Christmas Morning (2011)

Sunday, 25 December 2011

 
Entrance (i) Hodie Christus natus est (chant)
(ii) O Come all ye faithful
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm All the ends of the earth (Alan Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts God rest ye merry Gentlemen
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion Love came down at Christmas (Christina Rossetti/Malcolm Archer)
Recessional Hark, the herald angels sing
 

Seven men of the choir made our usual merry noise in three and four part harmony. Malcolm Archer’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s poem, and Bernadette Farrell’s thoughtful Communion song, made for moments of tranquility among all the festive cheer.

A happy Christmas to everyone!

Christmas Vigil and Midnight Mass (2011)

Saturday, 24 December 2011

 
Introit O Emmanuel (chant)
Opening Hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Reading Isaiah 11:1-10 (A shoot springs from the stock of
Jesse)
Choir Angels we have heard on high (trad. arr Eric Paździora)
Hymn It came upon the midnight clear
Reading Luke 1:26-38 (The Annunciation)
Hymn In the bleak midwinter (Holst)
Reading John 1: 1-18 (In the Beginning was the Word)
Choir Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
Bishop’s entrance and procession to the crib Adeste Fideles
Gloria Gloria de Noël (Thomas Niel)
Reading Isaiah 9:2-7 (The people that walked in darkness)
Psalm Christmas Psalm (Bernadette Farrell)
Reading Titus 2:11-14 (God’s grace has been revealed)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Reading Luke 2:1-14 (The Nativity)
Preparation of the gifts What sweeter music (John Rutter)
Sanctus, Acclamation Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Silent night
Postcommunion While shepherds watched their flocks
Recessional Hark the herald angels sing
 

A bigger congregation than usual joined us for Midnight Mass; perhaps it was the mild weather, or an end at last to the Chapel Street road works. Celebration Brass were there too, and Deacon Liam Bradley from the diocese of Menevia, nearly at the end of his year’s placement in Salford diocese, sang the Gospel beautifully. Our musical banquet had, as usual, something for everyone.

4th Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 18 December 2011

 
Entrance The Angel Gabriel
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Ps 88 (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamations (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Ave Maria (Franz Schubert, 1797-1828, arr. Richard Proulx)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion Veni Immanuel (John Bell) & Ps 79(80)
Postcommunion Rorate Caeli (Francisco Guerrero, 1528-1599)
Recessional O come, O come Emmanuel
 

Ave Maria is today’s Offertory antiphon. We had rehearsed settings by Elgar and Rachmaninov, in anticipation of a celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception that wasn’t to be, but I’m glad we settled on Schubert for today’s Annunciation-themed celebration. Richard Proulx's arrangement gives the first stanza (so to speak) to a solo soprano, sung today with luminous serenity by Gwen Leech, with the second section set for four-part choir.

The name Emmanuel appears in today’s Communion antiphon, and we echoed it in our Communion processional song, and in our jubilant final hymn.

Celebration of Christmas in aid of Age Concern

Sunday, 11 December 2011

 
Cathedral Choir & Notability What sweeter music (John Rutter)
All O Come all ye Faithful
Notability Simeon’s Song (Robin Stevens)
Just another Star (Karl Jenkins and Carol Barratt, arr. Peter Gritton)
All O little town of Bethlehem
Jon Christos & Jenny WilliamsO Holy Night (Adolphe Adam)
Panis Angelicus (César Franck)
All Good King Wenceslas
Cathedral Choir Angels we have heard on high (trad. arr Eric Paździora)
All Once in Royal David’s City
Notability Sweet was the Song (Andrew Goff)
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (John Neal Koudelka)
Anthony Hunt (Organ) Prelude on ‘Forest Green’ (Philip Marshall)
Cathedral Choir O Magnum Mysterium (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Jon Christos & Jenny Williams In the Bleak Midwinter (Harold Darke) – with Notability & Cathedral Choir
Silent Night (Franz Grüber)
Singalong led by Jon & Jenny Winter Wonderland
The Christmas Song
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
All Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Anthony Hunt Vom Himmel Hoch, Da Komm Ich Herr (Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau)
 

Musically speaking, there was something for everyone: choirs, soloists Jon, Jenny and Anthony, and audience; plus readings and talks from local dignitaries, and a prayer and blessing led by Bishop Brain.

It was fun to join forces with the excellent Notability to sing Rutter’s What sweeter music: singing in the sumptuous acoustic of the Cathedral chancel, we took it slowly and left plenty of room at the pauses, all to let Robert Herrick’s words speak as beautifully as the music.

3rd Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 11 December 2011

 
Entrance Rejoice for ever (mcb)
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm My Soul Rejoices (Owen Alstott)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts O Rex Gentium (chant) & Magnificat Octavi Toni (Orlande de Lassus, 1532-1594)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion Bread of Life (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion Rejoice in the Lord Alway (Henry Purcell, 1659-1695)
Recessional Lo, he comes with clouds desending
 

With the Magnificat taking the place of a Responsorial Psalm today, we took the opportunity to sing one of the great O Antiphons in its proper context, so to speak. The antiphons precede and follow the Magnificat at Vespers in the final week of Advent, so at the Preparation of the Gifts we sang Lassus’s simple setting of the canticle, alternating chant and polyphony, flanked by repetitions of the antiphon O Rex Gentium.

Taken together with pieces by Bernadette Farrell, John Bell and co., as well as the chant Mass setting and (a truncated version of) Purcell’s jubilant anthem, it made for a good mix of music.

2nd Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 4 December 2011

 
Entrance Song of Consolation (Peter Jones)
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm Ps 84 (Elsie Wright)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Conditor Alme Siderum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion Wait for the Lord (Taizé)
Postcommunion Hierusalem Surge (Heinrich Isaac, c. 1450-1517)
Recessional Come, thou long-expected Jesus
 

Our trademark mix of music, from Peter Jones and Jacques Berthier to Victoria, still in his quatercentenary year, and Heinrich Isaac. Isaac was a new name for us, and it was illuminating to set his music side by side with that of Victoria from a hundred years later. Isaac’s setting of the communion antiphon felt plain and brightly lit, compared with the light-and-shade subtleties of Victoria’s polyphony, alternating with chant verses. But both, I thought, were beautiful and prayerful.

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force Carol Service 2011

Saturday, 3 December 2011

 
Choir Gaudete (trad., arr. Craig Kingsbury)
All O Come, All Ye Faithful
Choir    Angels we have heard on high (trad., arr. Eric Paździora)
All O Little Town of Bethlehem
All Once in Royal David’s City
Choir The Coventry Carol (trad., arr Martin Shaw)
All Silent Night
All While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
All National Anthem
All Hark the Herald Angels Sing
 

Celebration Brass joined us for an early celebration of Christmas with the Army Cadets, their chaplains and sundry assembled dignitaries. The continuing road works in Chapel Street were evidently a more formidable obstacle than last year’s blizzards, so we started later than planned, once the last of the coaches had negotiated the queues and diversions.

1st Sunday of Advent (Year B, 2011)

Sunday, 27 November 2011

 
Entrance Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Kyrie Missal Chant
Psalm God of hosts, bring us back (Sue Furlong)
Gospel Acclamation Advent Gospel Acclamation (Alan Smith)
Prayers of Intercession Through our lives (John Bell)
Preparation of the Gifts Wake O Wake, with tidings thrilling (Philipp Nicolai, 1566-1608, arr mcb & J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Missal Chant
Agnus Dei Missal Chant
Communion To you, O lord, I lift my soul (Marty Haugen)
Postcommunion Ad te levavi (F.X. Witt, 1834-1888)
Recessional Love divine, all loves excelling
 

Our two pieces during Communion both took their text from the entrance antiphon:

To you, I lift up my soul, O my God. In you, I have trusted; let me not be put to shame. Nor let my enemies exult over me; and let none who hope in you be put to shame.

Franz Xaver Witt was a founding father of the Cecilian movement, and his dramatic miniature is five parts imitation Palestrina to one part attempted Bruckner. Marty Haugen’s gentle prayerful setting adds verses from Psalm 25.

We sang two verses of Philipp Nicolai’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, in the 1906 translation by Francis Crawford Burkitt. The first was my perky dance-like arrangement for four voices, the second a more stately rendition of Bach’s chorale harmonisation. The overall mood of the piece was one of burgeoning anticipation; just right for a first celebration of Advent.

Christ the King (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 20 November 2011

 
Entrance Christus Vincit
Kyrie Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm Ps 22 (Gélineau)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Let all the world in every corner sing
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Te saeculorum principem (chant) & Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
Postcommunion Hallelujah (from the Messiah by G.F. Handel, 1685-1759)
Recessional Crown him with many crowns
 

We opened our celebration with plainchant at its most muscular – the mid-13th century Laudes Regiae from the Worcester Antiphoner, in the version reconstructed by Laurence Bévenot. This is different from the version appearing in the Roman chant books, with the latter version’s emphasis on prayers for the Church. We prayed instead chiefly for the Pope: tu illum adiuva rather than illam.

Today’s Communion antiphon from Ps 28 –
The Lord shall reign for ever and will give his people the gift of peace

was the perfect excuse for the Hallelujah chorus, echoing the first sentiment, if not so obviously the second.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) and Remembrance Sunday 2011

Sunday, 13 November 2011

 
Introit Requiem Aeternam (chant)
Opening Hymn Abide with me
Kyrie Kyrie for 3 Voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm O blessed are those (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Will you let me be your servant
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Confitemini Domino (Taizé) & Ps 117 (Bévenot)
Postcommunion Justorum Animae (Charles Villiers Stanford, 1852-1924)
Recessional O praise ye the Lord
 

Stanford’s powerful and dramatic setting of words from the book of Wisdom was just right for Remembrance Sunday, as was the plainchant introit from the Requiem Mass, and the hymn which followed our two minutes’ silence at the beginning of Mass.

The readings and antiphons for the 33rd Sunday were harder to match with suitable songs, I thought, but Paul Inwood’s gentle setting of the responsorial psalm hit the right note, as did our song – taking up the image of the good and faithful servant from St Matthew’s Gospel – at the preparation of the gifts.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 6 November 2011



Entrance Awake, awake, fling off the night
Sprinkling Rite Springs of Water (Marty Haugen)
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm Ps 62 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation Celtic Alleluia (Fintan O’Carroll)
Presentation of Confirmation Candidates Christ be our Light (Bernadette Farrell)
Preparation of the Gifts Wisdom Come Softly (Diane Murden & Martin Barry)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Because the Lord is my Shepherd (Christopher Walker)
Recessional O Jesus Christ, remember
 

We had fairly family-friendly musical fare for a celebration including the presentation of most of our eighteen candidates for Confirmation and First Communion this year. While the children and their parents processed to the Paschal Candle to light their Baptismal candles, we sang Christ be our light.

We sang my second setting of the Lamb of God for the first time in a good while. While it was off the road it underwent a re-fit – the final phrase being rewritten to bring the words more closely into line with the Missal text, the way composers are now being encouraged. The congregation seemed to cope with the change without demur. The revised version survived scrutiny by the panel of the Bishops’ Conference, and was approved for publication in Glory to God, now appearing (in its agreeably rapid second printing) at a religious bookshop near you. I'm not sure why the publisher’s own web site gives so little information about it.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Lord of all hopefulness
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Psallite Mass
Psalm Ps 130 (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Belmont Mass
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Centre of my life (Paul Inwood)
Postcommunion Pater Noster (Igor Stravinsky, 1882-1971)
Recessional Guide me, O thou great redeemer
 

Today’s readings offered images of parenthood. Have we not all one Father?, we were asked in the first reading from Malachi, and we heard our Lord’s answer in the reading from St Matthew’s Gospel: you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. We sang Stravinsky’s setting of the Lord’s Prayer, in which we call God Father, and obey his command (again recounted by Malachi) to glorify my name.

There were images of motherhood too, in the Responsorial Psalm, and in St Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, but fewer choices when it came to musical settings embodying the same images.

The Communion Antiphon was from Psalm 15:

Lord, you will show me the path of life
and fill me with joy in your presence.

and our Communion processional song was Paul Inwood’s setting of this Psalm.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 23 October 2011

 
Entrance Father, Lord of all creation
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 17 (James Walsh)
Gospel Acclamation Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of the Gifts Make me a channel of your peace (Sebastian Temple, arr. William Llewellyn)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Belmont Mass
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Lord, your love has drawn us near (Stephen Dean)
Postcommunion Love divine, all loves excelling (Howard Goodall)
Recessional All my hope on God is founded
 

Prompted by today’s readings, our musical selections reflected on love, human and divine.

For the ordinary of the Mass, we continued with Chris Walker’s Belmont Mass, whose prayerful chant-inspired melodies to my mind succeed in embodying the ‘noble simplicity’ spoken of (in Sacrosanctum Concilium) as characteristic of the liturgy. The published version is entirely for unison voices, but we experimented today with a cappella four-part harmony, the choir fitting the words to the harmonies of the organ part in both the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei. It worked very well, I thought, and it will give us the option of varying the texture – unison voices with organ, unaccompanied unison singing, accompanied and unaccompanied vocal harmonies – to suit times and seasons.

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 16 October 2011

 
Entrance O God beyond all praising (Gustav Holst/Michael Perry)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 95 (Reynolds)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Holy is God (Liam Lawton)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Belmont Mass
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Turn to me (John Foley)
Postcommunion Ab ortu solis (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Recessional Holy God, we praise thy name
 

In today’s first reading, from Isaiah, we heard the words from the rising to the setting of the sun, apart from me, all is nothing. We sang a similar text with a different scriptural source (namely Malachi) in Byrd’s setting of the tract for the Votive Mass of the Blessed Sacrament:

From the rising of the sun to its setting,
my name is great among the nations,
and in every place a pure sacrifice is offered to my name:
for my name is great among the nations.

This same scriptural text is highlighted in the new translation of the third Eucharistic prayer, which we also heard today.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 9 October 2011

 
Entrance All are welcome (Marty Haugen)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 22 (Boulton Smith/Gélineau)
Gospel Acclamation Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of the Gifts The Lord is my Shepherd (John Rutter)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion Now in this banquet (Marty Haugen)
Postcommunion He hath filled the hungry from Magnificat, Op 69 no 3 (Felix Mendelssohn, 1809-1847)
Recessional Thy hand, O God, has guided
 

The readings today told of the banquet prepared for all by the Lord, and our music explored this image.

In his homily Fr Tony explored the link between the Gospel story of the wedding feast, and the use of the the phrase for many in the newly-translated Eucharistic Prayers. Invite everyone you can find, the king orders; but one guest who fails to take the event seriously is given his marching orders. If the punch line (so to speak) had been all are called, many are chosen the two issues would have tied in exactly. But the Gospel story was still helpful in explaining why we needn’t be puzzled by the new-old use of the word many.

It reassured me, in any event, that our opening song today has words which we can properly sing as an invitation to the Eucharistic banquet.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 2 October 2011

 
Entrance This is the day (mcb)
Kyrie Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 79 (Walsh/Bévenot)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts The Lord of All (Daniel Bath)
Sanctus, Acclamation C, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass
Communion One bread, one body (John Foley)
Postcommunion Rejoice in the Lord alway (Anon. c. 1600)
Recessional My song is love unknown
 

There were plenty of key scriptural phrases to choose from in planning today’s music. The Gospel reading gave us

It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see.

which we sang in the final verse of our opening song. We took the entrance antiphon verbatim in Daniel Bath’s gentle African Gospel-style setting for our song at the preparation of the gifts; and at communion we sang the antiphon from 1 Cor 10:17 in John Foley’s now-venerable and still much-loved setting.

New Music for the Mass – Salford Cathedral Centre, Saturday 5 November 2011

New Music for the Mass: a day for parish music directors, organists, singers and other musicians

 

You are invited to a day at the Cathedral Centre, Salford, on Saturday 5 November 2011 (10.30 am – 4.00 pm) to look at music for the new translation of the Missal. This is a repeat of the event held in June of this year, so if you missed out on that occasion, we hope you'll be able to join us this time round. Places are limited to 60, so do please get your booking in early!

Martin Barry (Director of Music at Salford Cathedral) and Fr Peter Jones (parish priest, composer and chair of the Archdiocese of Birmingham Church Liturgy and Music Committee) will present a day of new music for the Mass, introducing a wide range musical settings written for the new translation of the Missal.

The admission charge is £10, which includes a buffet lunch and tea, coffee, etc., during the day. Please pay on the day upon arrival. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Salford Cathedral’.

For catering purposes and the production of materials please ensure that you book for the day by e-mailing Martin Barry. You can also e-mail Martin if you have any questions about the day.

If you do not have access to e-mail then you can ring Cathedral House on 0161 834 0333 in order to book for the day. Please give your full name and contact details.

We look forward to seeing you there!

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 25 September 2011

 
Entrance O God, thy people gather
Kyrie Mass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Remember your mercy (Paul Inwood)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts The Servant King (Graham Kendrick)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Belmont Mass (Christopher Walker)
Communion Christ laid down his life for us (Psallite)
Postcommunion Christus Factus Est (Felice Anerio, 1560-1614)
Recessional At the name of Jesus
 

Today’s second reading included the magnificent hymn to Christ’s kenosis (‘emptying’):

His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all names
so that all beings
in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld
should bend the knee at this name of Jesus
and every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord
to the glory of God the Father.

Anerio’s setting of the key central section of the hymn is one we sing often as the Gospel acclamation for Good Friday, but today was different: on Good Friday we sing the words with defiance, in the face of our Lord’s shocking death; today we sang in full acknowledgement of the resurrection.

Musically the difference came in the section in triple time beginning Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum (‘But God raised him high’). For Good Friday we keep the tempo the same; today we skipped along at three-in-the-space-of-two, and the sense of irrepressible joy was, well, irrepressible.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 18 September 2011

 
Entrance Praise to the holiest
Kyrie Kyrie II from Paschal Mass (Alan Rees)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 144 (Jones/Steel)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Bread I bring (Christopher Walker)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Communion How can I repay the Lord (Stephen Dean)
Postcommunion Teach me, O Lord (Thomas Attwood, 1765-1838)
Recessional Tell out, my soul
 

The heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts, we heard in the reading from Isaiah. John Henry Newman’s verses from the Dream of Gerontius said the same thing:

In all his words most wonderful;
Most sure in all his ways

The readings and propers, for the most part, dwelt on God’s promise to answer the call of those in need. Our communion processional song meditated on this in words from Ps 116:

I love the Lord, because he heard my voice;
In my distress he did not spurn me.
The snares of death lay waiting for my soul;
My only hope was calling on the Lord.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 11 September 2011

 
Entrance Praise my soul, the king of heaven
Kyrie Mass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 102 (Boulton Smith/Gélineau)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Now we remain (David Haas)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of the Creator Spirit
Communion Forget not what God has done (Marty Haugen)
Postcommunion Prayer of St Richard of Chichester (Malcolm Archer)
Recessional Thanks be to God (Stephen Dean)
 

Today’s readings, focusing on God’s forgiveness, were summed up, as so often, in the psalm response:

The Lord is compassion and love
slow to anger and rich in mercy

We had three versions of Ps 102(103) – the responsorial psalm itself, and Marty Haugen’s setting, and Henry Lyte’s stirring and stately paraphrase in our opening hymn.

The second reading had the words If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, closely reflected in the final verse of David Haas’s Now we remain.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance All people that on earth do dwell
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm O that today (Chris O’Hara)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia
Preparation of the Gifts Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion Like the Deer (mcb)
Postcommunion Sicut Cervus (G.P. da Palestrina, 1525-1594)
Recessional Love divine, all loves excelling
 

As usual for this Sunday in the year we were joined by members of Province No. 1 of the Catenian Association, which made for a large and willing singing (and speaking) assembly. We made our first full use of the new translation of the Order of Mass, and all seemed to go well. In general it seemed that the sung responses were more successful than the spoken ones, the notes on the page (for the assembly as well as the choir) forcing people to pay attention to the words too. In contrast, with the spoken responses it seemed that concentration was flagging by the end of Mass, so that plenty of instances of and also with you crept in by the time we responded a final time to the Lord be with you. But our gradual implementation of the new texts has been proceeding smoothly since Easter, and today’s experience suggested that this will continue.

The second reading today spoke powerfully of the commandment to love, and both our recessional hymn and our song at the preparation of the gifts tied in with this. The latter fitted nicely with our Lord’s words in the Gospel too: where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them, which found echoes in Bob Hurd’s rendition of the ancient hymn:

The love of Christ joins us together;
let us rejoice in him,
and in our love and care for all
now love God in return.

In true communion let us gather;
may all divisions cease
and in their place be Christ the Lord,
our risen Prince of Peace.

May we who gather at this table
to share the bread of life
become a sacrament of love,
your healing touch, O Christ.

Today’s responsorial psalm (94(95)) had the words

For he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.

and we sang similar words paraphrased from Ps 99(100) in Vaughan Williams’s stirring Coronation arrangement of our opening hymn.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 21 August 2011

 
Entrance The Church’s one foundation
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia
Preparation of the Gifts Praise to the Lord, the almighty
Sanctus & Acclamation, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Communion Eat this bread (Taizé)
Recessional Now thank we all our God
 

A glimpse of our summer fare, when the choir’s on holiday. The accompaniment was a mixture of organ and piano, there was a cantor for the verses during communion and the celebrant (Fr Anthony) supplied sung dialogues at the Gospel and in the Eucharistic Prayer.

The opening hymn tied in with the words from the Gospel reading: I will build my Church. The hymn at the preparation of the gifts and the recessional hymn both took up the image from the first verse of the responsorial psalm:

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart,
you have heard the words of my mouth.
Before the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 31 July 2011


Entrance All who hunger, gather gladly
Kyrie Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm The eyes of everyone (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Cantique de Jean Racine (Gabriel Fauré, 1845-1924)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Agnus Dei Take and Eat (Michael Joncas & Gary Daigle)
Communion Come to me and drink (Bob Hurd)
Postcommunion Panis Angelicus (César Franck, 1822-1890)
Recessional Now thank we all our God
 

For the Gospel story of the feeding of the five thousand (“to say nothing of women and children”) we sang our opening hymn, and gave Panis Angelicus another outing. The first reading, from Isaiah, addressed the thirsty as well as the hungry, so we sang Bob Hurd’s Come to me and drink, with verses from Psalm 41(42).

Gremlins in the preparation of the people’s booklet meant we had one last unscheduled outing for the Gathering Mass in its old form, including a final sing through the words Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. I’m glad we had one last encounter.

The choir’s on holiday in August. I think we (including our singing assembly) are ready for the change to the new Missal translation when we come back in September. Musically speaking, all that will be new then will be the sung dialogues, and hopefully the fact of singing them will make the words And with your spirit feel less strange than saying them, for a while at least.

Mass at the Lichtentaler Pfarrkirche, Vienna : 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 

With choir numbers dwindling as the summer holidays approach, and yours truly in Vienna for a (day-job) conference, we allowed ourselves a Sunday off. We’re back for one more Sunday Mass next weekend, before we break for August. At the Cathedral, the plan was to try a congregation-only setting of the new Missal text, in the form of Paul Inwood’s Gathering Mass. I wonder how they got on?

In Vienna, I went to Franz Schubert’s parish church, where they were celebrating the 300th anniversary of the chapel of St. Anne, the oldest part of the church building, and so the 300th anniversary of the parish itself. The music, accompanied by organ and a splendid brass ensemble, was Michael Haydn’s Deutsche Messe - the prototype German or Austrian Singmesse, in which the people sing hymns loosely based on the Mass Ordinary, in place of the Missal texts themselves.

In the days long before the liturgical renewal was dreamt of, these songs would have been sung while the priest got on with the real business of the Mass. I suppose they represented a more “full, conscious and active” mode of participation than was otherwise available to participants in the Low Mass. But now, might they be an obstacle to participation rather than an aid to it? Wikipedia has this to say:

The Betsingmesse became obsolete with the liturgical reform introduced after the Second Vatican Council and with the introduction of vernacular liturgy in the celebration of the Missa cum populo. The tradition of carrying out parts of the liturgy in the form of German songs that are not necessarily a German rendering of those parts of the liturgy: e.g., by a “Song at the Gloria” or a “Song at the Sanctus”, however, has been retained in many parishes, even if it is regarded critically by liturgists and is not supported by the official documents as part of the modern Roman rite.

The singing, it has to be said, was strong and reverent.

Mass with Archbishop Charles Dufour

Wednesday of Week 16 in Ordinary Time (Year I, 2011)
20 July 2011

 
Entrance Thou whose almighty Word
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Psalm Ps 144: How good is the Lord (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia
Preparation of the Gifts Oculi Omnium (Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
Sanctus, Acclamation 1, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Agnus Dei Take and Eat (Michael Joncas/Gary Daigle)
Communion Take and Eat (Michael Joncas)
Postcommunion Panis Angelicus (César Franck, 1822-1890)
Recessional Guide me, O thou great redeemer
 

We joined with Archbishop Charles Dufour – an old seminary friend of Fr Tony’s, en route home from receiving his pallium in Rome – to celebrate his appointment to the see of Kingston, Jamaica.

To accompany the first reading from Exodus 16, telling the story of manna in the desert, we had two settings of the words The eyes of all creatures look to you, and you give them food in due time, in the responsorial psalm, and in Charles Wood’s serene and simple choir piece. Panis Angelicus and the our final hymn were on the same theme too.

The Gospel was the parable of the sower again. We sang about it obliquely, in our opening hymn:

Hear us, we humbly pray,
and where the Gospel day
sheds not its glorious ray,
let there be light.

Fr Tony drew the threads together in his homily: the spread of the Gospel is at the core of the mission of any bishop.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance O God, thy people gather
Kyrie Kyrie for 3 voices adapted from Byrd (mcb)
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm O Lord, you are good (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts All that is hidden (Bernadette Farrell)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion There is a longing in our hearts (Anne Quigley)
Postcommunion For the beauty of the earth (John Rutter)
Recessional Thanks be to God (Stephen Dean)
 

In today’s second reading we heard:

when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means

which led us to Anne Quigley’s There is a longing in our hearts. The Gospel reading had these words:

I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world

and this gave us Bernadette Farrell’s All that is hidden.

The Communion antiphon, finally, was

The Lord keeps in our minds the wonderful things he has done. He is compassion and love; he always provides for his faithful.

John Rutter’s irresistible For the beauty of the earth is a joyful hymn in praise of this providence.

Ordination to the Priesthood of Paul Blackburn and Andrew Starkie

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

 
Entrance Praise to the Holiest
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas
(Bob Hurd)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm My soul rejoices (Owen Alstott)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Alleluia
Litany of the Saints Chant
Illustrative Rites Veni Creator Spiritus (chant, with vv 2 & 6 by T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Kiss of Peace If ye love me (Thomas Tallis, c.1505-1585)
Preparation of the Gifts Ave Maria (Edward Elgar, 1857-1934)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas
Communion The Almighty works marvels for me (Peter Jones)
Postcommunion Ave Verum Corpus (William Byrd, c.1540-1623)
Recessional Hail Queen of Heaven
 

For this special occasion we had a good mix of music, from plainchant to Peter Jones. Hail Queen of heaven and the Gathering Mass are both guaranteed to raise the roof, and didn’t disappoint. For the latter, with Paul Inwood’s kind permission, we used the as-yet unpublished version revised for the new Missal translation. I led the assembly through the changes to the Sanctus before the start of Mass, and perhaps it was a first moment of catechesis for those from parishes where the significance of the impending changes on what we sing at Mass hasn't yet featured on the radar.

My good work was undone by the massed ranks of the clergy, who weren’t present for the run-through, and belted out the old version without looking in their service booklets. If it was a teaching moment, the lesson was that we can expect chaos for a while yet.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Thou whose almighty word
Kyrie Taizé Kyrie I
Gloria Mass of the Most Sacred Heart (Jacob Bancks)
Psalm Ps 64 (Stuart Beer)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Eye has not seen (Marty Haugen)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion Seed scattered and sown (Dan Feiten)
Postcommunion How lovely are thy dwellings (Johannes Brahms, 1833-1897)
Recessional Love Divine
 

The seed in today’s readings is identified with the word falling on receptive ears. Our Communion processional song made a different connection, using the image from the Didache: as seed was scattered on the hill and then gathered to make one loaf of bread, so are we gathered into Christ’s body. The music, in different hands, could have a chirpy 60s folk quality to it, but we took it at a gentler pace, which lent a prayerful air, and gave time for the multiple scriptural sources of the text to resonate.

The Communion antiphon itself, from Ps 83(84), included the words

How happy they who dwell in your house! For ever they are praising you.

We sang the same text in the well-known chorus from Brahms’s German Requiem.

Another new Gloria today, namely that from Jacob Bancks’s Mass of the Most Sacred Heart. For a piece given away freely via the internet it has a good deal of musical merit, chiefly in the skilful use of connected melodic themes to mirror the structure of the text itself. On the other hand (as I read in a blog discussion of the piece) the part-writing seems curiously cavalier about musical grammaticality, with a proliferation of consecutive fifths and octaves, unresolved discords, gratuitous second inversions, and the like. The composer seemed unrepentant, and the least that can be said is that to the untrained ear the piece seems to work well.

11.30 Mass at St Nameless’s: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Here I Am, Lord (Dan Schutte)
Preparation of the Gifts In bread we bring you, Lord (Kevin Nichols)
Memorial Acclamation He is Lord (2 verses)
Communion Bind us together
Recessional As I kneel before you (Maria Parkinson)
 

At the cathedral today they celebrated First Holy Communion for the children of the parish, and the choir were given the customary weekend off.

I went to the principal Sunday Mass in my home parish, where they were celebrating the Leavers’ Mass for the local primary school. The children acted as readers, and there was a School Assembly-style contribution from all the children before the final blessing, but otherwise it was a normal Sunday Mass.

There’s never any strong sign that liturgy and music here are shaped by familiarity with the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, or Celebrating the Mass, and the parish priest seems content not to do anything about it. My impression is that the only template for the way liturgy is conducted in the parish is local practice over the last few decades. I don’t think there’s any sense among the parishioners that it ought to be done differently.

The parish priest contributed some game-show host antics, in recruiting one of the children to take over from him in leading the penitential rite. (He put a microphone in front of the child, and said “Say I confess, and everyone will follow”, with predictable comedy consequences.) The PP also led the one piece of “ritual” music, namely the hymn that stood in for the Memorial Acclamation, calling out the words for verse two, Gospel-music style, over the last notes of verse one.

I was saddened by the spectacle, and mildly embarrassed that it’s the parish I live in.

Saints Peter & Paul (2011)

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

 
Entrance The Church’s one foundation
Gloria (ad experimentum)
Psalm Ps 33 (mcb)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Tu es Petrus (Hans Leo Hassler, 1564-1612)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion Come to me (Martin Barry & Diane Murden)
Recessional For all the saints
 

The choir outnumbered the congregation for our celebration of today’s feast. Singing in a nearly empty Cathedral allowed us to revel in the reverberant acoustic, especially in the sumptuous motet by Hassler, a new addition to the composers in our music library.

The Body and Blood of Christ (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance O Bread of Heaven
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria (ad experimentum)
Psalm Ps 147 (Colin Mawby)
Sequence Lauda Sion Salvatorem (Chris Mueller)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts Sweet Sacrament Divine
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion Take and Eat (Michael Joncas)
Postcommunion Ave Verum Corpus (W.A. Mozart, 1756-1791)
Recessional Soul of my Saviour
 

My “retro” taste in hymns this morning attracted comment from The Management. Opportunities to sing old favourites like these are relatively infrequent, and it seems to me that they’re still powerful vehicles for Eucharistic devotion, especially for those who (like me) still have them firmly lodged in memory. But for all that, the Mass propers tell of a more active relationship with the Sacrament than we find in hymns for Benediction:

The Lord fed his people with the finest wheat and honey;
their hunger was satisfied.(Ps 80:17)


and

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live in me and I in him, says the Lord. (Jn 6:57)

So there’s some more thinking to be done before next time.

We made room for an abridged version of the sequence, in the form of Chris Mueller’s very fine harmonised chant setting for six-part choir of the final verses, which we preceded with the opening lines of St Thomas Aquinas’s original chant. The music of Mueller (who is director of music at the church of Notre Dame in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York) is a pleasing internet ‘find’, and I’m glad that there’s more to explore.

Trinity Sunday (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Father, Lord of all creation
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria (ad experimentum)
Psalm Canticle from the Flames (Felix Goebel-Komala)
Gospel Acclamation St Agatha Alleluia (mcb)
Preparation of the Gifts God so loved the world (John Stainer, 1840-1901)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Communion God beyond all names (John Bell) & Benedicta sit sancta Trinitas (chant)
Postcommunion O Lux Beata Trinitas (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Recessional Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty
 

In Felix Goebel-Komala’s exhilarating interpretation of the canticle from Daniel 3, cantor and assembly engage in zestful dialogue, the choir first supporting the assembly, but eventually succumbing to enthusiasm and elbowing the cantor aside for the last few stanzas of the litany. Ian Williams carried off the cantor’s role with all the requisite panache. We last sang the piece during our Trinity Sunday Mass three years ago, celebrated at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester with the Catenian Association marking its centenary, where the irrepressible vivaciousness of the Canticle elicited a willing response from the vast singing assembly.

We continued our exploration of the works of Victoria, in this his four hundredth anniversary year. O lux beata Trinitas is strictly an evening hymn, but a bit of nifty footwork with the Latin – changing iam sol recedit into iam sol ascendit, even if that’s not the usual verb to describe the sun going up – made it into a fitting song for a morning celebration.

A publisher had very kindly afforded a preview of a revised setting of the Gloria, so we tried it out this morning. When it’s eventually published it will certainly become a staple of our repertoire.

Pentecost (2011)

 
Entrance Holy Spirit, come confirm us
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Ps 103 (David Saint)
Gospel Acclamation Pentecost Sequence (arr. Richard Proulx); Easter Alleluia
Rite of Confirmation Come Holy Spirit (Stephen Dean)
Spirit of God (Bernadette Farrell)
Veni Creator Spiritus (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Spirit of the living God & Psalm 103 (John Ainslie)
Come Holy Spirit (Stephen Dean)
Preparation of the Gifts Wisdom, come softly (Martin Barry & Diane Murden)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Gathering Mass (Paul Inwood)
Agnus Dei Mass of Hope (Stephen Dean)
Communion Come to me and drink (Bob Hurd)
Recessional Come Holy Ghost
 

Four parishes came together for a celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation during our Sunday Mass of Pentecost. This made for an exceptionally large number of candidates, and a rich (and long) celebration. With hindsight, maybe we could have skimped on some elements of the Mass: perhaps recited the Gloria, and omitted the second reading and the sequence. What do you think?

Bob Hurd’s Come to me and drink has several verses mentioning the Spirit, including these lines based on Romans 5:5:

Into our hearts the love of God has been poured
through the Spirit that dwells within.

The Ascension (2011)

Sunday, 5th June 2011

 
Entrance Praise him as he mounts the skies
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Ps 46 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts New praises be given
Sanctus, Acclamation B, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of Hope (Stephen Dean)
Communion I will see you again (Psallite)
Postcommunion Ascendo ad Patrem (G.P. da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)
Recessional At the name of Jesus
 

The fourth verse of our closing hymn pictures the Ascension –

Bore it up triumphant, with its human light,
through all ranks of creatures, to the central height,
to the throne of Godhead, to the Father’s breast;
filled it with the glory of that perfect rest.

– in the same imagery as St Paul, in today’s second reading from 1 Ephesians:

This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come.

6th Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance This joyful Eastertide
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Ps 65 (Bill Tamblyn)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Be still and know I am with you (Anne Conway)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of Hope (Stephen Dean)
Communion Unless a grain of wheat (Bernadette Farrell)
Postcommunion If ye love me (Thomas Tallis, c.1505-1585)
Recessional Come down, O love divine
 

Another week for readings rich in key phrases prompting musical choices. The Gospel reading alone gave us I will not leave you orphans and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, leading to the songs Be still and know I am with you and Unless a grain of wheat. The first reading from Acts told of the Apostles praying for the descent of the Holy Spirit, and in our final hymn, to Vaughan Williams's very fine tune, we made the same prayer our own.

Plus, of course, Tallis's simple masterpiece, reflecting the opening lines of the Gospel reading, and today’s Communion antiphon.

5th Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Christ is made the sure foundation
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Ps 32 (Alan Rees)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts The stone which the builders rejected (Bernadette Farrell)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of Hope (Stephen Dean)
Communion I am the vine (John Bell) & Ps 80 (Laurence Bévenot)
Postcommunion Alleluia, Christus Surrexit (Felice Anerio, 1560-1614)
Recessional Battle is o’er
 

Today’s readings offered a number of key phrases that might have triggered musical selections. In the second reading (from 1 Peter) the reference to a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation suggested Christopher Walker’s Out of darkness, and the mention of living stones could have given us Bernadette Farrell’s Christ be our light. Instead we had two songs taking up the image of Christ the cornerstone, in another song by Farrell, and our opening hymn.

It was less easy to find anything suitable echoing the Gospel line I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. What did I miss?

New Music for the Mass - Salford Cathedral, 25th June 2011

New Music for the Mass: a day for parish music directors, organists, singers and other musicians


You are invited to a day at the Cathedral Centre, Salford, on Saturday 25th June (10.30 am – 4.00 pm) to look at music for the new translation of the Missal.

Martin Barry (Director of Music at Salford Cathedral) and Fr Peter Jones (parish priest, composer and chair of the Archdiocese of Birmingham Church Liturgy and Music Committee) will present a day of new music for the Mass, introducing musical settings written for the new translation of the Missal, including a close look at the forthcoming collection Glory to God from Decani Music, edited by Alan Smith and Peter Jones.

The admission charge is £10, which includes a buffet lunch and tea, coffee, etc., during the day. Please pay on the day upon arrival. Cheques should be made payable to ‘Salford Cathedral’.

For catering purposes and the production of resources please ensure that you book for the day by e-mailing Martin Barry. You can also e-mail Martin if you have any questions about the day.

If you do not have access to e-mail then you can ring Cathedral House on 0161 834 0333 in order to book for the day. Please give your full name and contact details.

We look forward to seeing you there!

4th Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance All people that on earth do dwell
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Because the Lord is my shepherd (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Now the green blade riseth
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of Hope (Stephen Dean)
Communion You are the shepherd (Psallite)
Postcommunion Flocks in pastures green abiding (J.S. Bach)
Recessional The King of love my shepherd is
 

The many references to the shepherd and his sheep in today’s readings, propers and presidential prayers give today its customary title of Good Shepherd Sunday, and six of our pieces reflected the same themes.

3rd Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance The day of resurrection
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Ps 15 (Robert Sherlaw Johnson)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts On the journey to Emmaus (Marty Haugen)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Spring Sanctus (mcb)
Agnus Dei Mass of Hope (Stephen Dean)
Communion At your word our hearts are burning (Psallite)
Postcommunion Awake thou wintry earth (Thomas Blackburn, 1916-1977 & J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Recessional Alleluia sing to Jesus
 

We took our first steps with the new Missal texts, in the form of my revised Spring Sanctus. For the Sanctus, it seems to me, it makes sense to begin with a reworked version of something already familiar to the singing assembly. The change – of the words “God of power and might” to “God of hosts” is small enough that the melody can be left intact for most of the piece, and people seemed happy to cope with the change in words and tune in the first line. The Memorial Acclamations represent a more sweeping change, but here too our assembly seemed happy to tackle the new challenge.

Our postcommunion piece had a spring feel as well: the fifth movement of Bach’s cantata Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, BWV 129 with words by the English poet Thomas Blackburn, beginning

Awake, thou wintry earth, fling off, fling off thy sadness.
Ye vernal flowers, laugh forth, laugh forth, your ancient gladness.
A new and lovely tale throughout the land is sped,
it floats o’er hill and dale to tell that death is dead.

Holy Hour for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II

 
ExpositionO Salutaris Hostia (tune: Melcombe)
Evening Prayer: HymnAt the Lamb’s high feast
PsalmsPs 109, Ps 113, Canticle from Revelation 19 (all from Parish Sunday Vespers)
MagnificatMy soul is filled with joy
BenedictionTantum Ergo (chant)
RepositionAdoremus in aeternum (chant)
Marian HymnHoly light on earth’s horizon
 

Bishop Brain led a service of Exposition, Evening Prayer and Benediction, interspersed with elements of the Divine Mercy Devotion (the chaplet and litany). We kept the music simple, with familiar hymns and Latin chant items, and a Magnificat sung to the melody Wild Mountain Thyme. A cantor led the psalms for Evening Prayer, singing alternatim with the congregation (fortified by a few members of the choir). For a small gathering, we made a polished sound, I thought.

2nd Sunday of Easter (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Crown him with many crowns
Gloria Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm Ps 117 (Eugene Monaghan)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Regina Caeli (Samuel Webbe, 1740-1816)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd) [UC 66]
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Godhead here in hiding (chant) & Confitemini Domino (Taizé)
Postcommunion Surrexit Christus Dominus (Michael Praetorius, 1571-1621)
Recessional Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour
 

The Beatification of Pope John Paul II today deprived us of our customary weekend off after the exertions of Holy Week and Easter, and instead we joined the Bishop in a festive Mass in celebration of the event.

Samuel Webbe is described (in a late 19th century collection edited by Wilhelm Lutz Meyer of Southwark Cathedral) as “the father of modern Catholic music in England”. Wikipedia is a bit more restrained on the subject of his collected works: “If not of a very high order, they are at least devotional.” His Regina Caeli, with its lyrical melodic line punctuated by effervescent Alleluias, was just right for a sunny Spring morning.

Doubting Thomas plays a starring role in today’s Gospel reading, and so we sang the words of Adoro Te devote, in Gerard Manley Hopkins’s translation, interspersed with Jacques Berthier’s Confitemini Domino. The fourth verse runs:

I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he;
This faith each day deeper be my holding of;
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

Easter Sunday (2011)

 
Entrance Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today
Gloria from Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Psalm This is the Day (mcb)
SequenceVictimae Paschali Laudes (J. William Greene)
Gospel Acclamation Easter Gospel Acclamation (Brian Luckner)
Preparation of the Gifts Now the green blade riseth
Sanctus, Acclamation A, Amen Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion Confitemini Domino (Taizé) & psalm 117 (Laurence Bévenot)
Postcommunion Surrexit Christus (adapted from G.B. Pergolesi, 1710-1736)
Recessional (i) Go in the peace of Christ, Alleluia (chanted)
(ii) At the Lamb’s high feast
 

I’ve been aware for the last few weeks that we’re coming to the end of the life of some texts that have been our familiar language of prayer for a few decades. With the advent of the new translation of the Missal later in the year, the Sanctus will change slightly, and the Gloria will see a more thorough-going revision, bringing it much closer than the current paraphrase to the text of the Latin Missal. Musical settings of the new texts, we’re told, can be used from today onwards, and their use will become obligatory later in the year.

So a text we’re bidding farewell to is Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again which won’t be included in the new translation. We’ll sing it one more time next Sunday, and then move on to the new versions.

We had a new and unwelcome organ-related experience this morning, namely a cipher, or stuck note. On a pipe organ, an instant though drastic remedy is to yank out the offending pipe; when it comes to a digital instrument like ours, one’s options are more limited. The offending note related to all the manuals and the pedals, and to every stop. The solution, it turned out (after Anthony had tried switching everything off, and lots of other sensible steps) was to tap the troublesome note (a low E) on every manual (and the pedal board), until the organ got the message that it was time to stop.

Happy Easter, everyone.

The Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday, 2011)

Saturday, 23 April 2011


The Service of LightLumen Christi (chanted)
ExsultetPlainchant
After 1st reading (Genesis 1)Send forth your Spirit (Stephen Dean)
After 2nd reading (Exodus 14-15)I will sing to the Lord (Geoffrey Boulton Smith)
After 3rd reading (Isaiah 55: come to the water)We shall draw water joyfully (Paul Inwood)
After 4th reading (Ezekiel 36: I shall give you a new heart)As the deer longs (Bob Hurd)
GloriaMass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Easter Alleluia + Psalm 117Plainchant, verses by Paul Inwood
Litany of the SaintsJoseph Gélineau, ed. Robert B. Kelly
Blessing of the FontSprings of Water (Marty Haugen)
SprinklingVidi Aquam (T.L. de Victoria, c. 1548-1611)
Preparation of the GiftsAlleluia, Surrexit Dominus (Jacquet de Mantua, 1483-1559)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, AmenMissa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Agnus DeiLamb of God II (mcb)
CommunionUnless a grain of wheat (Bernadette Farrell)
DismissalGo in the peace of Christ, Alleluia (chanted)
Final HymnThine be the Glory
 

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Tomás Luis de Victoria, and we've marked it with four pieces by him during Holy Week. But they were all staples of our repertoire anyway, which, four hundred years on, is probably all the tribute required.

Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (Good Friday, 2011)

 
PsalmFather, into your hands (Martin Foster)
Gospel AcclamationChristus factus est (Felice Anerio c. 1560-1614)
Veneration of the CrossThis is the wood of the cross (Missal tone)
There is a green hill far away
The Reproaches (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611) & plainchant
Jesus, remember me (Taizé)
CommunionAve Verum Corpus (William Byrd, c. 1540-1623)
Soul of my Saviour

 

Martin Foster’s psalm setting combines an ostinato refrain (alternating the words of the psalm response, and a hummed accompaniment to the cantor) with a cantor singing the psalm verses. We had cantors too in the Reproaches, two voices providing the chant verses in between repetitions of Victoria’s Popule Meus and Agios o Theos; and at the start of Jesus, remember me, a lone voice announcing the plaintive plea, before the whole assembly made it into collective prayer.

Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Maundy Thursday, 2011)

Thursday, 21 April 2011


Opening Hymn The glory of the cross (John Ainslie)
Gloria Mass of the Creator Spirit (Ed Nowak)
Responsorial Psalm The Blessing Cup (Christopher Walker)
Gospel Acclamation A New Commandment
Washing of Feet If there is this love among you (Barry/Murden)
Preparation of the Gifts Ubi Caritas (Maurice Duruflé, 1902-1986)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Missal Tone: Lord, by your Cross
Missal Tone
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa Brevis (Antonio Lotti, 1667-1740)
Communion Take and Eat (Michael Joncas)
Procession Pange Lingua (plainchant)
Stay with me (Taizé)
 

We got the timing right with the procession to the altar of repose at the end of our celebration, by leaving a gap, ably filled by Anthony improvising at the organ, between the fourth verse of Pange Lingua and the fifth and sixth (Tantum Ergo). The impact of the final two verses was all the stronger for having waited for the last members of the procession to reach the end. It felt like this is how it should always be done; as indeed (if one can stretch the point to consider the organ improvisation still to be ‘supporting the singing’, as ordained by the rubrics) the liturgical books tell us it should.

The Mass of Chrism (2011)

Thursday, 21 April 2011


Opening HymnChrist triumphant, ever-reigning
KyrieKyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloriafrom Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Responsorial PsalmI will sing for ever of your love (mcb)
Gospel AcclamationPraise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Procession of the OilsO Redeemer (Paul Ford/mcb)
Preparation of the GiftsLove Divine (Howard Goodall)
Sanctus, Acclamation A, AmenMass XVIII (in English) & Missal tones
Agnus DeiMass XVIII (in Latin) & Missa O Quam Gloriosum (T.L. de Victoria 1548-1611)
CommunionO Lord, I will sing of your constant love (Christopher Walker)
Sitivit Anima Mea (G.P. da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)
Now we remain (David Haas)
Recessional HymnMy song is love unknown
 

I chose our entrance hymn, to John Barnard’s very fine tune Guiting Power, because of the fourth verse:

Priestly King, enthroned for ever high in heaven above!
Sin and death and hell shall never stifle hymns of love.
which seemed a good match for the entrance antiphon for today’s celebration:
Jesus Christ has made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father: glory and kingship be his for ever and ever. Amen.

It was a gamble, in that the hymn isn’t necessarily one well-known to Catholic congregations. I tested the water during my five-minute rehearsal with the people before Mass, and found that, yes, at least ten people present (out of nearly a thousand) knew it well enough to sing along with me. It’s amazing what you can achieve in five minutes with a willing singing assembly, though, and we still just about managed to shake the rafters during the entrance procession.

The Mass XVIII Sanctus, with words in English, was another cautious experiment: since this is the melody we are encouraged to have at the core of our repertoire when the new Missal translation comes in, I thought I’d try it out on this occasion, in a version as close as possible – barring the words power and might in place of hosts – to the version coming in later in the year. The aim was to plant a seed or two for the future, and also to find out how good a simple chant setting like this might be at uniting a disparate congregation on a grand occasion.

I was disappointed, I have to say. In this celebration in the past we've used settings that were unfamiliar to the congregation before the event – Richard Proulx's Community Mass, or my own Spring Sanctus, for instance – and they've worked well, the melody and the meter seeming to persuade the assembly to sing an unfamiliar setting with commitment. The chant setting in comparison seemed to fall short of that target, leaving me more doubtful than perhaps I was of the merit of a simple chant version as the essential core repertoire for people’s acclamations.

But you never know: the simplest tunes can be given real strength through the familiarity that turns them into old favourites. Perhaps it won’t take long.

Palm Sunday (2011)

 
Entrance Hosanna Filio David (Plainchant & T.L. de Victoria, c. 1548-1611)
All Glory Laud and Honour
Psalm My God, my God (Liam Lawton)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Preparation of the Gifts Crucifixus from the Mass in B Minor (J.S. Bach, 1685-1750)
Sanctus Mass XVII
Acclamation Missal Tone: Lord, by your cross
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa Brevis (Antonio Lotti, c. 1667-1740)
Communion Father, if this cup (Stephen Dean)
Recessional My song is love unknown
 

There was, I thought, a striking affinity between the Bach Crucifixus and Stephen Dean’s atmospheric Communion song – both begin with chromatic harmonies over pulsing repeated bass notes (both in the key of E minor). I wondered whether the Bach was Stephen’s inspiration for writing the piece. They went together well, I felt.

We had more Bach from Anthony, our Communion processional song being followed by the chorale prelude Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721, and for a postlude after Mass, the final movement of the St Matthew Passion (Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder).

5th Sunday of Lent (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Out of the depths (Scott Soper)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm Ps 129 (Peter Smedley)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Preparation of the Gifts Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts (Henry Purcell, 1659-1695)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion I will put a new spirit within you (Stephen Dean)
Recessional Praise to the holiest
 

From the depths to the height, in our entrance song (echoing today’s responsorial psalm) and our recessional hymn. At communion we had Stephen Dean’s I will put a new spirit within you, a new one for us. Its text was from Ezekiel 36, and echoed the same image from the following chapter, which appeared in today’s first reading:

You will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.

The responsorial psalm itself said:

O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.

Henry Purcell set a similar plea for forgiveness from the burial service from the Book of Common Prayer:

Shut not thy merciful ears unto our prayer,
but spare us Lord most holy.

4th Sunday of Lent (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 3 April 2011

 
Entrance Your hands, O Lord, in days of old
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm His goodness shall follow me (Chris O’Hara)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Preparation of the Gifts My spirit longs for thee (John Dowland, 1563-1626)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII & Missa O Quam Gloriosum (T.L. de Victoria, 1548-1611)
Communion Lord, your love has drawn us near (Stephen Dean)
Recessional Be thou my vision
 

Today’s Gospel story of the healing of the man born blind prompted a few of our musical selections. Our opening hymn, with the lines

And then your touch brought life and health,
gave speech and strength and sight

was sung to the tune Coe Fen, and we had vision in a wider sense in our recessional hymn. The choir sang My spirit longs for thee, fitting the words of John Byrom (1692-1763) to a song by John Dowland. These words touched more obliquely on sight:

Yet has my heart no rest,
Unless it come from Thee.
Unless it come from Thee,
In vain I look around;
In all that I can see,
No rest is to be found.

For our responsorial psalm we took Chris O’Hara’s adaptation of Ps 22(23), hauntingly set to the Irish folk song She moved through the fair. We sang it unaccompanied, the cantor’s verses (beautifully executed by Rachel O’Farrell) alternating with the refrain in four part harmony, though with the people joining in too.

Plainchant and Victoria too; our trademark mix, you could say.

3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Your love is finer than life (Marty Haugen)
Sprinkling Rite Springs of Water (Marty Haugen)
Psalm O that today (Chris O’Hara)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Preparation of the Gifts Sitivit anima mea (G.P. da Palestrina, c.1525-1594)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion Come to me and drink (Bob Hurd)
Recessional Guide me, O thou great redeemer
 

Today’s readings and propers contained a host of images of thirst, drinking, springs and water. The Communion antiphon was from John 4:13:

Whoever drinks the water that I shall give him, says the Lord
will have a spring inside him, welling up for eternal life.

Bob Hurd’s Communion processional song sets a similar image from later in St John’s Gospel (7:37-38):

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.
Let anyone who believes in me come and drink. As scripture says, from his heart shall flow streams of living water.

We sang the verse citing this image, and those adapted from verses of Psalm 42:

My soul is thirsting for God,
the living God;
when can I enter and appear
before the face of God?

My tears have become my bread,
by day, by night,
as they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”

These same verses were also the text of Palestrina’s serenely beautiful motet, the second of a pair with the more familiar Sicut Cervus. The challenge in rehearsal was not to let the beauty of the music completely veil the haunting sadness of the words.

2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 20 March 2011

 
Entrance Remember your mercy, Lord (Paul Inwood)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm Ps 32 (Alan Rees)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Preparation of the Gifts Averte faciem tuam (from Miserere Mei by Antonio Lotti, c. 1667-1740)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion Here is my servant, here is my Son (Psallite)
Recessional Immortal, Invisible
 

Today’s Entrance antiphon came from Psalm 24(25):

Remember your mercies, Lord,
your tenderness from ages past.

We sang Paul Inwood’s very fine setting, with choral verses (setting the Grail translation of the psalm text) and a people’s refrain. The extended refrain and the organ interludes make it a good processional song.

The Communion antiphon,

This is my Son, my beloved,
in whom is all my delight: listen to him.
echoing the Gospel story of the Transfiguration, was a new element in the 1970 Roman Missal, so I shouldn’t have been surprised not to be able to find a polyphonic choral setting. We sang the setting by the Psallite composers, combining a prayerful adaptation of the antiphon text with verses from Isaiah. The latter were an unwieldy object for chanting, but presented the choir with a good test of coordination and clear diction.

Another instalment of Lotti’s Miserere, to follow the section we sang for Ash Wednesday. This time we sang from Averte faciem tuam (turn your face from my sins) to Et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam (and my mouth shall declare your praise). The episodic character of the setting, meandering from verse to verse with nothing in the way of recurring thematic material, gives it a restless, even shapeless feel, but the strength of the pleading in the declamatory final verse of today’s excerpt (beginning Domine, labia mea aperies (Lord, open my lips)) gave the piece its character.

The Rite of Election (2011)

 
Opening Hymn The Church’s one foundation
Responsorial Psalm Teach me, O God (Chris Walker)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Enrolment Take, O take me as I am (John L Bell)
After the Election of the Catechumens Who calls you by name (David Haas)
Welcome of Candidates Always in your presence (Philip Jakob)
After Welcome of Candidates A Clare Benediction (John Rutter)
Prayers of Intercession Miserere Nobis from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Recessional Hymn Praise to the holiest
 

A packed celebration like last year’s, this year for the first time with eight candidates for admission to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The music was the usual mix of the contemplative and the uplifting. For me, the musical highlight was probably the whole assembly enthusiastically taking up the refrain of Chris Walker’s Teach me, O God. On an occasion like this, the words have especial significance for so many present:

My heart delights
to follow your ways,
to follow your ways to the end.

1st Sunday of Lent (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Led by the Spirit (Bob Hurd)
Kyrie Mass XVII
Psalm Ps 50 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Preparation of the Gifts Emendemus in Melius (William Byrd, 1540-1623)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion Not on bread alone are we nourished (Psallite)
Recessional Lead us, heavenly Father, Lead us
 

We introduced the Sanctus and Agnus Dei of Mass XVII last year, and this year we’re adding the Kyrie. A major traffic snarl-up meant that our principal celebrant arrived very late, and this gave us longer than usual to run through items with the congregation before the start of our celebration. So the chant items felt fairly secure by the time we sang them during the Mass.

From Psallite, Not on bread alone are we nourished adapts the text of the Communion antiphon from Matthew 4:4, setting it to the tune Picardy (Let all mortal flesh keep silence), with the voices in the refrain in canon, interspersed with chanted verses from Psalm 18(19). I thought it was a very effective setting, succeeding in establishing an atmosphere of prayer, while being readily accessible to our willing singing assembly.

Ash Wednesday (2011)

Wednesday, 9 March 2011


Entrance Lord Jesus, think on me
Psalm Ps 50 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation Praise to you, O Christ (James Walsh)
Imposition of Ashes Lord, Cleanse my heart (Psallite)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Mass XVII & Missal tones
Agnus Dei Mass XVII
Communion Miserere Mei (Antonio Lotti, c. 1667-1740)
Recessional Our Father, we have wandered
 

We kept to the same musical choices as last year, with the exception of the Lotti. Last year we sang the opening verse, and since then we've tackled the whole piece. Altogether it was on the long side for the ritual moment of the Communion procession, so we sang a truncated version. The piece is episodic in character - a through-composed setting with different music for every verse, and a regular alternating pattern of atmospheric counterpoint and declamatory block chords. It wasn’t easy, though, to find a place to stop that didn’t feel like ending in the middle. Cutting to the last verse (which, musically speaking, does feel like a proper ending) wasn’t altogether convincing either, with the text turning from penitence to, well, bullocks. We settled on

Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam:
et exsultabunt ossa humiliata.


Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones you have crushed may thrill.

9th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

 
Entrance Christ is made the sure foundation
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm Ps 30 (Martin Hall/A Gregory Murray)
Gospel Acclamation Here in our Midst (Peter Jones)
Preparation of the Gifts The Lord bless you and keep you (John Rutter)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Assisi Acclamations (Nick Baty)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion I am the true and living bread (Martin Barry/Diane Murden)
Postcommunion Litany to the Holy Spirit (Peter Hurford)
Recessional Glorious things of you are spoken
 

It was harder than I expected to find songs and hymns reflecting the image in today’s readings of God our rock. From Psalm 94(95), there’s the line Hail the rock who saves us. We sang a setting of this psalm for our Entrance song four Sundays ago. Today we tried out a hymn which, to my knowledge, we haven’t sung before: John Newton’s Glorious things of thee are spoken (in the Celebration Hymnal for Everyone version with modernised pronouns), with the line On the Rock of Ages founded, what can shake your sure repose? Our opening hymn Christ is made the sure foundation touched on the same theme.

For this the last Sunday before Lent, we had two fairly sunny choral items: firstly, John Rutter’s The Lord bless you and keep you, in which the line The Lord make his face to shine upon you echoed the last verse of the responsorial psalm; and secondly Peter Hurford’s Litany to the Holy Spirit.

The latter was chosen with both of today’s Communion antiphons in mind:

I call upon you, God, for you will answer me;
Bend your ear and hear my prayer.

and

I tell you solemnly, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it, and it will be yours, says the Lord.

The words are the first three stanzas of Robert Herrick’s (1591-1674) prayer in verse about last things. Peter Hurford’s charming melody might be thought an incongruous vehicle for Herrick’s rather morbid supplications, but the end result is an uplifting focus not on death and judgement, but on the reassurance of trust in the Holy Spirit, the comforter.

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 27 February 2011

 
Entrance All my hope on God is founded
Kyrie Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm Ps 61 (Martin Hall)
Gospel Acclamation Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts Seek ye first
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen Assisi Acclamations (Nick Baty)
Agnus Dei Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion In God alone (Taizé) & Ps 127 (Bévenot)
Postcommunion Quaerite primum regnum Dei (W.A. Mozart)
Recessional Lord, for tomorrow and its needs
 

Today’s Gospel reading gave us some memorable phrases, not least of which was

Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be gven you as well.

We found two contrasting musical settings, firstly in the well known modern hymn setting (in yet another fine choral arrangement from the RSCM collection Sing with all my soul), and then in the polyphonic setting by the young Mozart.

He wrote it at the age of fourteen, as part of the entrance examination for the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. Legend says that it took him a mere half an hour of the allotted three hours. Although at least one critic maintains that the outcome shows the young composer’s failure to master an unfamiliar idiom, to my ear Mozart’s genius transcends the straitjacket, and gives us a little gem that looks forward to, say, the Clarinet Concerto rather than backwards to Palestrina. At any rate, that’s how we tried to sing it.

The unifying theme behind the first reading, the Psalm and the Gospel reading was encapsulated in the psalm response: In God alone is my soul at rest. Both our entrance hymn and our Communion processional song reflected on these words.

Also in today’s Gospel, the words

So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself

prompted the choice of an old favourite for our recessional hymn.