I’ve been trying to learn songs from the masses posted here by my kind correspondents. Since my education in older Catholic music is sadly lacking, I suspect I’m putting up songs that everyone else knows, so I doubt these backings will help anyone learn any new songs. I made them simply to find out how they go since I can’t just sit at a keyboard and play them. I’ve made very simple backings on BIAB for these – mostly fake organ.
These songs were used by Ryan’s parish for Corpus Christi. Many are by Thomas Aquinas.
Gathering: All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly
Text by Silvia G. Dunstan. Tune: HOLY MANNA by William Moore.
Gifts: Panis Angelicus
Text by Thomas Aquinas. Tune by Louis Lambilotte
Communion: Take and Eat (Joncas – Quinn)
Exposition: O Saving Victim
Text by Thomas Aquinas, translated by Edward Caswell. Tune: DUGUET by Abbé Duguet.
Stations: Hail Our Saviour’s Glorious Body
Text by Thomas Aquinas, translated by James Quinn. Tune: PANGE LINGUA
I found more than one version of this tune.
Processing: Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All
Text by Frederick W Faber. Tune: SWEET SACRAMENT.
Benediction: Come Adore This Wondrous Presence
Text by Thomas Aquinas translated by James Quinn. Tune: ST THOMAS by John Francis Wade.
Closing: Holy God , We Praise Thy Name.
Look at that! It’s our whole Corpus Christi mass, including the procession parts! Great job on the backings. For adoration, we’ve always used those old songs, so I wondered if you were familiar with them. I always enjoy when you post the backings, even for songs I already know, so I can sing along with them.
My wife, who is a cradle Catholic knows them all, and is wondering what I’m up to when she hears them. As a late onset catholic they are new to me. The breadth of music used in our churches is amazing, but if that is how a community prays together and people are singing it has to be good.
That Thomas Aquinas guy must be annoyed that it’s all out of copyright.
cheers and thanks
Geoff
There’s an increasing number of cradle Catholics who don’t know the old material at all: I’m in my late 40s, and only learned some of them when I was younger. Also, definitions of old vary: someone pointed out that to the kids today “Here I am Lord” is as old as “Holy God we Praise Thy Name”.
Re Thomas Acquinas and copyright: Tom wrote in Latin, so while the original may be out of copyright the translated versions aren’t necessarily so. The folks who look after copyright for James Quinn (d 201o) certainly keep an eye out to make sure his rights are respected.
Going to my parish’s elementary school in the 90s, we almost always sang the “newer” stuff (Haugen, Haas, Schutte, etc.) at our weekly school masses. I suppose they’re more “kid-friendly.” A lot of my classmates who weren’t/still aren’t regular weekend mass attendees probably don’t know most of the older stuff even though they went through Catholic schools. I only learned the “old” stuff at the weekend masses, which our parish tends to keep pretty traditional in terms of music. (I will admit I enjoy the traditional stuff, but sometimes I crave a little “All You Works of God” or “Anthem.”)