass of the Celtic Saints (Liam Lawton)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 145 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of the Gifts Justorum Animae (William Byrd, c. 1540-1623)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen German Mass (Schubert/Proulx)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion The Lord hears the cry of the poor (John Foley)
Postcommunion The Lord is my shepherd (John Rutter)
Recessional Lord, whose love in humble service
 

Two of the readings told the story of a poor widow. In the responsorial Psalm the focus broadened to the poor, the hungry, the sick and the oppressed (though widows still got a shout-out), and we echoed this in our Communion song and our final hymn.

Justorum animae is strictly one of the propers (the Offertory antiphon) for the feast of All Saints, but the text, Wisdom 3:1-3, is also a fitting accompaniment to prayers for the departed, especially as a reading at funeral Masses. William Byrd’s serene and tranquil setting, lingering on the words illi autem sunt in pace (but they are in peace), seemed a suitable choice for Remembrance Sunday.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 4 November 2012

 
Entrance God is our fortress and our rock
Kyrie Mass of the Celtic Saints (Liam Lawton)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 17 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts O the love of my Lord (Estelle White)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen German Mass (Schubert/Proulx)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Postcommunion Love divine, all loves excelling (Howard Goodall)
Recessional God is Love, his the care
 

The first reading, Psalm and Gospel reading all spoke of the commandment to love God and neighbour. It’s perhaps easier to find hymns and songs that sing of God’s love for us than of our efforts to love him, and our song at the preparation of the gifts and our postcommunion anthem were both of this kind. The Latin hymn Ubi Caritas, though, includes the words

Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
(Let us fear and love the living God.)

We sang it in Bob Hurd’s gentle and reflective setting.

Our opening hymn, Michael Perry’s reworking of Luther’s Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott echoed the image of God our rock from the Responsorial Psalm. The tune, in J.S. Bach’s arrangement, was perhaps the most famous song we’d never sung, until today.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 28 October 2012

 
Entrance Praise my soul, the King of heaven
Kyrie Dinah Reindorf
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm What marvels the Lord worked for us (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts Cum appropinquaret Iesus (Juan Ginés Pérez, 1548-1600)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen German Mass (Schubert/Proulx)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion Now in this banquet (Marty Haugen)
Postcommunion Exsultate Justi (Lodovico Viadana, c.1560-1627)
Recessional Thou whose almighty word
 

Today’s Gospel reading from Mark tells of the healing of blind Bartimaeus, and our entrance, Communion and recessional songs sang of the same themes, as did our motet at the preparation of the gifts, which took its text from Luke’s version of the same story. Elsewhere, the first reading and the entrance and Communion antiphons told us to shout for joy, so we did, in Viadana’s exuberant setting of Psalm 32(33).

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 21 October 2012

 
Entrance Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
Kyrie Kyrie for 3 voices, adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm May your love be upon us (Daniel Bath)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts The Servant King (Graham Kendrick)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missa Ubi Caritas
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion Father, if this cup (Stephen Dean)
Postcommunion Crucifixus from the B Minor Mass (J.S. Bach)
Recessional Christ triumphant, ever reigning
 

Today’s readings speak of Jesus the suffering servant. The Crucifixus from Bach’s Mass in B Minor paints a vivid picture of our Lord’s suffering, both in the pulsing accompaniment and in the melodic strangeness of the contrapuntal entries on the word crucifixus. There’s especial drama, which we tried to bring out, in the arresting homophony on repetitions of the word passus (he suffered). Despite being the briefest miniature from an otherwise epic work, it portrays the suffering of the Passion with stark and beautiful clarity.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday, 14 October 2012

 
Entrance All my hope on God is founded
Kyrie Mass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 89 (Stephen Dean/James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Wisdom, come softly (Diane Murden & Martin Barry)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Mass of the Creator Spirit
Communion Centre of my life (Paul Inwood)
Postcommunion He hath filled the hungry (from Magnificat, Op 69 no 3, Mendelssohn)
Recessional Forth in the peace of Christ
 

Bekki Gocher and Karen Massey directed the music today. Wisdom, come softly set the text of the first reading, and the excerpt from Mendelssohn’s Magnificat, Op 69, reflected both the Communion antiphon, and our Lord’s strictures in the Gospel reading from Mark concerning rich men, camels, needles and the like.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 7 October 2012

 
Entrance O perfect love
Kyrie Mass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 127 (Eugene Monaghan)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts You are the Lord of all (Daniel Bath)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Mass of the Creator Spirit
Communion How good is the Lord (mcb)
Postcommunion Oculi Omnium (Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
Recessional Love divine
 

Similar musical fare to the same day three years ago, but with both Charles Wood’s serene anthem, and my simple Communion processional song (both drawn from Ps 144(145)) reflecting the text of the Communion antiphon:

The Lord is good to those who hope in him,
to the soul that seeks him.

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 30 September 2012

 
Entrance Bring to the Lord a glad new song (Perry/Parry)
Kyrie (Dinah Reindorf)
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm Ps 18 (McCarthy/Bévenot)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Where your treasure is (Marty Haugen)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei from No Greater Love (Michael Joncas)
Communion Teach me, O God (Christopher Walker)
Postcommunion Laudate Nomen Domini (Christopher Tye)
Recessional O Jesus, I have promised
 

Today’s Entrance Antiphon, from the Prayer of Azariah in the book of Daniel, includes the words

But give glory to your name
and deal with us according to the bounty of your mercy.

We took up the theme of praise of the Lord’s name in our postcommunion piece adapted from Tye’s Actes of the Apostles of 1553. The tortuous journey from Tye’s own doggerel to mongrel Latin text (by way of O come, ye servants of the Lord) is chronicled in this interesting piece.

For us it was actually a last-minute substitution: we had rehearsed my adaptation of Rachmaninov’s Khvalite Imya Gospodne from the Vespers. (The ‘adaptation’ consisted in shrinking it down to seven parts and translating the text from Ps 134(135) into Latin; we sang it once for a wedding, for a bride who’d evidently seen My Best Friend’s Wedding.) Finding ourselves unexpectedly understaffed for seven parts, I reached into the cupboard and found Tye’s piece, opening with the same words, which we already knew from having sung it many times in Advent to the words Rorate Caeli.

The second reading from St James sounded a gory warning for the rich. We turned to the rather more irenic setting of our Lord’s words from the Gospels, paraphrased by Marty Haugen:

Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be.
All that you possess will never set you free.
Seek the things that last; come and learn from me:
where your treasure is your heart shall be.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 23 September 2012

 
Entrance Be thou my vision
Kyrie (Dinah Reindorf)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 53 (Laurence Bévenot)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Make me a channel of your peace
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei from No Greater Love (Michael Joncas)
Communion In the Lord (Taizé) (alternative words by Paul Inwood)
Postcommunion Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré, 1845–1924)
Recessional O God our help in ages past
 

Today’s second reading, from St James, speaks of peace:

Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in holiness.

We sang Sebastian Temple’s much loved setting of the text often known as the Prayer of St Francis, but which actually seems to have been first published in 1912 in France. As a child in school I remember singing it with the section beginning O master, grant that I may never seek… used as a refrain separating the verses. In recent hymn books that section is usually labelled verse 3, with the first two verses sung in succession before it. I like it better with the recurring refrain, and I’m pleased that the version we sang today – William Llewellyn’s arrangement from the RSCM collection Sing with all my soul takes the same view.

We haven’t sung the Angus Dei from Michael Joncas’s collection No Greater Love for two or three years. Its verses, drawn from 1 Corinthians 10, John 6 and the Didache, are (I imagine) out of line with the prescriptions regarding sticking to the text, which accompanied the introduction of the new translation of the Missal last year. So we confined ourselves to three repetitions of the strong and memorable refrain, with just a bar in between on the organ to catch one’s breath. I thought it worked well.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 16 September 2012

 
Entrance Praise to the holiest
Kyrie Kyrie Litany for Lent from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd) [UC 46]
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm Ps 114 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts The servant King (Graham Kendrick)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missa Ubi Caritas
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion Our blessing cup (Michael Joncas) & verses from Ps 115(116) (Stephen Dean)
Postcommunion Lord Jesu Christ, my life and light, BWV 118 (J.S. Bach)
Recessional My song is love unknown
 

Michael Joncas’s setting of the Communion antiphon text has a tuneful refrain, but the wide tessitura of the verses makes them rather more soloistic than to my mind would be ideal for a Communion song. I expect that means that this particular setting is better suited to use as the responsorial psalm for Holy Thursday; in any event, we got round the problem by singing chant verses from Ps 115(116) to a tone by Stephen Dean. This also meant that the song could be prolonged to cover more of the Communion procession than Joncas’s two verses, so in all it felt like a successful adaptation of the original.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 9 September 2012

 
Entrance Your hands, O Lord
Kyrie Kyrie Litany for Lent from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm Ps 145 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Do not be afraid
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missa Ubi Caritas
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion As the deer longs (Bob Hurd)
Postcommunion All things bright and beautiful (John Rutter)
Recessional Thou whose almighty Word
 

Tday’s Gospel reading told of the healing of a man unable to hear, or to speak clearly, and our opening and closing hymns took up the healing theme. The first reading, from Isaiah, also talked of healing, with the words Do not be afraid, and at the Preparation of the Gifts Gerald Markland’s hymn set the same words from elsewhere in Isaiah.

At the end of the Gospel story, our Lord’s act of healing is acclaimed with the words He has done all things well, a phrase echoed in Cecil Alexander’s hymn All things bright and beautiful:

He gave us eyes to see them
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty
Who has made all things well

which we sang in John Rutter’s charming choral setting.

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Sunday, 2 September 2012

 
Entrance Praise my soul, the King of heaven
Kyrie Kyrie I (Taizé)
Gloria Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm The just will live (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia (chant)
Preparation of the Gifts O Lord, you are good (mcb)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Take and Eat (Michael Joncas/Gary Daigle)
Communion Come to me (Martin Barry/Diane Murden)
Postcommunion Lead me, Lord (Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1810-1876)
Recessional Tell out, my soul
 

A small but perfectly-formed subset of the choir reassembled for our first outing since the summer break. As usual for the first Sunday in September, we were joined by a large contingent from Province 1 of the Catenian Association, who sang with as much verve as ever. This was the first Sunday for a few years when their visit coincided not with the 23rd Sunday but the 22nd. (I wonder if they imagined until this week that the only motet we knew was Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus?)

Our song at the Preparation of the Gifts was a setting of the same psalm as the Entrance Antiphon text from Ps 85(86):

O Lord, you are good and forgiving
Full of mercy to all who call to you

while our opening hymn had similar themes taken from Ps 102(103).

The readings spoke of following the Lord’s commandments, as did Samuel Wesley’s simple choral anthem, setting the psalm verses Ps 4:8 and Ps 5:8.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 5 August 2012

 
Entrance All people that on earth do dwell
Gloria Missa de Angelis
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia (chant)
Preparation of the Gifts Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us
Sanctus, Acclamation Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Communion One bread, one body (John Foley)
Recessional Forth in the peace of Christ
 

The choir’s on holiday until September, so this was typical summer holiday fare, for assembly and reluctant organist. The music – chosen by the management – was a good and ambitious mix, which elicited confident singing for the opening and closing hymns, and for the Gospel Acclamation and Sanctus. Not many people seemed to know their way through the Gloria from Mass VIII, and while the revised Gathering Mass uses the same melodic material as before, we haven’t thus far sung any of the new Memorial Acclamations. By about half-way through, people seemed to realise that the unfamiliar words fitted a familiar tune.

One bread, one body needs piano accompaniment, to provide some rhythmic movement underneath the rather static melody, and as both the extension cable (the piano’s actually a Clavinova) and the piano stool seemed to have gone walkabout, we were stuck with the organ, and no-one really knew what was happening. But we made it to the end.

All that, plus the Allemande from the Suite in A Major by Telemann by way of a voluntary. Anthony could find himself out of a job.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 22 July 2012

Entrance Praise we our God with joy
Kyrie Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm His goodness shall follow me (Chris O’Hara)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts The living God my shepherd is
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion Here I stand at the door (John Bell)
Postcommunion Flocks in pastures green (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Recessional Hail Redeemer, King divine
 

The lectionary makes ample reference today to the image of the Shepherd, and the three hymns, the Responsorial Psalm and our Postcommunion piece all did the same. The psalm setting was Chris O’Hara’s, with the verses set (a cappella, the way we did it) to the Irish folk melody She moved through the fair. Bekki Gocher was the cantor, in a haunting rendition.

We combined John Bell’s paraphrase of today’s Communion antiphon with chanted verses from Psalm 15(16): O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup.

That’s it from the choir until September. Next Sunday (5 August), the people of God of Salford do their annual penance: Anthony’s in Lourdes and so I’m playing the organ. I’m hoping for yet more of those glowing tributes, but I’ll settle for politely averted gazes afterwards.

Ordination to the Priesthood of Joseph Gee

Saturday of Week 15 in Ordinary Time
21 July 2012

 
Entrance Praise to the Holiest
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm The Cry of the Poor (John Foley)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia
Litany of the Saints Chant
Illustrative Rites Veni Creator Spiritus (chant, with vv 2 & 6 by T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Kiss of Peace Sicut Cervus (G.P. da Palestrina, 1525-1594)
Preparation of the Gifts God has chosen me (Bernadette Farrell)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion Come to me (Martin Barry & Diane Murden)
Postcommunion O Salutaris Hostia in F (Edward Elgar, 1857-1934)
Recessional Tell out, my soul
 

A good mix of music for a happy celebration. The most appreciative comments afterwards were for Bernadette Farrell’s God has chosen me, which captures the essence of priestly vocation (as expressed in Luke 4:18) in vibrant musical form.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 15 July 2012

 
Entrance Immortal invisible
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 84 (Elsie Wright)
Gospel Acclamation Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of the Gifts Be not afraid (Bob Dufford)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Take and eat (Michael Joncas)
Postcommunion Adoremus in aeternum (adapted from Gregorio Allegri, 1582-1652)
Recessional Tell out my soul
 

This week Karen Massey took charge of the choir, ably assisted by Alex Main-Ian, and once again the reports were glowing. It’s good to know I’m not indispensable.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 8 July 2012

 
Entrance Praise to the Lord, the almighty
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 122 (Mount St Bernard)
Gospel Acclamation Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of the Gifts Make me a channel of your peace
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Taste and See (Anne Ward)
Postcommunion Prayer of St Richard of Chichester (Malcolm Archer)
Recessional Thou whose almighty word
 

In the second reading, from 2 Corinthians, St Paul tells us

It is when I am weak that I am strong

There are similar contradictions in our song at the Preparation of the Gifts:

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, In giving to all men that we receive, And in dying that we are born to eternal life.

The choir was directed today by Sabine von Hünerbein, while yours truly had the first of two weekends off. The glowing tributes that ensued reassured me that I should get away more often.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 1 July 2012

The choir had the day off today, as the children of the parish completed their celebration of Christian initiation with first holy Communion. We’re back next week.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist (2012)

Sunday, 24 June 2012

 
Entrance On Jordan’s bank
Kyrie Kyrie for three voices, adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm O God, You Search Me (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Blest be the Lord, the God of Israel (Owen Alstott/Bernadette Farrell)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion Behold the Lamb of God (Psallite)
Postcommunion Et tu puer (from the Benedictus by T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Recessional Forth in the peace of Christ
 

The Canticle of Zechariah, or Benedictus, (from Luke 1:68-79) provided two of the key texts for singing today, in the form of the Gospel Acclamation:

As for you, little child, you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord to prepare his ways before him.

and the Communion antiphon:

Through the tender mercy of our God,
The Dawn from on high will visit us.

We sang Bernadette Farrell’s setting of Owen Alstott’s versification, and then the final six verses – including those key verses – of Victoria’s setting, alternating chant and polyphony. We used the same chant tone for the Gospel Acclamation verse, which meant we sang the same words to the same tune, in both English and Latin.

For the Responsorial Psalm, we took another very fine Bernadette Farrell song, adapting it to work in responsorial fashion. The final two lines of the last verse:

For the wonder of who I am I praise you.
Safe in your hands all creation is made new.

are a good fit for the response prescribed in the Lectionary, and added to the rather “choral” arrangement of the verses in the collection Christ be our Light, it made for an appropriate distribution of labour between the assembly and the choir.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 17 June 2012

 
Entrance We walk by faith and not by sight (Henry Alford/Marty Haugen)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 91 (Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts Lord, hear my voice (mcb)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Belmont Mass
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion There is one thing (Chris O’Hara)
Postcommunion Locus Iste (Anton Bruckner, 1824-1896)
Recessional Thanks be to God (Stephen Dean)
 

Our entrance song reflected on St Paul’s words:

To live in the body means to be exiled from the Lord, going as we do by faith and not by sight – we are full of confidence, I say, and actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord.

while our closing hymn was prompted by today’s Psalm response It is good to give you thanks, O Lord.

Both the entrance and communion antiphons were drawn from Ps 26(27), and we sang two contrasting versions in Chris O’Hara’s determined and optimistic setting, and my own more plaintive and reticent rendition.

It was only a small step from

...only this do I seek: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life

to Locus iste, the Gradual for the Mass of dedication of a church. This place, the text runs, was made by God; an inestimable holy place, beyond reproach.

The Body and Blood of Christ (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 10 June 2012

 
Entrance Of the glorious body telling
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Psallite
Psalm Ps 115 (Stephen Dean/Psallite)
Sequence Lauda Sion Salvatorem (plainchant & Chris Mueller)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts O Sacrum Convivium (Olivier Messiaen, 1908-1992)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Belmont Mass
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Take and Eat (James Quinn & Michael Joncas)
Postcommunion Ave Verum (Edward Elgar, 1857-1934)
Recessional Soul of my Saviour
 

In our opening hymn, the sequence and our motet at the preparation of the gifts, we sang three of Thomas Aquinas’s texts for this feast. Ave Verum Corpus and Anima Christi (Soul of my Saviour) both date from the century after Aquinas, but on the whole it was a good day for the authors of mediaeval verses in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. James Quinn’s hymn (with refrain added by Michael Joncas), rich in scriptural images of our Lord, is a worthy companion for these more venerable texts.

Trinity Sunday (Year B) & Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II

Sunday, 3 June 2012

 
Entrance Father, Lord of all creation
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm Ps 32 (Robert Sherlaw-Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts I was glad (C.H.H Parry, 1848-1918)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen Missa Ubi Caritas
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion God beyond all names (John Bell) & Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas (chant)
Postcommunion O Taste and See (Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958)
Prayer for the Queen (chant)
National Anthem
Recessional Holy God, we praise thy name
 

Another celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, our own this time, gave us a second opportunity to sing Parry’s magnificent coronation anthem, minus the brass this time but with the vivats once again. Vaughan Williams’s simply-crafted miniature was also written for a coronation, this time the Queen’s own.

Our final hymn was both a Te Deum for a royal occasion, and an acclamation of the Trinity, which I'd like to think wasn’t dislodged from the main focus of attention in both our spoken and sung prayer this morning.

Pentecost (2012)

Sunday, 27 May 2012

 
Entrance Come Holy Ghost, creator come
Gloria Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm Send forth your Spirit (Paul Wellicome)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Rite of Confirmation (i) Send forth your Spirit, renew the face of the earth (Christopher Walker)
(i) Spirit of the living God & Ps 103 (John Ainslie)
(iii) Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taizé)
Preparation of the Gifts Emitte Spiritum tuum (Johann Evangelist Habert, 1833-1896)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion My Peace (Taizé) & Ps 84(85) (A Gregory Murray)
Recessional Christ be our light (Bernadette Farrell)
 

Thirty-two seven- and eight-year old children, and a handful of adult candidates, took their next step along the journey of Christian initiation by receiving the sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Terence. For the children, it’s only a few weeks until first holy communion. The lengthy confirmation rite made a pastoral necessity of curtailing the Liturgy of the Word, so we omitted the second reading, and moved the sequence from before the Gospel reading to during the rite itself. We sang it in the form of Jacques Berthier’s prayerful ostinato, with cantor Robin Wolfendale supplying the text of the sequence.

We began the rite of Confirmation with a bit of musical fun – Chris Walker’s Send forth your Spirit. Starting with another simple ostinato refrain, this time in tresillo (3+3+2) rhythm, we added vocal harmonies and percussion in the form of claves, shaker, congas and guiro, and then the sopranos supplied psalm verses from Ps 103(104). We don’t usually get requests for an encore, but when the procession outran the music provided some twenty minutes later, a celebrant whispered “do the one with the drums again”, and we were glad to oblige.

I had to dig deep on the internet to find out anything about Johann Evangelist Habert. Despite being president of the Upper Austrian Caecilienverein, by all accounts he was an opponent of the hard core Cecilian movement, and stood up for the continued use of instruments in church. Good man.

The Ascension (2012)

Sunday, 20 May 2012

 
Entrance Praise him as he mounts the skies
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 46 (Shaun MacCarthy)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts God is gone up (William Croft, 1678-1727)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion I will be with you (Gerald Markland)
Postcommunion Haec Dies (Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
Recessional New Praises be given
 

A good mix of music, I thought, including both ancient and modern, and both choral and congregational. We hadn’t sung I will be with you for a good few years, but it was clear from the energetic singing of the refrain by the assembly that this was an old favourite. We sang it as a communion processional song, with the choir supplying the verses, in my arrangement in four parts written thirty years ago this year (gulp) for the choir of Fisher House, Cambridge to sing at the episcopal ordination of Archbishop Couve de Murville in Birmingham.

We had chant too, in the muscular guise of Brian Luckner’s arrangement of O filii et filiae; and in the sung orations and the dialogues between priest and people. I don’t usually give all the sung prayers and dialogues here in our ‘music’ list, but they are the essential backbone of our sung celebration each week. We’re very fortunate to have in Canon Tony and Fr Anthony two priests who take seriously the celebrant’s role in making the Mass an inherently sung rather than spoken event, the way all priests should.

6th Sunday of Easter (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 13 May 2012

 
Entrance God is love, his the care
Gloria Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm Ps 97 (Peter Smedley)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Alleluia Surrexit Dominus (Jacquet de Mantua, 1483-1558)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion A new commandment (unknown) & Ps 137 (Laurence Bévenot)
Postcommunion If ye love me (Thomas Tallis, c.1505-1585)
Recessional Come down, O love divine
 

Today’s second reading and Gospel reading present rich images of divine love, and much of our music was chosen to reflect these. We sang our hymn at Communion through twice, with chanted verses from Ps 137 (138), again reflecting on God’s love, in between.

5th Sunday of Easter (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 6 May 2012

 
Entrance Sing a New Song (Chris O’Hara)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 21 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Cantate Domino (Hans Leo Hassler, 1564-1612)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion I am the vine (John Bell)
Postcommunion Easter Anthem (Paul Inwood)
Recessional O praise ye the Lord
 

Today’s Entrance antiphon is adapted from Ps 97(98):

O sing a new song to the Lord,
for he has worked wonders;
in the sight of the nations
he has shown his deliverance, alleluia.

We sang Chris O’Hara’s setting of the same Psalm from his 1986 collection Acclaim the King. Aptly, it was new to us, but I expect it won’t be the last time we sing it. Chris’s web site has an appealing recorded version somewhere on this page (though it has to be said we sang it straighter than that). My arrangement has choral harmonies in the refrain, and unison verses alternating between women’s and men’s voices.

Hassler’s somewhat different setting is of the opening words of Ps 95(96). I like to think we keep all the bases covered by juxtaposing settings of the same (or similar) texts like that.

4th Sunday of Easter (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 29 April 2012

 
Entrance Praise we our God with joy
Gloria Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm The stone which the builders rejected (Bernadette Farrell)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Surrexit Christus (G.B. Pergolesi, 1710-1736, arr. Richard Proulx)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Because the Lord is my shepherd (Christopher Walker)
Postcommunion Surrexit Pastor Bonus (G.P. da Palestrina, 1525-1594)
Recessional Hail Redeemer, King divine
 

Palestrina’s setting of today’s Communion antiphon –

The Good Shepherd has risen,
who laid down his life for his sheep
and willingly died for his flock, alleluia.

was written for male voices (ATTB), but with not much editing in order to keep the notes agreeably spaced, it works nicely for mixed voices, with the first tenor part, suitably transposed, given to the sopranos. With that, and Chris Walker’s setting of Ps 22(23), the Gospel Acclamation and our opening and closing hymns, we had a diverse range of shepherd-themed musical selections.

In addition, Bernadette Farrell’s setting of Ps 117(118) gave the assembly a significant musical role in the lengthy refrain, which was taken up with vigour.

3rd Sunday of Easter (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 22 April 2012

 
Entrance At the Lamb’s high feast
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 4 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Now the green blade riseth
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Touch Me and See (Psallite)
Postcommunion Et Resurrexit (Claudio Monteverdi, 1567-1643)
Recessional Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
 

We resumed where we had left off on Easter Sunday, with At the Lamb’s high feast, as if underlining the continuity of the “week of weeks” that makes up the Easter season.

Today’s Gospel reading includes the words

you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead

and one of the Communion antiphons echoes the same words:

Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.

Monteverdi’s cheery duet from Selva Morale e Spirituale of 1641 sets the similar phrase from the Nicene Creed et resurrexit tertia die. In my arrangement, the duet is shared alternately between soprano and alto and then tenor and bass: in the first half the women’s voices lead the way, with the men responding, then in the second half the roles are reversed. The final phrase sedet ad dexteram Patris breaks into four parts, in a way I trust Monteverdi wouldn’t have minded.

Easter Sunday (2012)

Sunday, 8 April 2012

 
Entrance Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm This is the Day (mcb)
SequenceVictimae Paschali Laudes (J. William Greene)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Prayers of IntercessionMiserere Nobis from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Preparation of the Gifts Surrexit Christus (Taizé)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Now we remain (David Haas)
Postcommunion This is the Day (Anon., c.1600)
Recessional (i) Go in peace, Alleluia (chanted)
(ii) At the Lamb’s high feast
 

Happy Easter, everyone!

The Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday, 2012)

Saturday, 7 April 2012

 
The Service of LightLumen Christi (chanted)
ExsultetPlainchant
After 1st reading (Genesis 1)Send forth your Spirit (Stephen Dean)
After 2nd reading (Exodus 14-15)I will sing to the Lord (Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
After 3rd reading (Isaiah 55: come to the water)With joy you shall draw water (Bob Hurd) with chant verses (mcb)
GloriaGlory to God (Peter Jones)
Easter Alleluia + Psalm 117Plainchant, verses by Paul Inwood
Litany of the SaintsMissal chant
Blessing of the FontSprings of Water (Marty Haugen)
SprinklingVidi Aquam (Cristóbal de Morales, c.1500-1553)
Prayers of IntercessionMiserere Nobis from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Preparation of the GiftsChristus Resurgens (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594
Sanctus, Acclamation A, AmenSpring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus DeiLamb of God II (mcb)
CommunionConfitemini Domino (Taizé) & Ps 117 (Laurence Bévenot)
DismissalGo in peace, Alleluia (chanted)
Final HymnThine be the Glory
 

For the first time in living memory we had a baptism and receptions at the Vigil, and so even with the Old Testament readings pared down to three, we were kept busy for two and a half hours. I was amazed, mind you, at how quickly the time passed. Our singing celebrants were magnificent: Canon Anthony Kay took the new Exsultet in his stride, Fr Ged Byrne sang the Gospel, and Bishop Terence intoned the Gloria, the Alleluia and the Dismissal.

We didn't have the Solemn Alleluia from the Missal: I completely agree with this poster that a musical line as elaborate as the solemn version can only reduce the congregation to silence. We had the simple chant melody usually known as the Easter Alleluia, which appears in the Gradual as an option for Postcommunion. This was within the reach of both the celebrant and the assembly, and it seemed obvious to me that the symbolic value of Bishop and people in joyful dialogue comprehensively outweighed the aesthetic merits of the more elaborate choir-only chant.

Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (Good Friday, 2012)

 
PsalmFather, into your hands (plainchant, arr. Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
Gospel AcclamationChristus factus est (Johann Ernst Eberlin, 1702-1762)
Adoration of the CrossBehold the wood of the cross (Missal tone)
When I survey the wondrous cross
Vexilla Regis (chant) with verse 6 O Crux Ave (Rihards Dubra, 1964-)
O Sacred head ill-usèd
Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
CommunionAve Verum Corpus (William Byrd, c. 1540-1623)
Soul of my Saviour
 

We haven’t sung the Passiontide vespers hymn Vexilla Regis on Good Friday before (at any rate, not in the last twenty-odd years). Coupled with the Latvian composer Rihards Dubra’s haunting and beautiful setting of the text of verse six, it juxtaposed the stark simplicity of the chant with the prayerfulness of Dubra’s neo-Romantic minimalism, which made for a compelling combination.

Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Thursday, 2012)

Thursday, 5 April 2012


Opening Hymn The glory of the cross (John Ainslie)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Responsorial Psalm The Blessing Cup (A Gregory Murray)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Washing of Feet If there is this love among you (Barry/Murden)
Prayers of Intercession Lord, in your mercy (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Ubi Caritas (Maurice Duruflé, 1902-1986)
Sanctus Mass XVII
Memorial Acclamation BMissal Tone: When we eat this Bread
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa Brevis (Antonio Lotti, 1667-1740)
Communion O Sacrum Convivium (mcb)
Procession Pange Lingua (plainchant)
Stay with me (Taizé)
 

The end of an era, of sorts: this was the first time in at least seventeen years that we didn’t sing A new commandment for the Gospel Acclamation. It was a last musical trace of the family-oriented celebration we had in Bishop Kelly’s time. For a few years we were accompanied in this celebration by “music group” resources (guitar, piano, flute and the like), and it was a distinctive occasion, even a moving one, in our annual musical calendar. I’d like to think we haven’t lost touch with that part of our musical repertoire. A new commandment will be back before long, anyway.

The Mass of Chrism (2012)

Thursday, 5 April 2012


Opening HymnO God, beyond all praising (Michael Perry/Gustav Holst, arr. Richard Proulx)
KyrieMissal tone in English
GloriaGlory to God (Peter Jones)
Responsorial PsalmO Lord, I will sing of your constant love (Christopher Walker)
Gospel AcclamationGlory and Praise (mcb)
Procession of the OilsO Redeemer (Paul Ford/mcb)
Preparation of the GiftsCrucifixus (Antonio Lotti, c.1667-1740)
Sanctus, Acclamation C, AmenMissal tone in English
Agnus DeiMissal tone in English & Missa Aeterna Christi Munera (G.P. da Palestrina, 1525-1594)
CommunionTake and Eat (Michael Joncas)
God so loved the world (John Stainer, 1840-1901)
Recessional HymnHoly God, we praise thy name
 

This time last year I was expressing my doubts about the chant setting of the Mass ordinary given in the (then forthcoming) new translation of the Missal, feeling that the simple chant setting (my reservations mainly concerned the acclamations in the Eucharistic Prayer) was too bland to inspire committed singing from the assembly. I take it back. The missing ingredient last year was organ accompaniment, and this year we remedied that, courtesy of the arrangement generously made available by the music department of Leeds Cathedral. The singing of the Eucharistic acclamations was strong and confident, and after today’s experience I can well imagine using them again for a big occasion. The Kyrie and Agnus we kept unaccompanied, and these were fine that way, even if it jarred a little to switch from English to Latin and back as we digressed into Palestrina.

Peter Jones’s excellent reworking of his setting of the Gloria comes with a powerful brass arrangement, and Celebration Brass were on hand to do it justice. Peter is evidently a stadium rocker – his arrangement calls for three trumpets, three trombones and four timpani – probably the result of all the papal Masses he’s been involved with. I slimmed his version down to five brass players (2 Tpts, Hn, 2 Tbns) and three timps, which perhaps made it more suitable for playing indoors. And very successful it was: it felt as though this was the version the near-thousand-strong assembly had been singing for the last thirty years.

Palm Sunday 2012

 
Entrance Hosanna to the Son of David (Chris Mueller)
All Glory Laud and Honour
Psalm Ps 21 (John Ainslie)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Prayers of Intercession Lord, in your mercy (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Crucifixus (Antonio Lotti, c.1667-1740)
Sanctus Mass XVII
Acclamation Missal Tone: Save us, Saviour
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa O Quam Gloriosum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Communion Father, if this cup (Stephen Dean)
Recessional My song is love unknown
 

Chris Mueller’s fanfare-like setting of today’s opening antiphon is robust and colourful, and it made for an arresting beginning to today’s celebration, as we gathered outside in some rather chilly April sunshine.

The Palm Sunday Mass shifts in mood from the acclamatory tone of the procession with the palms, to the grief of the passion. Musically we marked the change from joy to pain with Lotti’s haunting and atmospheric setting of lines from the Nicene Creed (to which we reverted today after gradually becoming familiar over the Sundays of Lent with the Apostles’ Creed), and Stephen Dean’s plaintive setting of the Communion antiphon. I’m glad that Stephen’s setting prefers the word cup to the chalice of the new Missal translation, which runs:

Father, if this chalice cannot pass without my drinking it,
your will be done.

We continued with our Lenten Gospel acclamation, with the refrain Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus, you are the Word of God. Today’s instalment incorporates my setting of the verse text Christ was humbler yet published in Decani Music’s Resurrexit, which until now had felt to me incomplete without a people’s refrain. The two settings seem to meld together agreeably.

5th Sunday of Lent (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 25 March 2012

 
Entrance Deep within (David Haas)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm Ps 50 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Prayers of Intercession Lord, in your mercy (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Miserere Mei (Antonio Lotti, c.1667-1740)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa Aeterna Christi Munera (G.P. da Palestrina, 1525-1594)
Communion Unless a grain of wheat (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion (silence)
Recessional Lift high the cross
 

The Lectionary prompted several of our musical choices today. From the first reading from Jeremiah, the words Deep within them I will plant my law, writing it on their hearts, were echoed in our entrance song by David Haas. We sang Bernadette Farrell’s setting of the Gospel text from John 12 at Communion, and the Lotti, like today’s responsorial psalm, was from Psalm 50.

The Gospel text also included the words when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself, which we sang again in our closing hymn:

O Lord, once lifted on the tree of pain,
draw all the world to seek you once again

The words seem to be a rather clumsy rewrite of the original:

O Lord once lifted on this glorious Tree
as Thou hast promised draw men unto Thee

An internet search throws up any number of attempts at a gender-inclusive rewrite (draw us all, draw the world, and so on), but it’s more of a mystery why the cross might no longer be deemed glorious.

Salford City Celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Sunday, 18 March 2012

 
Entrance All people that on earth do dwell (arr. Vaughan Williams)
Cathedral Choir I was glad (C.H.H. Parry, 1848-1918)
Hymn Praise my soul, the King of heaven
Choir of St Phillip’s Primary School (i) On eagles’ wings (Michael Joncas)
(ii) Here I am, Lord (Dan Schutte)
Hymn Lord, for the years
Hymn How great thou art
Choir of St Phillip’s Primary School A Clare Benediction (John Rutter)
National Anthem
Anthony Hunt (organ) Crown Imperial (William Walton, 1902-1983)
 

The Cathedral was host to a service of celebration organised and led by the Church of England. Our Bishop Terence gave words of welcome and a final blessing, but the prayers were led by the Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, and the sermon was by the Bishop of Bolton, Rt Revd Chris Edmondson. The Revd Mark Haworth, Vicar of Rochdale and until recently Borough Dean of Salford, presided over the presentation of symbols from the seven decades of the calendar through which the Queen has reigned, and the lighting of candles by representatives from across the community. Prayers were read by civic, political and community leaders, and the Lord Lieutenant and the Lord Mayor exchanged greetings on behalf, respectively, of Her Majesty and the people of Salford.

Musically speaking it was the most fun we’ve had for ages. The occasion cried out for Parry’s unforgettable coronation anthem, and this we had, vivats and all, aided and abetted by Celebration Brass (as well as Anthony, of course). A misbehaving video camera meant that we couldn't capture the whole thing for posterity, but here’s a clip of the first two or three minutes. (There’s also a longer clip of the entrance procession and opening hymn here.)

There were three items from the magnificent choir of St Philip’s RC Primary School, Salford, including an engagingly nuanced rendition of On eagles’ wings, all led by the equally excellent Mrs Summers, and (I’m guessing) accompanied by Mr Lee at the keyboard. I thought they were a superb advertisement for music in Catholic schools.

4th Sunday of Lent (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 18 March 2012

 
Entrance Rejoice, Rejoice (Psallite)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm Ps 136 (Julia Rowntree)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Prayers of Intercession Lord, in your mercy (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts God so loved the world (John Stainer, 1840-1901)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa O Quam Gloriosum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Communion O Jerusalem (David Haas)
Postcommunion (silence)
Recessional Praise we our God with joy
 

The Entrance antiphon -

Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her;
rejoice with her, you who mourned for her,
and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts.

- gives today its traditional title of Laetare Sunday. The Psallite setting of the antiphon takes the opening motif of Rejoice Greatly from the Messiah, and couples it with chanted verses from Ps 121(122), from which today’s Communion antiphon is also drawn.

David Haas’s lament, from Luke 13:34, kept our focus on Jerusalem. And Stainer’s dramatic, yet at times mesmerisingly peaceful anthem was the natural choice to echo today’s Gospel reading.

3rd Sunday of Lent (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 11 March 2012

 
Entrance O God, thy people gather
Kyrie Mass XVII
Gloria (none)
Psalm Ps 18 (Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Prayers of Intercession Lord, in your mercy (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Adoramus Te Christe (Antonio Lotti, 1667-1740)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa super Laudate Dominum (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594)
Communion Give us, Lord, a new heart (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion (silence)
Recessional Christ triumphant, ever reigning
 

Today’s second reading, from 1 Corinthians, speaks of the madness and foolishness of preaching a crucified Christ instead of miracles and wisdom. Christ driving out the money changers from the Temple perhaps also acts with apparent folly and madness, and obliquely foretells the crucifixion, in the words Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up. Lotti’s antiphon sings of the cross bringing about the redemption of the world, and our final hymn also touched on the same image:

Suffering Servant, scorned, ill-treated,
Victim crucified!
Death is through the cross defeated,
Sinners justified.

The entrance antiphon included the words

I will pour clean water upon you
and cleanse you from all your impurities,
and I will give you a new spirit, says the Lord.

We had Bernadette Farrell’s setting of the same text from Ezekiel. Its verses, shifting restlessly through flat and sharp keys, are a challenge, but our cantor Aimée Presswood carried them off with utmost competence and conviction.

2nd Sunday of Lent (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 4 March 2012

 
Entrance Kyrie Eleison (Marty Haugen)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Gloria (none)
Psalm Ps 115 (McCarthy/Bévenot)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Prayers of Intercession Lord, in your mercy (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Hear my prayer, O Lord (Henry Purcell, 1659-1695)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa Brevis (Antonio Lotti, c. 1667–1740)
Communion Be still, for the presence of the Lord (David Evans)
Postcommunion (silence)
Recessional Be thou my vision
 

The entrance antiphon, from Ps 24(25) included the words

Remember your compassion, O Lord,
and your merciful love

Marty Haugen’s Kyrie Eleison is an extended plea for the same mercy, with thoughtful words for the cantor sung over the ostinato Kyrie refrain:

In my song and in my silence
In my faith and in my doubting
In my courage and my weakness
I call upon you, God.

For the Gospel of the Transfiguration, we had Be still, for the presence. We don’t very often have a hymn at Communion; it’s a much better time to ask the people to sing a short refrain from memory rather than to carry a hymn book or service sheet with them in procession and to read while processing. But this one is short enough that it served more like a prelude to Communion rather than an accompaniment to it, and most people had put down their sheets before it was time for them to process.

Henry Purcell’s powerful and atmospheric anthem for eight voices is thought to be the opening fragment of an incomplete longer work. I wonder what we missed out on, and indeed what further masterpieces we might have been given if Purcell had lived beyond the age of thirty-six?

Rite of Election (2012)

Sunday, 26 February 2012

 
Opening Hymn The Church’s one foundation
Responsorial Psalm God of hosts, bring us back (Sue Furlong)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Enrolment How lovely is your dwelling place (Paul Wellicome)
After the Election of the Catechumens Who calls you by name (David Haas)
Welcome of Candidates In the Lord is my true salvation (Inwood/Berthier)
After Welcome of Candidates All things bright and beautiful (John Rutter)
Prayers of Intercession Lord in your mercy (John Bell)
Recessional Hymn Thanks be to God (Stephen Dean)
 

It was a special treat for the choir today to have one of our number among the candidates for reception into the Church at Easter. For the two long processions, respectively of catechumens and candidates, we had Paul Wellicome’s gentle setting of Ps 83(84) and Paul Inwood’s reworked (and I think improved) text for the Taizé refrain In the Lord.

Five minutes’ rehearsal with the assembly before the celebration began meant that Stephen Dean’s hymn of thanksgiving – not nearly as well-known as it ought to be – was sung heartily at its end.

1st Sunday of Lent (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 26 February 2012

 
Entrance Led by the Spirit (Bob Hurd)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm Ps 24 (Boulton Smith/Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Glory and Praise (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Emendemus in Melius (William Byrd, c.1540-1623)
Sanctus, Acclamation C, Amen Mass XVII & English Missal tones
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion On eagles’ wings (Michael Joncas)
Postcommunion (silence)
Recessional Guide me, O thou great redeemer
 

Emendemus in melius is strictly a Responsory for Ash Wednesday, but the text:

Let us correct our faults which we have committed in ignorance, let us not be taken unawares by the day of our death, looking in vain for leisure to repent.
Hear us, O Lord, and show us your mercy, for we have sinned against you.
Help us, O God our Saviour; for the sake of your name, O Lord, set us free.

conforms nicely with our Lord’s call to repentance in today’s Gospel.

Today’s Communion antiphon:

The Lord will conceal you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will trust.

was from Ps 90(91), so we sang Michael Joncas’s much-loved setting of the same psalm, in my arrangement for four voices.

Ash Wednesday (2012)

Wednesday, 22 February 2012


Entrance Lord Jesus, think on me
Psalm Ps 50 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Lenten Gospel Acclamation (mcb)
Imposition of Ashes Lord, Cleanse my heart (Psallite)
Sanctus, Acclamation C, Amen Mass XVII & Missal tones
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion Miserere Mei (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594)
Recessional Our Father, we have wandered
 

Small changes, as usual, to our musical bill of fare; both the Psallite setting of Ps 50(51) and the one by Stephen Dean, for instance, are strong and simple settings that easily bear annual repetition. Our third setting of the opening verse of this psalm was by Lassus.

My setting of the Gospel Acclamation offers a hybrid refrain adapted from three of the suggested texts:

Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus,
You are the Word of God.

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

 
Entrance Sing of the Lord’s goodness (Ernest Sands)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria (Peter Jones)
Psalm Ps 40 (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts Stand and stare not (Huub Oosterhuis/Tony Barr)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion There is a longing (Anne Quigley)
Postcommunion Cum appropinquaret Iesus (Juan Ginés Pérez, c. 1548-1600)
Recessional Praise my soul, the King of heaven
 

Our postcommunion piece tells a similar story to that in today’s Gospel from Mark (2:1-12). Ginés Pérez sets excerpts from the story of the healing of the blind man from Luke 18:35-42:

As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. He shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’

In today’s story of the paralytic lowered through the roof, Jesus forgives and heals seeing their faith. In both stories, faith leads to audacity, and the healing that follows is perhaps not so much a reward for audacity, but a symbol of what faith itself inexorably brings about.

Our opening hymn reflected the lines from the entrance antiphon:

I will sing to the Lord
who has been bountiful to me.

I almost wrote echoed the lines from the entrance antiphon, but that was truer of the old translation: I will sing of the Lord for his goodness to me. Somehow God’s goodness seems easier to recognise and acknowledge than his being bountiful, but maybe that’s just me.

Our song at the preparation of the gifts, a charming canon with a bit of tricky syncopation thrown in, took its text from the opening lines of the first reading from Isaiah.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 12 February 2012

 
Entrance Christ is made the sure foundation
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria (Peter Jones)
Psalm Ps 31 (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts God be in my head (Henry Walford Davies, 1869-1941)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion You are my refuge (Christopher Walker)
Postcommunion Domine, non sum dignus (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Recessional Lord, Jesus Christ, you have come to us (Patrick Appleford)
 

Today’s Psalm Response appears in two different versions in various people’s editions of the Missal. We sang

You are my hiding place, O Lord.
You surround me with cries of deliverance.

in Chris Walker’s setting. But in some sources it appears as

You are my refuge, O Lord;
you fill me with the joy of salvation.

I’m not sure I know the explanation for the two variants. (Anyone?) Our Communion song, again in a setting by Chris Walker (for whom it was evidently a bumper weekend here in Salford), echoed the second variant, this time taking its text from Ps 45(46).

The first reading, from Leviticus, and the Gospel reading from Mark both spoke of sickness and healing, so we sang Victoria’s setting of the liturgical text recently reconnected to its scriptural source (the words of the centurion in Matthew 8:8) in the new translation of the Mass:

Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

 
Entrance Come, ring out your joy (17th c. Peruvian, arr. Martin Foster)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria (Peter Jones)
Psalm Ps 146 (Anne Ward)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Your hands, O Lord, in days of old
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Now in this banquet (Marty Haugen)
Postcommunion O Quam Suavis (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Recessional Now thank we all our God
 

Our celebration for the fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time today was also offered in loving memory of our former parish sister Sr Anne O’Shea, who served the Diocese for thirty-seven years until her retirement in 2010. Her death had been expected for a little while, and we had sung her favourite hymn (Timothy Dudley-Smith’s O Christ the same, sung to the tune of O Danny boy) on the day her death was announced a couple of weeks ago. Today I looked for hymns and songs that would both respond to today’s texts from the Missal and Lectionary, and help us celebrate the life, and mourn the death, of a dear friend. Edward Plumptre’s Your hands, O Lord sings of healing, and of triumph over pain and death. And our final hymn reflected both today’s Communion antiphon –

Let them thank the Lord for his mercy,
his wonders for the children of men,
for he satisfies the thirsty soul,
and the hungry he fills with good things. (Psalm 107:8-9)

– and our thanks for a life of service lived in transparent (if occasionally crotchety) love for our community.

Today is also the feast (strictly the Memorial) of St Agatha, so we marked the occasion with a new verse for our Gospel acclamation.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 29 January 2012

 
Entrance Save us, Lord our God (Christopher Walker)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria (Peter Jones)
Psalm Listen to the voice of the Lord (Patrick Geary)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts The Beatitudes (Bob Chilcott)
Sanctus, Acclamation C, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Be still, and know that I am God
Postcommunion The Lord bless you and keep you (John Rutter)
Recessional O Lord my God
 

Something to reflect each of the two Communion antiphons from the Missal again this week:

Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your merciful love.
O Lord, let me never be put to shame, for I call on you.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall possess the land.

in the anthems by Rutter (the Lord make his face to shine upon you) and Chilcott respectively.

The Gospel reading had Jesus saying “Be quiet”, which gave us our Communion song, in the enchanting arrangement from the RSCM’s Sing with all my soul, ending with double descant for solo sopranos added to the a cappella SATB repetition of the first verse.

We gave Peter Jones’s revised setting of the now-venerable Coventry Gloria a first outing, and the consensus would seem to be that it actually improves on the original.

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 22 January 2012

 
Entrance Sing a new song (John Bell)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 24 (Geoffrey Boulton Smith/StephenDean)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Taste and see (Richard Proulx)
Postcommunion A song of the light (Simon Lole)
Recessional O Christ, the same (Timothy Dudley-Smith/Londonderry Air)
 

We usually sing John Bell’s Sing a new song, with its Alleluia refrain, as a Gospel Acclamation. Its verses are from Ps 95(96), and since this was the source of today’s entrance antiphon, we took the opportunity to sing the whole of it as our entrance song. We normally do it a cappella, but today Anthony improvised a sparkling accompaniment, spreading out into improvised toccata both before and after.

The Missal offers two Communion antiphons today:

Look toward the Lord and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

We sang something to reflect each: Richard Proulx's setting of Ps 33(34), from which the first was drawn, and Simon Lole’s elegant paraphrase of Hail, gladdening light.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2012)

Sunday, 15 January 2012

 
Entrance Here I am, Lord (Dan Schutte)
Kyrie Kyrie II from Paschal Mass (Alan Rees)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 39 (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation Sing a New Song (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts The Lamb (John Tavener)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion Jesus, Lamb of God (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion Venite Comedite (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Recessional Forth in the peace of Christ
 

The story of Samuel in the first reading, and the Psalm response, both had the words Here I am, and it was no distance from there to Dan Schutte’s old favourite. In the Gospel reading John the Baptist calls Jesus Lamb of God, and in Bernadette Farrell’s litany we did the same.

The refrain to Bernadette Farrell’s song has the words Hear our prayer, through this bread and wine we share, and our postcommunion motet, a setting of the tract (from Proverbs) from the Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament, also featured the word wine:

Venite comedite panem meam, et bibite vinum quod miscui vobis.

(Come and eat my bread, and drink the wine I have poured out for you)

In the previous translation of the Missal, today’s Communion antiphon did too, paraphrasing from the words calix inebrians in the Vulgate rendition of Ps 22(23):

The Lord has prepared a feast for me:
given wine in plenty for me to drink.

The new translation is more oblique:

You have prepared a table before me,
and how precious is the chalice that quenches my thirst.