Church Music

Since I have already done:

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

… I have finished the songs in CWB II for Trinity Sunday and have arrived at songs for Corpus Christi.

I did a whole Mass of Corpus Christi songs here some time ago but CWB II has some suggestions for the sequence.

395: Ecce panis angelorum / See, the bread of angels given

This is the sequence for the Body and Blood of Christ in chant mode with a text by Thomas Aquinas translated by Henry W. Baker.

The text is at the end of this bulletin.

It sounds like this:

396a Come, Behold the Bread of Angels

This is the last two verses of 396b Praise, O Zion, Christ Our Glory / Lauda sion by Thomas Aquinas and here translated by John G Hibbard and set to PICARDY. The text is in this bulletin.

This is another song that is for Trinity Sunday. It is by Omar Westendorf, the founder of WLP.

It is set to GOTT VATER SEI GEPRIESEN.

The text is here. It appears to have been altered for CWB II:

Redeemed of Adam’s race -> O heirs of Adam’s race

We live in Him as one -> We are in Christ made one

I’m not sure what was unacceptable theologically there but I’m sure I can be enlightened.

Now for some confusion a near identical text is attributed to Mark Evans. Since he has the same birth year I suspect it is a pseudonym.

Getting back into the music for specific liturgies in Catholic Worship Book II is this song set for Trinity Sunday with a simple direct text by Michael Perry.

You can find the words at Jubilate. They have it set to DIM OND IESU but CWB II sets it to STUTTGART.

This is a lovely Easter song used at RS’s parish recently that was new to me. It is by Jaime Cortez.

The sheet music is at OCP where the text is in their preview.

Entrance: Jesus is Risen (O’Brien- Ogilvie) AOV NG 82

Psalm 29 (McKenna)

I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Gifts: Do You Really Love Me (Landry)

Communion: Bread of Life (Farrell) AOV 1/164

Thanksgiving: The Summons (Maule-Bell) AOV NG 149

Recessional: Alleluia, Love is Alive (Angrisano, Manibusan, Hart)

Trish was able to point me to the sheet music of this song her parish used at Open Hymnal. With CWB II relying so heavily on old material, especially for tunes, Open Hymnal is looking a much more practical alternative for traditional hymnody.

This is a C18 German song for Eucharist. The version in the Open Hymnal is hamstrung by archaic English in the translation and over complex sentence construction that will make singing it interesting. It is much like the current missal translation in that respect. There are however a lot of variations in lyrics after the first verse available. OCP have a version with a less clunky translation. It is set to NON DIGNUS.

This from the Open Hymnal version:

O Lord, I am not worthy that thou should'st come to me.
But speak the words of comfort, my spirit healed shall be.

o Lord, Thou art all holy, the angels thee adore;
How, then, ought I sincerely my wrongs and sins deplore!

But when Thou soon will enter, my heart, my sinful heart,
Then heal me, be my shelter, for Thou my Saviour art.

O Lord, how can I thank Thee for such a gift as this?
A gift which truly filleth my soul with heavenly bliss!

I praise Thee, I extol Thee, I love Thee O my Sire,
Till once in joy and glory, in heav'n I Thee admire.

This is from Godsongs and has the verses used by OCP and which seem in more common use:

 O Lord, I am not worthy that thou should’st come to me;
But speak the word of comfort, my spirit healed shall be.

And humbly I’ll receive thee, the bridegroom of my soul,
No more by sin to grieve thee or fly thy sweet control.

Eternal Holy Spirit, unworthy though I be,
Prepare me to receive him and trust the Word to me.

Increase my faith, dear Jesus, in thy real presence here,
And make me feel most deeply that thou to me art near.

Happy morning, sweet the hour, That on which Thou cam'st to me,
Beauteous, too, that glorious power, Which allures my soul to Thee.

Thou for whom I've long been sighing, Jesus now, at length Thou'rt mine, 
In Thy sweet embraces lying, Press, oh, press my heart to Thine.

Let not death nor life asunder Rend the bond that makes me Thine; 
Ah, how blissful is the wonder That uplifts my heart to Thine, 

Trish has continued my never ending Catholic education by reminding me of the Open Hymnal. It is a great source for public domain hymns.

The song “Down in Adoration” she used isn’t there but I discovered it was given as the last two verses of “Sing, My Tongue, the Saviour’s Glory” CWB II 314. Tantum ergo was continued after Pange lingua gloriosi and I have found this in more than one hymnal now so that must be as it is meant to be. The tune is still ST THOMAS by John F Wade.

While looking for all this I found Matt Maher’s “Adoration”, in which he adds a chorus to Wade’s tune. It would need careful handling to keep the prayerful atmosphere going.

I made a backing nonetheless. The sheet music can be purchased at OCP where his extra lyrics are in the preview.

This is another song from Trish’s parish used at Easter. It is from a southern Gospel and country tradition.

It was written by William and Gloria Gaither.

I saw that it had also been arranged in a more contemporary fashion (sheet music can be purchased here) and my backing attempts that. The text is here. The line about the empty tomb explains its use at Easter.

Trish let me know some of the music selections for Easter at her parish. I couldn’t find them all but this one has a text by Judson W. Van De Venter and music by W. S. Weeden.

I think it is mainly used in Protestant traditions, but you could see its use for RCIA and commissioning liturgies.

My backing started with the BIAB file at Small Church Music, but its current state is all my fault.

1 All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
2 All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine. [Refrain]
3 All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me. [Refrain]

Some versions of the text have more verses than this.

I will get back to the songs for specific masses in CWB II, but there are a few songs mentioned in liturgies posted here to look at.

Ryan noted a song for Palm Sunday called “Hosanna” by Carl Tuttle. I have a copy in Together in Song 724. I really dislike nearly every Palm Sunday song I have had to play at mass over the years, but this one is acceptable. It is, however, not covered by One Licence – only CCLI – so that scuppers it use around here.

The text is here.

The sheet music can be purchased at various sites including sheetmusicplus.