Church Music

This stirring hymn is by master tunesmith Richard Connolly, who wrote both the words and music on this occasion.

This might be one to end my eternal quest for hymns for Christ the King, although I fear it needs the church organ, which I can’t play.

This song has survived all the way from the Australian Hymn Book to CWB II, so I have already looked at it. I recall I got the chords from TIS, where it is in E – in this hymnal John de Luca kindly brought it down to Eb. Sadly it was back up to E in CWB II.

The sheet music can be purchased at Willow.

I made new BIAB organ backing that is perhaps a little less shrill than last time.

1 Holy Father, God of might,

Throned amid the hosts of light,

Take our life, our strength, our love

King of earth and heav’n above.

2 Hear the songs your people raise,

Songs of joyful thanks and praise,

Calling all created things

To adore you, King of Kings.

3 Christ be with us as we go,

Let this blind world see and know,

Burning in our lives the sight

Of its only saving light.

4 So, all men will bless your name,

And your kingship all proclaim,

Praising, with the heavenly host,

Father, Son and Holky Ghost.

Every now and then I have a look for new things at the Willow website, or things that I haven’t noticed before.

While there I noticed Erica Marshall’s, “A Christmas Blessing”, which is one I have seen before and blogged here, but it such a nice song, I decided to make another backing. It is a song to welcome all those who we only see at Christmas and is meant as a blessing as we leave.

The sheet music is at Willow and I note they now have a short preview of a backing track there.

I’ve been dying to try out a glokenspiel plug in I found.

1 We wish you peace. We wish you happiness.

The God of love be with you now.

May all your days reveal the tenderness of God’s caress

And you are blessed. We wish you peace.

2 Come walk in peace. Come know this Christmas joy

As Christ is born deep in our hearts.

May we go forth to tell a world of fear that Christ is here.

His light is clear. His way is peace.

(Rpt verse 1 with a key change then)

We wish you peace x2

When I have another break from the NLPHB, I’ll look at some more Willow songs.

When I blogged this song with it’s appearance in the Praise to God Parish Hymnal, I had concerns over its authorship. PTG said the tune was by Sr Deirdre Brown and other sources had it by Sr Germaine Habjan.

The editor here states that the original melody was by Sr Germain and it was adapted by Sr Deirdre Brown, which may be the solution. He credits Sr Deirdre with the text. He also provides his own arrangement, with chords and extra chords to play it capo 3 – most pastoral.

The text is likely the original, as PTG got rid of all the “men” and replaced them all with “all”, which was more inclusive, but made some of the lines less flowing.

As was his want, de Luca put a lot more music into his arrangement as evidenced by many more chords:

I used de Luca’s arrangement for a new backing:

Refrain

His peace he gives to us, his peace he leaves with us,

Not for us alone, but that we might give it again to all men.

1 The man who looks for God in the depths of their heart

Will find a hidden quiet, that nothing can disturb or take away.

2 The man who sees his life as an open door,

Through which all men might come to love and give again will know true peace.

3 The man whose joy it is to discover the world,

And meet the eyes of God in the beauty that is his, will sing of peace.

4 The man who knows that God has prepared him a home,

For all eternity to rejoice and to be free, will have true peace.

Unbelievably in all these years I’ve never covered this spiritual, which has become a standard.

First published in the 1920s of unknown authorship it became popular in the 1950s.

This hymnal has John de Luca’s own arrangement and there are even chords given to help me out. I gather from his sheet music it is meant to swing, which most sheet music for this piece most certainly does not. The text has many variations – de Luca prefers singular hands and plural babies.

1 He’s got the whole world in his hand.
He’s got the whole world in his hand.
He’s got the whole wide world in his hand.
He’s got the whole world in his hand.

2 He’s got you and me, brother, in his hand. . . .
He’s got the whole world in his hand.

3 He’s got you and me, sister, in his hand. . . .
He’s got the whole world in his hand.

4 He’s got the little tiny babies in his hand. . . .
He’s got the whole world in his hand.

5 He’s got everybody here in his hand. . . .
He’s got the whole world in his hand.

The original hit version:

I already covered this song in a job lot of CWB II songs for Feasts of the Lord and Solemenities, this one being suggested for “Mary, Help of Christians”.

It is another classic text by the poet James McAuley set by the marvellous Richard Connolly.

In the sample at Willow, where you can buy the sheet music, it is preceded by, “Holy Mary pray for us”. The sheet music is also available in the collection, Year of Grace.

1 Help of Christians, guard this land
From assault or inward stain;
Let it be what Christ has planned,
His new Eden where you reign.

2 Teach us that in Christ your Son
Lies the wisdom to be free;
For the Cross, which we would shun,
Is man’s tree of liberty

3 Should the powers of hell arise,
And our peace be trampled down,
In that night of blood and lies
Show us still your twelve-starred crown.

4 Take from us the coward heart,
Fleeting will, divided mind;
Give us sight to play our part,
Though the world around is blind.

5 Image of the risen life
Shining in eternity
Glimmer through our earthly strife,
Draw us to your victory

Well here’s something you don’t see often, a hymn for the souls in purgatory.

It was written by John Henry Cardinal Newman, I suppose so everyone knew he wasn’t an Anglican anymore.

This song would have a special use for All Souls Day.

It is here set to DUNDEE from the Scottish Psalter from 1615. The tune certainly sounds like all the Presbyterian hymns I sang as a child. Liturgyshare has all the sheet music for this one.

The text below is that found in this hymnal.

1 Help, Lord, the souls that thou hast made,
The souls to thee so dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

2 These holy souls, they suffer on,
Resigned in heart and will,
Until thy high behest is done,
And justice has its fill.

3 For daily falls, for pardon’d crime
They joy to undergo
The shadow of Thy Cross sublime,
The remnants of thy woe.

4 Good Jesu, help! sweet Jesu, aid
The souls to thee most dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

I found some extra verses:

Oh, by their patience of delay,
Their hope amid their pain,
Their sacred zeal to burn away
Disfigurement and stain.

Oh, by their fire of love, not less
In keenness than in flame,
Oh, by their very helplessness,
Oh, by Thy own great Name.

All sounds very Clement of Alexandria.

It seems to be set to many other tunes.

St Flavian:

Belmont:

Not sure of this setting:

I don’t think I have ever run across this Lenten hymn before.

It is a translation of a C6 text attributed to St Gregory the Great. Godsongs goes into its background to confirm the translation is PD, and here deLuca sites the translation as being from the “Primer” of 1706.

In this hymnal it is set to BABYLON’S STREAMS by Thomas Campion.

This is the text as in NLPHB. Archaic English seems to suit to translate ancient Latin but the sight rhymes jar a bit.

I appear to have made up chords for this backing using fake BIAB organ.

1 Hear, O thou bounteous Maker, hear
Our humble vows with gracious ear:
Turn not thy saving face away
Whilst on this solemn fast we pray.

2 Great searcher of our hearts, to thee
We here deplore our misery;
Behold, we to thy mercies fly,
Do thou thy healing grace apply.

3 Great are our sins, O Lord, but thou
Canst pardon more than we can do;
May our defects, like shadows, raise
The beauty and the life of grace.

4 May fasts extinguish in our will
The fuel and desire of ill,
And thus our souls, from fetters free,
May only thirst and follow thee.

5 Grant, O most sacred Trinity,
One undivided Unity,
That abstinence may here improve
Our claim to reign with thee above.

To learn to sing a song it helps to hear it sung by by someone with a normal voice.

Fancy…

John de Luca’s interaction with the folk mass repetoire was one of the reasons I wanted to cover his New Living Parish Hymn Book so competely.

This is his take on Ray Repp‘s, “Hear, O Lord” and he has certainly changed it both musically and lyrically.

I can’t find any sheet music on line – all the links from my previous post appear dead and OCP only have an MP3 to sell you. Godsongs notes the old collections it is found in, but they would need to be obtained second hand. If you use sites like Scribd they have copies.

Assuming the music I found back in 2014 reflected the original and changing the key to D as used here, de Luca has once again usefully tarted up the folk arrangement:

The orginal lyrics are, I believe:

Chorus

Hear O Lord the sound of my call,

Hear O Lord and have mercy.

My soul is longing for the glory of you,

O hear O Lord and answer me.

1 Every night before I sleep

I pray my soul to take,

Or else I pray that loneliness

Is gone when I awake.

Chorus

2 Why do I no longer feel

Like I’ve a place to stay?

O take me where someone will care

So fear will go away.

Chorus

3 In you, Lord, I place my cares

And all my troubles too.

O grant, dear Lord, that some day soon

I’ll live in peace with you.

Chorus

The words may have seemed too personal or unsuited to liturgy because other versions of the text are out there. With a refrain that is very influenced by the psalms it is no surprise that revised verses would also be inspired there. I found these verse lyrics by David Lauria:

1 For the Lord is my light and strength, so whom have I to fear?

He watches o’er my life below, in him alone I trust.

2 There is a river leading to the city God had made

Though waters crash and mountains roar the walls shall stand untouched.

3 Come and see the works of the Lord, exalt his name on high!

Though nations cry and kingdoms fall his voice brings peace to all.

John de Luca also wiped the verses and replace them with his paraphrase of Psalm 129. It is certainly a common enough folk trope to write your own lyrics to an older tune.

I don’t think his first verse works anymore because “Sweet Jesus” has become a profanity, but the rest is fine.

1 From the depths I call to you, sweet Jesus, hear my cry.

Oh, let your ears be ever keen to hear me when I sigh:

2 If the Lord should mark our guilt, what creature would survive?

But God to us his mercy shows, and fallen souls revive.

3 So my soul waits for the Lord, no longer so forlorn.

My soul is longing for the Lord as watchmen wait the dawn.

4 For the Lord is merciful, on him we do rely;

His people, Israel, lifted up from failure to on high.

5 Glory now to God be given, the Father and the Son,

And Holy Spirit, Gift of Love, for ever Three in One.

I made a backing with de Luca’s arrangement:

More Gelineau psalm goodness, this time Psalm 90 (91).

Again, NLPHB uses the original Grail text due to its time of publication.

There are a choice of two Antiphons:

1 My refuge, my stronghold, My God in whom I trust! (music by Anthony Gregory Murray)

2 Call upon the Lord and he will hear you. (music by Joseph Gelineau)

This backing is for Antiphon 2.

For those with the Australian Hymn Book, it is number 96, and there is another antiphon with music by Murray:

His angels shall keep me in safety, no evil shall I fear.

This psalm is, of course, the source of Michael Joncas’s timeless hymn. Now that I rarely choose non-Australian hymns, it seems ages since I sang it. I gather in America, it is so associated with funerals as to be difficult to use in a normal liturgy. While I have joked about this being the “Yoohoo” song, it is certainly moving and very nice when sung well.

This is such a powerful psalm is can even be recited:

Getting back to the New Living Parish Hymn Book, a had resolved to do every hymn come what may, but this one is a bit much.

It is Joseph Gelineau’s setting of Psalm 50 (51). Nothing wrong with that, but with the date of publication, the original Grail verses are used. I also have the version in Gather 3 which has revised Grail and needs to put extra music in some verses to cover the amendments. There are ten verses, upon which I refuse to attempt a metrical conversion.

Having refused that, here is a backing for the Antiphon:

Have mercy, Lord, cleanse me from all my sins.

Hymnary have a preview of the sheet music from Catholic Book of Worship III.

This is pretty:

Not Gelineau but fascinating: