16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 23 July 2017

 

Entrance	O God, beyond all praising
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	O Lord, you are good (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	The Kingdom of God is justice and joy
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Mass of Christ the Saviour (Dan Schutte)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Here I stand (John Bell)
Postcommunion	Panis Angelicus (Cesar Franck, 1822-1890)
Recessional	Thanks be to God (Stephen Dean)

 

One last outing before a well-earned summer break. The eight of us did justice to Panis Angelicus.

Ordination to the Priesthood of Gavin Landers and Mark Paver

Saturday, 22 July 2017

Feast of St Mary Magdalene

 

Entrance	Praise to the holiest
Kyrie	Mass of Christ the Saviour (Dan Schutte)
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	For you my soul is thirsting (CJM) — Becky Ryder, cantor
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia
Litany of the Saints	Chant
Illustrative Rites	Dixit Dominus (Chant & T.L de Victoria, c. 1548-1611)
Kiss of Peace	Tui amoris ignem accende (Taizé)
Preparation of the Gifts	Love Divine (Howard Goodall, b.1958)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Mass of Christ the Saviour
Agnus Dei	Mass of Christ the Saviour
Communion	Take and Eat (Michael Joncas) Ubi Caritas (Maurice Duruflé, 1902-1986) O bread of heaven
Postcommunion	The Deer’s Cry (Shaun Davey, b.1948)
Recessional	Hail Queen of Heaven

 

A good mix of music for this special occasion. The text of today’s Gospel acclamation echoes lines from the Easter sequence:

Tell us, Mary: say
what thou didst see upon the way.
– The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!

so we sang these words to the corresponding portion of the melody from Victimae Paschali.

Mary-Liz Walker was the soloist in Shaun Davey’s haunting setting of St Patrick’s Breastplate.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 16 July 2017

 

Entrance	Sing we of the blessed Mother
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	The Almighty Works Marvels (Josephine Cheong)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	Ave Maris Stella (chant) We Assembled Here Today
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Mass of Christ the Saviour (Dan Schutte)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Magnificat (Peter Jones)
Postcommunion	Ave Maria (Edward Elgar, 1857-1934)
Recessional	Salve Regina (chant) Hail Queen of Heaven

 

Technically, Sundays in Ordinary Time take precedence over Marian feast days, but 16 July is the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the principal patron of Salford Diocese, and my instructions, rightly or wrongly, were to celebrate the feast. I think we kept on the right side of liturgical law, sort of, by retaining the readings for the Sunday, and Fr Joe’s excellent homily wove Marian themes into the parable of the sower from today’s Gospel.

The musical fare was a good mix of old and new, I thought, including at the preparation of the gifts a hymn that folks round here seem to know from of old, but can’t be found in hymn books. It was requested by two members of the Cathedral parish, and I promised to oblige if they would record themselves singing it for me. They did (thank you, Pat and Karen!), so I knocked up an arrangement in short order. It turned out that Anthony had done the same thing a few years ago for a nearby parish, and it was interesting to compare harmonic ideas.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 9 July 2017

 

Entrance	All ye who seek a comfort sure
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	Ps 144 (Martin Hall)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	Come down, O love divine
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Mass of Christ the Saviour (Dan Schutte)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Come to me (Barry/Murden)
Postcommunion	O Taste and See (Arthur Sullivan, 1842-1900)
Recessional	I heard the voice of Jesus say

 

We moved on from Philip Duffy’s Jubilee Mass to Dan Schutte’s Mass of Christ the Savio(u)r. The latter had been requested by one of the candidates for ordination to the priesthood later in the month, so it made sense to road-test it in advance. It’s a bright and accessible setting, which congregations clearly love. Despite being unfairly pilloried in the spiteful nether regions of the Catholic blogosphere (chiefly for its resonances with a theme tune from American children's television, not familiar to a UK audience), I think it might come to be a well-loved favourite, in much the same way (and with the same gratuitous opprobrium from some quarters) that Paul Inwood’s Gathering Mass, in its pre-2010 guise, at least, once was and perhaps still is.

Love Your Garden!

Wednesday, 5 July 2017

 

What started out as a lengthy recording in the Cathedral of the full choir (plus Anthony on the organ) eventually became the briefest cameo at the ‘reveal’ (as they say in the biz) of the surprise garden makeover accorded to the Mills sisters, stalwarts of the Cathedral parish. Eight of us sang the last couple of pages of John Rutter’s All things bright and beautiful a cappella. We did respectably, I thought, and a little publicity on prime time ITV is probably good for recruitment.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 2 July 2017

 

Entrance	All are welcome (Marty Haugen)
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	Ps 88 (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	The Servant King (Graham Kendrick)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Jubilee Mass (Philip Duffy)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Bless the Lord, my soul (Taizé)
Postcommunion	O Salutaris Hostia in F (Edward Elgar, 1857-1934)
Recessional	Lord, whose love in humble service

 

Saints Peter and Paul (2017)

Thursday, 29 June 2017

 

Entrance	Faith of our fathers
Gloria	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm	Ps 33 (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Missa Ubi Caritas
Agnus Dei	Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion	Taste and See (Richard Proulx)
Postcommunion	Tu Es Petrus (Maurice Duruflé, 1902-1986)
Recessional	For all the saints

 

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 25 June 2017

 

Entrance	Praise to the Lord, the almighty
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	Lord, in your great Love (Malcolm Kogut)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	All that is hidden (Bernadette Farrell)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Jubilee Mass (Philip Duffy)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Do not be afraid
Postcommunion	Oculi Omnium (Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
Recessional	Praise to the holiest

Malcolm Kogut’s lively and atmospheric psalm setting was a good excuse for us to get the Latin percussion instruments out.

The Body and Blood of Christ (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 18 June 2017

 

Entrance	Guide me, O thou great redeemer
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	Ps 147 (Colin Mawby)
Gospel Acclamation	Sequence: Lauda Sion (Chris Mueller) Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	Ave Verum Corpus (W.A. Mozart, 1756-1791)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Jubilee Mass (Philip Duffy)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	O Sacrum Convivium (Olivier Messiaen, 1908-1992) Adoramus Te Domine (Taizé) O bread of heaven
Recessional	Alleluia, sing to Jesus

 

Mozart and Messiaen… Bliss.

Trinity Sunday (Year A, 2017)

Sunday, 11 June 2017

 

Entrance	Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	Trinity Psalm (Martin Foster)
Gospel Acclamation	Gospel Greeting (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts	St Patrick’s Breastplate (C.V. Stanford, 1852-1924)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Jubilee Mass (Philip Duffy)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	The Love of God (Psallite)
Postcommunion	O Lux Beata Trinitas (T.L. de Victoria, c.1548-1611)
Recessional	Holy God, we praise thy name

 

Stanford and Victoria for Trinity Sunday, and a change to the elements of the Mass ordinary to mark the transition back to Ordinary Time. We haven't, to my recollection, done a ‘responsorial’ Mass setting in at least the last twenty-seven years – I much prefer a strong melody which the Assembly can take to heart, to the repetitious and disrupted feel of the line-by-line responsorial format. But responsorial settings probably have their place in celebrations bringing together a congregation without a shared common repertoire of ritual music. Philip Duffy’s Jubilee Mass was written for the golden jubilee of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral on 4th June, and since the composer had very kindly obliged when I begged a copy, I thought we’d try out the Eucharistic acclamations.

The experience over this and subsequent weeks was positive: the setting has sufficient musical interest to keep the choir on its toes, while providing melodic fragments for the assembly appealing enough to evoke a fairly enthusiastic response. There are limits to its staying power, inevitably – what is suitable for a one-off occasion is unlikely to serve well week in week out. But at least we now have a responsorial setting in our repertoire, for when the need might arise.

Pentecost (2017)

Sunday, 4 June 2017

 

Entrance	Come Holy Ghost
Kyrie	(Peter Jones)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	Send forth your Spirit (Paul Wellicome)
Gospel Acclamation	(i) Pentecost Sequence (arr. Proulx) (ii) Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts	Wisdom, Come Softly (Martin Barry & Diane Murden)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen	Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei	(Peter Jones)
Communion	Veni Sancte Spiritus (Gregorio Allegri, c.1582-1652) Tui Amoris Ignem Accende (Taizé)
Recessional	Shine, Jesus, Shine

The proposed change to the age at which Confirmation will be conferred in the Diocese in future means that the sacrament is effectively on hold for children and adolescents for a few years. Our celebration of the sacrament today with Bishop John was for adult candidates from around the Diocese. The rite itself was carried out in silence, but elsewhere in the celebration we had an eclectic mix of hymns and songs invoking the Holy Spirit, ranging from Gregorio Allegri to Graham Kendrick.