Light of the World (you stepped down into darkness) Living Hope (how great the chasm that lay between us) The Church's One Foundation (is Jesus Christ her Lord)
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (Lauda anima)
I sing the almighty power of God (Forest Green)
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart (Slane)
The spacious firmament on high (Creation)
Choral:
Stanford: Communion Service in B-Flat (1879)
John Ness Beck: Canticle of Praise (1964)
Everett Titcomb: I will not leave you comfortless (1934)
I'm very fond of Stanford in B flat - I know it's a bit out of fashion these days, but it's a jolly good sing all the same!
Our offerings today:
Lord of beauty, thine the splendour - Rhuddlan Blest are the pure in heart - Franconia To thee, our God, we fly - Croft's 136th Now let us from this table rise - Herongate Immortal, invisible, God only wise - St Denio
We had Evensong today too (should have been last week but put off because Bank Holiday*)
Name of all majesty - Name of all Majesty Come down, O Love divine - Down Ampney The church's one foundation - Aurelia Hail gladdening light - Sebaste
Sorry, no list from me this week or probably next. Despite being interstate visiting the City of Churches, in the state also called the Paradise of Dissent, I did not make it to a church yesterday.
As well as two items from Sheet(s)*, Our Place had two very different items from our default hymnbook (Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New):
Alleluia, sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol) I watch the sunrise (by John Glynn and Colin Murphy)
The latter was the hymn after Communion - new to me, but possibly well known to our organist/pianist. I daresay she played the latter instrument for this one!
*These are laminated A4 cards, produced by our Lay Reader, with one hymn or song on either side. He gets material from books which we don't have hard copies of, but which contain suitable items for our use. There are a couple of music editions for the organist/pianist, of course, and the Lay Reader makes sure that licensing and copyright rules are followed,
Did any of you go to an Ascension Day service yesterday? There were two at Our Place - 10am and 730pm - and FatherInCharge tells me that the singing at both was wonderful (his word), although I don't know for certain what was sung...
I did check out one of my online destinations - Sankt Ansgar, Uppsala - where (amongst other hymns not known to me) they had part of Psalm 47 (God is gone up with a merry noise) in English, sung by a cantor, and finished up (in Swedish) with Alleluia, sing to Jesus to Hyfrydol.
All very seemly and edifying, and I expect many churches will be using Ascension-tide hymns on Sunday, as seems to be the custom these days.
I don't know if the custom has changed. But liturgical gurus seem to suggest the emphasis should be on prayer for the Holy Spirit, which doesn't rule out Ascension hymns but implies the selection of appropriate ones. Having said that, because we are currently without a priest in charge or a viable weekday congregation, we shall be observing Ascension per se this Sunday.
OK - point taken. It's been a while since I was at church on or about Ascensiontide, but my recollection is that the Sunday after Ascension Day was often a sort of extension of AD, but looked ahead to Pentecost as well.
For those who can't really do AD justice on the actual day, it makes sense to use the Sunday following - as indeed was the practice at Our Place until the arrival of the present priest-in-charge.
Ascension Day / Solemn High Mass with Confirmations, Receptions, and Reaffirmations
Parish Feast of Title
Hail the day that sees him rise (Llanfair)
Hail thee, festival day! (Salve Festa Dies)
O Lord Most High, eternal King (Gonfalon Royal)
See the Conqueror mounts in triumph (In Babilone)
Choral:
Elgar: Ecce sacerdos magnus (1888)
Rheinberger: Messe in Es for double choir "Cantus Missae" (1878)
Vaughan Williams: O clap your hands (1920)
James McMillan: Data est mihi omnis potestas, from The Strathclyde Motets (2007)
Our Place hath on its pew-sheet the following for tomorrow:
The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus) See the conqueror mounts in triumph (probably to Hyfrydol) Rejoice, the Lord is king (Gopsal) Hail the day that sees him rise (probably to Llanfair - and possibly omitting a few of the eight verses!)
I'm a little surprised that the meditative Our blest Redeemer, ere he breathed his tender last farewell wasn't chosen, perhaps as the Communion hymn, as it links Ascension and Pentecost rather nicely IMHO.
[I'm sorry but when I saw the thread header I couldn't help it.]
What did you sing in church today
Dear little girl of mine
What did you sing in church today
Dear little girl of mine
We sang about how our country's great
How Jesus loves the reprobate
The poor man's livin' at the rich man's gate
Be generous when we pass the plate
That's what we sang in church today
That's what we sang in church
Ascension Day hymns today:
All hail the power of Jesu's name (Miles Lane)
The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus)
Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour (St Helen)
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun (Truro)
We did indeed finish with "Alleluia, sing to Jesus" to "Hyfrydol". However, after the introduction, the computer produced no more music - it was my fault as I'd forgotten to tick one little box in the program; also a shame as I'd chosen a great backing track complete with descant. So we sang it unaccompanied but, I must say, rousingly - 4 verses too, so a great workout for the lungs!
Well, this is Wales (though our congregation is increasingly international).
Really? The highest note is C except for a single D in the last line. However it doesn't go very low so could easily be transposed to E (I don't think I dare suggest Eb!!!).
Sankt Ansgar, Uppsala, started off with a hymn which asks God to pour out his Holy Spirit - the tune was Daily, daily, which AFAIK is more usually associated with the Marian hymn Ye who own the faith of Jesus...
The service was billed as Högmässa - Söndagen före pingst or High Mass - the Sunday before Pentecost, and included an infant baptism, Ascension Day having been kept with a High Mass on Thursday.
I really wouldn't blame people for "extending" Ascensiontide to the following Sunday; David used to say he wished it would last about six weeks because there's been so much wonderful music written for it. There was a service on Thursday at St Pete's, but it was in the morning, so I was at work.
I wasn't at church today (travelling back from singing in Hexham with Scottish Voices), but our offerings at Evensong there were:
Introit: Viri Galilaei - Byrd
Preces & Responses - Rose
Psalm 47
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in D - Charles Wood
Anthem: Ascendit Deus - Peter Phillips
No hymns - maybe that's the usual practice there for weekday services.
Really? The highest note is C except for a single D in the last line. However it doesn't go very low so could easily be transposed to E (I don't think I dare suggest Eb!!!).
Itdoes spend a lot of time around those upper notes.
Really? The highest note is C except for a single D in the last line. However it doesn't go very low so could easily be transposed to E (I don't think I dare suggest Eb!!!).
Itdoes spend a lot of time around those upper notes.
You could stick it in D for unison singing, to be honest. Would take the basses and altos too low if you did that with an SATB choir though.
Really? The highest note is C except for a single D in the last line. However it doesn't go very low so could easily be transposed to E (I don't think I dare suggest Eb!!!).
Itdoes spend a lot of time around those upper notes.
You could stick it in D for unison singing, to be honest. Would take the basses and altos too low if you did that with an SATB choir though.
We had a baptism at our place, so the hymns related more to that—and to prayer, as the sermon was on the prayer aspect of today’s Gospel reading (John 17:1–11)—than to the Ascension. We had:
“Out of Deep, Unordered Water”/RUSTINGTON
“Take Me to the Water”
“God of the Sparrow”/ROEDER
“Let All Things Now Living”/THE ASH GROVE
We also had a hymn no other shipmates will know—one written by a certain member of our congregation for the baptism of his son 25 years ago. It has since been a congregational favorite, both for baptisms and for funerals.
Meanwhile, the choir sang an arrangement of “Down in the River to Pray.”
The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus)
O God beyond all praising (Thaxted)
Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (St Osmund)
The Lord ascendeth up on high (Ach Herr, du allerhöchster Gott)
Choral:
Charles Wood: Communion Service in C Minor (pub. 1927)
Tomkins: O clap your hands together
Gibbons: O God, the king of glory
... We also had a hymn no other shipmates will know—one written by a certain member of our congregation for the baptism of his son 25 years ago.
I get Facebook links to the service at St Magnus Cathedral, and this morning their anthem was Christ hath a garden, which David wrote for the baptism of the daughter of a lady in the choir, nearly 40 years ago. I always feel touched that they still sing it (and sing it really nicely).
Laudibus in sanctis is full throttle Byrd. Difficult to learn because of its intricate rhythms, but it buzzes along like a beautiful piece of engineering when its done well.
We had:
I heard the voice of Jesus say
The Lord's my Shepherd
Do not be afraid
Offering hymn, during which we remain seated - In the Lord I'll be ever thankful
Beauty for Brokenness
Laudibus in sanctis is full throttle Byrd. Difficult to learn because of its intricate rhythms, but it buzzes along like a beautiful piece of engineering when its done well.
At choir practice last night there were only four of us, but at least we were SATB.
The DoM was most disgruntled because the vicar has not only moved the service to 10am( I think because it will be a group service) but also changed most of his choice of hymns. So we have lost
Come down O love divine
And Come Holy Ghost our souls inspire.
There are two Worship Songs which he has been asked not to play on the organ,( so not at all, ) therefore we did not practise them. That leaves us with two unison hymns and Spirit of the living God. I will update tomorrow.
Pentecost Sunday without Come down, O love divine (to Down Ampney, of course) is Huge and Terrible Outrage...
You'd better not worship with us tomorrow, then, as we'll be having:
“Come, let us join our cheerful songs” (Nativity).
“Wide and long and high and deep” (Children's song).
“Speak, Lord, in the stillness” (Quietude).
“Thanks to God, whose word was spoken” (Regent Square).
“O Spirit of the living God” (Duke Street).
Our focus will be on the diversity of languages spoken and/or heard at Pentecost.
Comments
Light of the World (you stepped down into darkness)
Living Hope (how great the chasm that lay between us)
The Church's One Foundation (is Jesus Christ her Lord)
“Spirit of God, unseen as the wind” - Skye Boat Song.
“Spirit of truth and grace” - Down Ampney.
“Jesus calls us here to meet him” - Arwelfa.
“Father, whose mighty word” - Moscow.
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (Lauda anima)
I sing the almighty power of God (Forest Green)
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart (Slane)
The spacious firmament on high (Creation)
Choral:
Stanford: Communion Service in B-Flat (1879)
John Ness Beck: Canticle of Praise (1964)
Everett Titcomb: I will not leave you comfortless (1934)
Our offerings today:
Lord of beauty, thine the splendour - Rhuddlan
Blest are the pure in heart - Franconia
To thee, our God, we fly - Croft's 136th
Now let us from this table rise - Herongate
Immortal, invisible, God only wise - St Denio
We had Evensong today too (should have been last week but put off because Bank Holiday*)
Name of all majesty - Name of all Majesty
Come down, O Love divine - Down Ampney
The church's one foundation - Aurelia
Hail gladdening light - Sebaste
* or possibly because Organist Away
Alleluia, sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol)
I watch the sunrise (by John Glynn and Colin Murphy)
The latter was the hymn after Communion - new to me, but possibly well known to our organist/pianist. I daresay she played the latter instrument for this one!
*These are laminated A4 cards, produced by our Lay Reader, with one hymn or song on either side. He gets material from books which we don't have hard copies of, but which contain suitable items for our use. There are a couple of music editions for the organist/pianist, of course, and the Lay Reader makes sure that licensing and copyright rules are followed,
Its a regular funetal choice at ours. I was at seminary with John Glynn. A lovely chap. He was ordained, I slipped the net.
Nor mine - far too drippy.
I did check out one of my online destinations - Sankt Ansgar, Uppsala - where (amongst other hymns not known to me) they had part of Psalm 47 (God is gone up with a merry noise) in English, sung by a cantor, and finished up (in Swedish) with Alleluia, sing to Jesus to Hyfrydol.
All very seemly and edifying, and I expect many churches will be using Ascension-tide hymns on Sunday, as seems to be the custom these days.
I don't know if the custom has changed. But liturgical gurus seem to suggest the emphasis should be on prayer for the Holy Spirit, which doesn't rule out Ascension hymns but implies the selection of appropriate ones. Having said that, because we are currently without a priest in charge or a viable weekday congregation, we shall be observing Ascension per se this Sunday.
For those who can't really do AD justice on the actual day, it makes sense to use the Sunday following - as indeed was the practice at Our Place until the arrival of the present priest-in-charge.
Parish Feast of Title
Hail the day that sees him rise (Llanfair)
Hail thee, festival day! (Salve Festa Dies)
O Lord Most High, eternal King (Gonfalon Royal)
See the Conqueror mounts in triumph (In Babilone)
Choral:
Elgar: Ecce sacerdos magnus (1888)
Rheinberger: Messe in Es for double choir "Cantus Missae" (1878)
Vaughan Williams: O clap your hands (1920)
James McMillan: Data est mihi omnis potestas, from The Strathclyde Motets (2007)
The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus)
See the conqueror mounts in triumph (probably to Hyfrydol)
Rejoice, the Lord is king (Gopsal)
Hail the day that sees him rise (probably to Llanfair - and possibly omitting a few of the eight verses!)
I'm a little surprised that the meditative Our blest Redeemer, ere he breathed his tender last farewell wasn't chosen, perhaps as the Communion hymn, as it links Ascension and Pentecost rather nicely IMHO.
(apologies to Tom Paxton)
Rejoice, the Lord is King / GOPSAL
What a Friend we have in Jesus / CONVERSE
Christ Triumphant, Ever Reigning / GUITING POWER
All hail the power of Jesu's name (Miles Lane)
The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus)
Lord enthroned in heavenly splendour (St Helen)
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun (Truro)
God is our Strength and Refuge (Dambusters' March)
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty (Nicea)
O for a Heart to praise my God (Richmond)
Well, this is Wales (though our congregation is increasingly international).
The service was billed as Högmässa - Söndagen före pingst or High Mass - the Sunday before Pentecost, and included an infant baptism, Ascension Day having been kept with a High Mass on Thursday.
I wasn't at church today (travelling back from singing in Hexham with Scottish Voices), but our offerings at Evensong there were:
Introit: Viri Galilaei - Byrd
Preces & Responses - Rose
Psalm 47
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis in D - Charles Wood
Anthem: Ascendit Deus - Peter Phillips
No hymns - maybe that's the usual practice there for weekday services.
Great is your faithfulness, your faithfulness
My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (Christ Alone, Cornerstone)
Reckless Love
By Grace Alone Somehow I Stand
Majesty (Your grace has found me just as I am)
Strength will rise (as we wait upon the Lord)
Itdoes spend a lot of time around those upper notes.
You could stick it in D for unison singing, to be honest. Would take the basses and altos too low if you did that with an SATB choir though.
I'll try that for next time.
“Out of Deep, Unordered Water”/RUSTINGTON
“Take Me to the Water”
“God of the Sparrow”/ROEDER
“Let All Things Now Living”/THE ASH GROVE
We also had a hymn no other shipmates will know—one written by a certain member of our congregation for the baptism of his son 25 years ago. It has since been a congregational favorite, both for baptisms and for funerals.
Meanwhile, the choir sang an arrangement of “Down in the River to Pray.”
The head that once was crowned with thorns (St Magnus)
O God beyond all praising (Thaxted)
Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor (St Osmund)
The Lord ascendeth up on high (Ach Herr, du allerhöchster Gott)
Choral:
Charles Wood: Communion Service in C Minor (pub. 1927)
Tomkins: O clap your hands together
Gibbons: O God, the king of glory
I get Facebook links to the service at St Magnus Cathedral, and this morning their anthem was Christ hath a garden, which David wrote for the baptism of the daughter of a lady in the choir, nearly 40 years ago. I always feel touched that they still sing it (and sing it really nicely).
Introit: Viri Galilaei
Setting: Missa Brevis ( Wm Mathias)
Motets: Laudibus in Sanctis ( Byrd) and Caelos ascendit hodie ( Stanford)
Hymns: Rejoice! The Lord is King ( Darwall) and Lird enthroned in heavn’ly splendour (Bryn Calfaria)
Beautifully and energetically sung by the (mostly) young choristers; well worth the long trip there & back
I heard the voice of Jesus say
The Lord's my Shepherd
Do not be afraid
Offering hymn, during which we remain seated - In the Lord I'll be ever thankful
Beauty for Brokenness
There was a version on "Songs of Praise" yesterday. It was far too refined for my taste.
It was bloody marvellous
The DoM was most disgruntled because the vicar has not only moved the service to 10am( I think because it will be a group service) but also changed most of his choice of hymns. So we have lost
Come down O love divine
And Come Holy Ghost our souls inspire.
There are two Worship Songs which he has been asked not to play on the organ,( so not at all, ) therefore we did not practise them. That leaves us with two unison hymns and Spirit of the living God. I will update tomorrow.
You'd better not worship with us tomorrow, then, as we'll be having:
“Come, let us join our cheerful songs” (Nativity).
“Wide and long and high and deep” (Children's song).
“Speak, Lord, in the stillness” (Quietude).
“Thanks to God, whose word was spoken” (Regent Square).
“O Spirit of the living God” (Duke Street).
Our focus will be on the diversity of languages spoken and/or heard at Pentecost.
The Pentecost Sequence
Veni Creator Spiritus - Walker
This is my body
Shine Jesus, shine.