The Ascension of the Lord (2014)

Sunday, 1 June 2014

 

Entrance	Praise him as he mounts the skies
Kyrie	Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	Ps 46 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia (plainchant; verse Ellie Slorach)
Preparation of the Gifts	Viri Galilei (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	I will see you again (Psallite)
Postcommunion	Laudate Dominum (W.A. Mozart, 1756-1791)
Recessional	Christ Triumphant

 

The entrance antiphon from the Missal, the first reading (from the beginning of Acts) and the offertory antiphon from the Graduale all asked the same question:

Why are you men from Galilee standing here looking into the sky?

We sang the opening five-part chorus of Byrd’s setting, alternating the enigmatic-but-excitable narrative of the two men in white with the more solidly jubilant alleluias.

By contrast later we took words from today’s responsorial Psalm to heart:

Sing praise with all your skill

in singing Mozart’s serenely beautiful setting of the opening of Ps 116(117). Aimée Presswood sang the solo role with warmth and clarity and poise.

6th Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2014)

Sunday, 25 May 2014

 

Entrance	This joyful Eastertide
Kyrie	Kyrie 2 from A Community Mass (Richard Proulx)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	Ps 65 (Monaghan/Steel)
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia (plainchant; verse mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts	Jubilate Deo (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Live on in my love (Psallite)
Postcommunion	If ye love me (Thomas Tallis, c.1505-1585)
Recessional	Alleluia, sing to Jesus

 

Today’s responsorial Psalm (65(66)) instructed us to Cry out with joy to God all the earth. We echoed these words in Lassus’s setting of the opening of Ps 99(100). Ellie Slorach conducted us, in an exhilarating rendition.

The consoling words of both the Gospel reading (from John 14) and the Communion antiphon:

If you love me, keep my commandments, says the Lord,
and I will ask the Father
and he will send you another Paraclete,
to abide with you for ever, alleluia.

made for a gentle contrast with the exuberance of the Psalm. We sang, as usual for this Sunday, Tallis’s serene and uncluttered setting, conducted this time by Aimee Presswood. The Gospel reading had further words of consolation:

I will not leave you orphans;
I will come back to you.

which we celebrated in the second verse of our recessional hymn.

5th Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2014)

Sunday, 18 May 2014

 

Entrance	The stone which the builders rejected (Bernadette Farrell)
Kyrie	Kyrie 2 from A Community Mass (Richard Proulx)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	Ps 32 (Alan Rees)
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia (plainchant; verse Anthony Hunt)
Preparation of the Gifts	Regina Caeli (plainchant & Samuel Webbe, 1740-1816)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	I am the vine (John Bell) & Ps 80 (Laurence Bévenot)
Postcommunion	Exsultate Justi (Lodovico Grossi da Viadana, c.1560-1627)
Recessional	Battle is o’er

 

The Responsorial Psalm today was from Ps 32(33). As well as Alan Rees’s setting, we had Viadana’s exuberant version of the opening verses. Our opening song was from the second reading, from 1 Peter.

We prefaced Samuel Webbe’s sunny setting of the Eastertide Marian antiphon, mainly for upper voices, with the plainchant melody, sung by the men of the choir.

4th Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2014)

Sunday, 11 May 2014

 

Entrance	The living God my shepherd is
Kyrie	Kyrie II from Paschal Mass (Alan Rees)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	Ps 22 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia (plainchant; verse Anthony Hunt)
Preparation of the Gifts	Flocks in Pastures Green (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	You are the shepherd (Psallite)
Postcommunion	Surrexit Pastor Bonus (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Recessional	Hail Redeemer, King Divine

 

Today was Good Shepherd Sunday, and our music was selected accordingly. The choir numbered eleven plus yours truly, so Victoria’s six-part setting of the Communion antiphon (a repeat performance from last Monday) was an enjoyable challenge. We did well.

40th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination of Canon Tony McBride

Monday, 5 May 2014

 

Entrance	All people that on earth do dwell (arr. Vaughan Williams)
Kyrie	Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria	Glory to God (Peter Jones)
Psalm	Because the Lord is my Shepherd (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia (plainchant & Colin Mawby)
Preparation of the Gifts	To be a pilgrim
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion	My Peace (Taizé) & Ps 4 (James Walsh) Soul of my Saviour
Postcommunion	Surrexit Pastor Bonus (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Recessional	Hail, Queen of heaven

 

A full house and a happy celebration for our soon-to-be-departing Dean. For a priestly jubilee in Eastertide it seemed appropriate to sing about the Good Shepherd, which we did in the psalm, Gospel acclamation and postcommunion motet. The latter was Victoria’s sunny, celebratory six-part setting of next Sunday’s communion antiphon.

3rd Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2014)

Sunday, 4 May 2014

 

Entrance	Sing of one who walks beside us
Kyrie	Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	Centre of my life (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation	Easter Alleluia (plainchant; verse mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts	Mane Nobiscum (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Come and eat this bread (Marty Haugen)
Postcommunion	This is the Day (anon., 16th C.)
Recessional	Crown him with many crowns

 

Today’s Gospel reading was St Luke’s account of the journey to Emmaus. It prompted several of our musical choices, including the opening hymn, our motet at the preparation of the gifts and our Communion processional song.

I have to confess to not being completely convinced of the artistic merits of the opening hymn text by Ralph Wright OSB. To compensate, I tried pairing the text with a Good Tune. I think it worked (though perhaps not as well as in the video clip).

Easter Sunday (2014)

Sunday, 20 April 2014

 

Entrance	Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today
Kyrie	Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria	Psallite
Psalm	This is the Day (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation	Sequence: Victimae Paschali Laudes (William Greene) Easter Alleluia (chant & Colin Mawby) listen
Preparation of the Gifts	Haec Dies (William Byrd, 1540-1623) listen
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	Now we remain (David Haas)
Postcommunion	Surrexit Christus Dominus (Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621)
Recessional	Go in peace, Alleluia At the Lamb’s high feast

 

Colin Mawby’s joyful festive setting of the Easter Alleluia combines a people’s refrain, in the form of the simple chant Alleluia, with a bubbling choral fanfare on the same word, plus a more maestoso choral setting of the verse text. With thirty-five repetitions of the word Alleluia, it's probably not for everyday (or even every Sunday) use, but it’s a good one for special occasions. We last sang it at the Bridgewater Hall, for the Centenary Mass of the Catenian Association in 2008.

Byrd’s six-part setting of Haec Dies is jam-packed with dance-like exuberance. The rhythmic complexities make it a challenge for the conductor, a challenge to which our organist Anthony Hunt rose with panache on his conducting debut with the choir.