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.