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.