Church Music

This song shares it’s refrain’s tune with yesterday’s hymn but has completely different verses.

That means it is by James Phillip McAuley and Richard Connolly. It is a Eucharist song, especially intended for Corpus Christi, which comes up soon. I have blogged it before in TIS. Since then it appeared in CWB II 462.

McAuley’s texts just don’t sound like other hymns. He was a great poet no doubt, but his hymn lyrics lose none of their poetry by being blunt and concise. Connelly’s setting are always inventive and memorable.

Willow have the sheet music.

Whereas I have avoided church organ in the past for my backings, for this collection I have frequently resorted to the wind up BIAB organ style, but have used more lines of the music to fill things out.

Refrain

By your priestly pow’r, O risen Lord.

All we lost and needed is restored.

God in our communion be adored.

1 At your hands, Lord, we are fed,

Hands that guide and do not falter,

Wounded hands that broke the bread on this altar.

2 At you hands we seek release

From the evils that assail us

For we know the Bread of Peace will not fail us.

3 In the world that we have known

Selfish, loud, vain passions riot;

Lord, with you, with you alone is deep quiet.

This is a delightful Easter hymn by the Australian team of the poet, James Phillip McAuley, and composer Richard Connelly.

I blogged this out of Together In Song, here, which meant they provided the chords. Since then it was published in CWB II 352.

While this hymnal is long out of print, Willow has kept McAuley and Connolly’s work available and the sheet music for this one is available from them.

I’ve redone my backing.

Refrain

By your kingly pow’r, O risen Lord,
All that Adam lost is now restored:
In your resurrection be adored.

1 Sing the joyful Easter cry,
Sound it to the souls in prison,
Shout our triumph to the sky:
Sing Christ risen, sing Christ risen.

2 Sing the joyful Easter cry,
Let all times and peoples listen:
Death has no more victory,
Sing Christ risen, sing Christ risen.

3 Death has lost and life has won;
Ev’ry newborn soul we christen
Now becomes the Father’s son:
Sing Christ risen, sing Christ risen.

I have looked at this as “At the Cross Her Vigil Keeping”, but not in this translation.

This is Stabat Mater in translation by Ronald Knox, which I couldn’t find anywhere so it required typing the whole fifteen verses.

More wind up BIAB organ:

1 By the cross her vigil keeping

Stands the Queen of sorrows weeping,

While her Son in torment hangs.

2 Now she feels O heart afllicted

By the sword of old predicted!

− more than all a mother’s pangs.

3 Sad and heavy stands beside him

She who once had magnified him

One begotten, only born.

4 While she sees that rich atoning,

Long the moaning, deep the groaning

Of her mother-heart forlorn.

5 Who, Christ’s mother contemplating

In such bitter anguish waiting,

Has no human tears to shed.

6 Who would leave Christ’s mother, sharing

All the pain her Son is bearing,

By those tears uncomforted.

7 Victim-priest of Jewry’s nation,

There he hangs in expiation;

Scourge and nail have had their will.

8 Earth and heaven his cause forsaking,

Now his noble heart is breaking,

Now the labouring breath is still.

9 Mother, fount whence love flows truest,

Let me know the pain thou knewest,

Let me weep as thou hast wept.

10 Love, divine within me burning,

That diviner love returning,

May thy Son this heart accept.

11 Mother, if my prayer be granted,

Those five wounds of his implanted

In my breast I fain would see.

12 Love exceeding hangs there bleeding,

My cause pleading, my love needing −

Bid him share his cross with me.

13 Till life fails, I would not fail him,

Still remember, still bewail him,

Born thy Son, and crucified.

14 By the cross my vigil keeping

I would spend those hours of weeping,

Queen of sorrows, at thy side.

15 When my body lies forsaken

Let my ransomed soul awaken

Safe, in Paradise, with thee.

Edward Caswell’s translation seems the more used:

I looked at this less than a year ago in Catholic Worship Book I, and I thought I might find a retention of archiac language here, and yes, John de Luca has kept the older wording.

I did refresh my backing of the old German tune LASST UNS ERFREUEN a little. The text is a C11 Latin Easter Sunday sequence translated by K.W. Blount (died 1717) and subsequently and variously brought up to date.

LiturgyShare has the all you need to know about this hymn.

1. Bring, all ye dear-bought nations,
   Bring your richest praises to your King,
   Alleluia, Alleluia,
   That spotless Lamb, who more than due,
   Paid for his sheep, and those sheep you,
   Alleluia x5.
2. The guiltless Son, who bought your peace,
   and made his Father’s anger cease,
   Alleluia, Alleluia,
   Then, Life and death together fought,
   each to a strange extreme was brought.
   Alleluia x5.
3. Life died, but soon revived again,
   And even death by it was slain.
   Alleluia, Alleluia,
   Say, happy Magdalen, oh say
   What did you see there by the way,
   Alleluia x5.
4. “I saw the tomb of my dear Lord,
   I saw himself and him adored;
   Alleluia, Alleluia,
   I saw the napkin and the sheet,
   That bound his head and wrapped his feet”.
   Alleluia x5.
5. “I heard the angels witness bear,
   ‘Jesus is ris’n; he is not here:
   Alleluia, Alleluia,
   Go, tell his followers they shall see,
   Thine and their hope in Galilee’ “.
   Alleluia x5.
6. We, Lord, with faithful hearts and voice
   On this your rising day rejoice;
   Alleluia, Alleluia,
   O thou, whose power o’ercame the grave,
   By grace and love, us sinners save,
   Alleluia x5.

I’ve got nothing…

This is a chant setting of the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79) arranged by John de Luca.

I hope it is useful.

This is “The Beatitudes” by Peter Kearney, which I looked at years ago and is very well known and much loved in Australia. It is his paraphrase of Matt 5:3-11.

The text is here, but I note he now prefers “pure in heart” to “clean of heart”.

This is another example of John de Luca arranging a folk style song with much more interesting chords.

I got the original chords from Gather Australia and compared them with the chords in this hymnal. It is also in Catholic Worship Book II 456, but don’t expect them to provide chords.

I made a new backing with these chords:

This is Edward Caswall’s C19 translation of the ancient Latin text, ~C4, by Aurelius Prudentius. It is set to a C16 tune STUTTGART by Christian F. Witt.

CWB II has a variant of this one called, “Earth Has Many a Noble City” to the same tune.

The editor here conceded his text is “alt” and I’m not sure of its provenance, but there is so much difference between versions of this text at some point it becomes someone else’s translation. I’m concernd about the incarnate bear as well.

1 Bethlehem, of noblest cities
None can once with thee compare;
Thou alone the Lord of heaven
Didst for us incarnate bear.

2 Fairer than the sun at morning
Was the star that told his birth;
To the lands their God announcing,
seen in human form on earth.

3 By its wondrous beauty guided,
See, the eastern kings appear;
See them bend, their gifts to offer,
Gifts of incence, gold and myrrh.

4 Solemn things of mystic meaning!
Incense doth the God disclose;
Gold a royal Child proclaimeth;
Myrrh a future tomb foreshows.

5 Holy Jesus, in your brightness,
To the gentle world display’d,
With the Father and the Spirit.
Endless praise to thee be paid.

For comarison puprposes, here is the text at Hymnary:

1 Earth has many a noble city;
Bethl’hem, thou dost all excel:
out of thee the Lord from heaven
came to rule his Israel.

2 Fairer than the sun at morning
was the star that told his birth,
to the world its God announcing
seen in fleshly form on earth.

3 Eastern sages at his cradle
make oblations rich and rare;
see them give in deep devotion,
gold and frankincense and myrrh.

4 Sacred gifts of mystic meaning:
incense doth their God disclose,
gold the King of kings proclaimeth,
myrrh his sepulcher foreshows.

5 Jesu, whom the Gentiles worshipped
at thy glad Epiphany,
unto thee with God the Father
and the Spirit glory be.

I have blogged this before in a couple of forms: AOV and CWB I.

The tune is traditional Irish “, SLANE, and the text is an “ancient Irish hymn” as translated by Mary Elizabeth Byrne and adapted by Eleanor Henrietta Hull… and everyone else.

John de Luca gives us six verses and the words below are as in his hymnal, where he has left the archaisms and not watered down the battles and the swords. My wind up BIAB organ is based on his arrangement but is all my own fault.

1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
   Naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
   Thou my best thought by day and by night
   Waking or sleeping thy presence my light.
2. Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word,
   I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
   Thou art my great Father, and I thy true Son;
   Thou in me dwelling, I with thee one.
3. Be thou my shield and my sword for the fight;
   Be thou my armour, and be thou my might:
   Thou art my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower:
   Raise thou me heav’nward, O Power of my power.
4. Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
   Thou mine inheritance through all my days,
   For thou, and thou only, the first in my heart,
   High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.
5. King of high heaven, keep thou ever whole
   Thy love in my heart, thy light in my soul;
   O light of my soul, from me never part,
   King of high heaven, O love of my heart.
6. High King of Heaven, when battle is done
   Grant heaven’s joy to me, bright heaven’s Sun;
   O Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
   Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

I have done this one before, but never with a straight organ backing so I though I have another go at FINLANDIA.

Whether BIAB should be doing Sibelius at all is another question, but it is a glorious and moving funeral tune and a lovely text even in translation: done by Jane Borthwick from Katharina von Schegel’s original. The text varies – this is the one in the New Living Parish Hymn Book.

1. Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a rightful end.

2. Be still, my soul: your God does undertake
To guide the future as he has the past,
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake,
All now mysterious shall be clear at last.
Be still, my soul: the tempests still obey
His voice, who ruled them once on Galilee.

3. Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shall you better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe your sorrow calm your fears.
Be still, my soul: for Jesus can repay
From his own fullness all he takes away.

4. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgotten, love’s pure joy restored.
Be still my soul: when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

This isn’t exactly the same as the arrangement in the NLPHB.

This Easter hymn is a bit much I think, I can’t imagine it being sung these days due to the militaristic overtones – let me know if you still use it.

The text is a C17 Latin hymn with a translation by Ronald Knox, but I can only imagine that with all the internal rhymes he employed it would have to be a somewhat loose approximation. My favourite is rhyming “never-tiring” with “choiring”. There is a slightly less alarming version called “The Strife is O’er the Battle Done”, which I blogged to a different setting here.

Here, though, it is set to SURREXIT by Anthony Gregory Murray, mainly known for having three of the original Wiggles in his name.

More organ BIAB – it appears I had to make up the chords:

Knox’s text is:

1 Battle is o’ver, hell’s armies flee;
Raise we the cry of victory
With abounding joy resounding,
Alleluia, alleluia.

2 Christ who endured the shameful tree,
O’er death triumphant welcome we,
Our adoring praise outpouring,
Alleluia, alleluia.

3 On the third morn from death rose he,
Clothed with what light in heaven shall be,
Our unswerving faith deserving,
Alleluia, alleluia.

4 Hell’s gloomy gates yield up their key,
Paradise door thrown wide we see;
Never-tiring be our choiring,
Alleluia, alleluia.

5 Lord, by the stripes they laid on thee,
Grant us to live from death set free,
This our greeting still repeating,
Alleluia, alleluia.

For comparison purposes, yet another translation, with the same setting this time translated by John Mason Neale, with five different internal rhymes, which makes me suspect the Latin original must have had internal rhymes that somehow had to be in the translation:

1 Finished is the battle now,
Gloriously crowned the victor’s brow!
Hence with sadness, sing with gladness:
Alleluya, alleluya!

2 After the death that him befell,
Jesus Christ has harrowed hell!
Songs of praising we are raising:
Alleluya, alleluya!

3 On the third morning he arose,
Shining with victory o’er his foes;
Earth is singing, heaven is ringing:
Alleluya, alleluya!

4 Jesus has closed hell’s brazen door,
Heaven is open evermore!
Our adoring praise outpouring:
Alleluya, alleluya!

5 Lord, by thy wounds we call on thee
So from ill death to set us free,
That our living be thanksgiving:
Alleluya, alleluya!

I can’t find the sheet music anywhere, so here it is:

Speaking of militaristic overtones, how about this dreadful ditty I sang as a child at Sunday school in the 1960s: