O God, We Bear the Imprint of Your Face AA 106

Another fine Shirley Murray text seeking peace in unity from Alleluia Aotearoa.

The text is at Hope Publishing. They provide the sheet music for two settings.

RAUMATI BEACH by Dan Damon:

TODOS LOS COLERES by Margaret R. Tucker:

AA suggests Orlando Gibbons’ SONG 1:

I’ve also seen it set to ROSEBERRY by Brice Neswick. It is in the New Century Hymnal, which I haven’t got and I can’t find the sheet music.

It is also set to FINLANDIA:

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O Christ Who By a Cross AA 105

A song of peace from Shirley Murray. It is in Alleluia Aotearoa.

The text is at Hope Publishing where it is set to SURSUM CORDA by Alfred Smith, the same setting used in AA.

My backing uses made up chords some guessed, some from the sheet music.

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Now to Your Table Spread AA 100

The link I have been using to where you can buy Alleluia Aotearoa at Philip Garside books has gone stale, but it looks like it can still be purchased in pdf form there.

I am embarked on the quixotic quest to blog all the Shirley Erena Murray texts in Alleluia Aotearoa. I had not reckoned on just how much of New Zealand hymnody came from one amazing woman and how many settings some of her texts found.

This is a hymn of unity for the Eucharist. The words are at Hope Publishing along with the setting LOVE UNKNOWN by John Ireland.

The real thing:

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Now As We Go AA 99

It does look like Shirley Murray wrote half this book (Alleluia Aotearoa), which is both a great legacy and more work than I thought.

At least I could only find one setting of this benediction. Both Alleluia Aotearoa and Hope Publishing use Colin Gibson‘s BENEDICTION.

This is my backing with made up chords.

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New Child of God AA 96

This is a song for baptism in Alleluia Aotearoa with a Shirley Murray text. It is a lovely sentiment but uses the Maori word “aroha” so travels only as far as that word is accepted.

The text is at Hope Publishing where they provide the sheet music for the setting by T.B. Southgate (GIDEON). Trying to make a backing using chords derived from the sheet music was more difficult than normal. F13b5sus anyone – fortunately BIAB can’t do that chord.

AA instead gives the sheet music for the setting by Ian Render, WATER’S EDGE and actually provided the chords for a change.

They also suggested HERONGATE (Trad arr Ralph Vaughn Williams) and the indispensable Together In Song had the chords for that one. It is out of print unfortunately. Unlike CWB II, the editors obviously got out of cathedrals occasionally and understood the benefit of chords for guitarists and basic keyboard players.

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Loving Spirit AA 94

This text from Shirley Murray in Alleluia Aotearoa, is useful for baptism, confirmation and commissioning as well as Trinity and Pentecost.

The text is at Hope Publishing. They give four settings and AA another two and a quick look at You Tube found another two so you are spoiled for choice. Some have been written specifically for this text and others are 8.7.8.7 and so fit fine.

The first four settings have sheet music at Hope.

OMNI DIE by David Gregof Corner (c17):

LOVING SPIRIT by Hal H. Hopson:

BETH by Rusty Edwards:

ANGSANA by Swee Hing Lim:

FELICITY by Colin Gibson is in AA:

David Dell’s setting, also from AA:

… or you could set it to ELLEN:

…or RESTORATION:

Hymnary says it is also sung to CHHUN-BIN but I’ll leave that one to you people!

OMNE DIE wins the YouTube poll.

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Lift High the Cross AA 87

Shirley Murray rewrote the verses of this already revised George Kitchen text to good effect. I blogged the earlier version here. The triumphalism of some old texts is jarring.

Murrays’s adapted text and the sheet music is at Hope Publishing.

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Let’s Praise the Creator AA 86

This is a wedding song from Shirley Murray in Alleluia Aotearoa.

The text is at at Hope Publishing, where, like AA, they set it to KREMSER, a Dutch tune collected by Eduard Kremser.

It is also set to THE ROAD AND MILES TO DUNDEE, a traditional Scottish tune. Being public domain, this is a good example of the benefits of the Small Church Music site. There are BIAB files, MIDI files, PDF files etc etc there that can be very useful.

I still made my own backing to the tune that must have influenced one of the versions of “Away in a Manger”.

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Music for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A 28th/29th January 2023

Entrance: Seek Ye First (Lafferty) AOV 1/48

Gifts: Mercy from the Heart of God (O’Brien/Ogilive) AOVD

Communion: Beatitudes (Balhoff/Ducotte)

Recessional: Bring Forth the Kingdom (Haugen) AOV 2/4

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Music for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A January 21st/22nd 2023

Entrance: Christ Light, Shining in the Darkness (Grant) CWBII 468

Gifts: Blessed Be Our God  (McKenna) AOV NG 13

Communion: They’ll Know We Are Christians (Scholtes) AOV 1/130

Recessional:  Galilee Song (Andersen) AOV 1/15

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