The Conversion Of St Paul at Our Place on Sunday (no, we are not on the Damascus Road).
Three of the hymns are from The Sheet, so I'll have to wait for my Spy to report, but the entrance hymn (from the Orange Book) is God is working his purpose out (Benson).
At our 9 o'clock communion.
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven - LAUDA ANIMA
Blest are the Pure in Heart - FRANCONIA
Guide me, O thou great Redeemer - CWM RHONDDA
Sadly, one of our two regular volunteer organists died unexpectedly at the end of last year. We no longer have an organist every Sunday, sometimes a pianist stands in, or we have recorded organ music. It was recordings today, and I think the sound desk settings could have been better. Cwm Rhondda lacked the "oomph" needed which dampened the congregation's usual enthusiastic singing.
The trouble with singing Cwm Rhondda to a recorded accompaniment would be that the player may not have included the (obligatory!) extra length on I will ever give to thee (give to THEE ...), which Ruins the Fun!
Our offerings at St Pete's were (mostly) not too bad today:
Brightest and best of the suns of the morning - Epiphany Will you come and follow me? - Kelvingrove* Dear Lord and Father of mankind - Repton Bind us together, Lord Thou, whose almighty word - Moscow
* I only realised at choir practice yesterday that the tune Kelvingrove has virtually no dotted notes in it (except at the very start of each line); I explained this to the choir, but as I predicted, the congregation (and, in fairness, the choir as well) dotted away merrily. I had assumed it was just another aberration in the Orange Book, but I've done a bit of googling, and it looks as though the undotted version is right.
For once, I think the "mistake" is actually an improvement; it felt rather dull to have all the notes being equal. I'd be interested to hear what you think!
We are nearly at the end of our Hebrews series: looking at the second half of Chapter 12 - the unshakable Kingdom. Hence, all the references to the King this week, and the extended riff on Mt Zion in the third him. Really good choices and the congregation sang their hearts out.
Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven (Lauda Anima)
Blest Are The Pure In Heart (Franconia)
Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken (Austria)
Crown Him With Many Crowns (Diadem)
The trouble with singing Cwm Rhondda to a recorded accompaniment would be that the player may not have included the (obligatory!) extra length on I will ever give to thee (give to THEE ...), which Ruins the Fun!
I'm pretty sure these machines generate the music digitally and no actual player is involved.
And any organist worth their salt will know to slam on the brakes to give time for the men to sing the rising arpeggio at that point, and then hang on long enough for their dizziness to settle and they are well enough to continue.
We had
Gather us in
I will be with you
Oh the word of my Lord (to a gentle bossa nova 🤭)
Christ be our light.
Before Mass I asked our group of singers to "sing their chops off" to encourage the congregation to actually open their mouths. It worked, but I then had to spend time interpreting that idiom to a lovely Italian lady.
Conversion of St Paul, with particular reference to Ananias. (And a nod to St Dwynwen's Day).
“Come, let us praise the Lord” - Darwall's 148th.
“Here is love vast as the ocean” - Dom Ond Iesu.
“Master, speak! Thy servant heareth” - Magister/Ottawa.
“Saul left for Damascus” - Stowey.
“For my sake and the Gospel's, go” - Bishopsgarth.
Flashback to Covid at our place. All week we, like much of the eastern US, have been expected a big winter storm. It has turned out to be much less terrible than expected where I am (as we knew by Friday would probably be the case), though it’s still significant enough that no one needs to be out driving in it.
In anticipation of the bad weather, and in order to let people know sooner rather than later what to expect this weekend, notice came out on Thursday that all activities at church today were canceled. Instead, we held and recorded the entire service at the usual choir practice time Thursday night. The link went out this morning, as it usually does for the livestream. My wife is watching it now.
The hymns were:
“Be Thou My Vision”/SLANE
“God, be the Love to Search and Keep Me”/GREEN TYLER
“Open Your Ears, O Faithful People”/YISRAEL V’ORAITA
“Will You Let Me Be Your Servant”/THE SERVANT SONG
“Soon and Very Soon”
There’s one other bit possibly worth noting. In lieu of a regular prelude and postlude, the choir sang a very simple protest song that our music director heard in a video from Minneapolis:
Hold on, hold on,
My dear ones, here comes the dawn.
It worked nicely in that pretty much everything the choir is singing in these weeks after Epiphany relates to light. The plan had been that on the “postlude,” the congregation would be invited to join in. Obviously that wasn’t an option, but after we were done recording there was discussion of continuing to use the song at the beginning and ending of the service in the coming weeks.
The trouble with singing Cwm Rhondda to a recorded accompaniment would be that the player may not have included the (obligatory!) extra length on I will ever give to thee (give to THEE ...), which Ruins the Fun!
Our offerings at St Pete's were (mostly) not too bad today:
Brightest and best of the suns of the morning - Epiphany Will you come and follow me? - Kelvingrove* Dear Lord and Father of mankind - Repton Bind us together, Lord Thou, whose almighty word - Moscow
* I only realised at choir practice yesterday that the tune Kelvingrove has virtually no dotted notes in it (except at the very start of each line); I explained this to the choir, but as I predicted, the congregation (and, in fairness, the choir as well) dotted away merrily. I had assumed it was just another aberration in the Orange Book, but I've done a bit of googling, and it looks as though the undotted version is right.
For once, I think the "mistake" is actually an improvement; it felt rather dull to have all the notes being equal. I'd be interested to hear what you think!
@Piglet I agree that the dotted version is more fun to sing. However Mr Cats who is above all things an organ and musical Purist (note the capital P) Does Not Agree, and Will Not Play it in this manner. By the way, all organists playing in the regular recitals at the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow are required to begin with Kelvingrove. Mr Cats once arranged for a visiting American to give the recital, then had to slide hurriedly onto the organ bench when he realised our transatlantic friend did not know it.
Judge eternal, throned in splendour- Rhuddlan
O thou who camest from above- Hereford
Longing for light - Christ be our light.
Bread of heaven, on thee we feed- Bread of heaven
O for a thousand tongues to sing - Lyngham
A good selection, though our one bass failed to do justice to Lyngham.
@Piglet and @Cathscats, what is the “dotted version” of KELVINGROVE? In our hymnal, it’s in 3/4 time, and the only dotted notes are dotted half notes/minims at the ends of lines, which also seems to be how CH4 has it, and I can’t imagine what else would be dotted.
And any organist worth their salt will know to slam on the brakes to give time for the men to sing the rising arpeggio at that point, and then hang on long enough for their dizziness to settle and they are well enough to continue.
I have to agree with the Vicar of Dibley that it's OK to shout on the "bread of heaven" bit.
And any organist worth their salt will know to slam on the brakes to give time for the men to sing the rising arpeggio at that point, and then hang on long enough for their dizziness to settle and they are well enough to continue.
I have to agree with the Vicar of Dibley that it's OK to shout on the "bread of heaven" bit.
GMOTGJ is absolutely written to be sung molto con welly!
One of my favourite memories is a friend's wedding in a tiny church in Wales packed to the rafters with people who could really sing and I could give it as much welly as I could *and no-one noticed because I was drowned out by everyone else*!
OK, maybe the person in front of me got my tune-free rendering in the lug but apart from them...
@Piglet and @Cathscats, what is the “dotted version” of KELVINGROVE? In our hymnal, it’s in 3/4 time, and the only dotted notes are dotted half notes/minims at the ends of lines, which also seems to be how CH4 has it, and I can’t imagine what else would be dotted.
In the Orange Book (upon which be curses) it's in 2/4, with equal quavers on every single note (even at the start of each line), which is about as dull as you can get! Even 3/4, with minim/crotchet timing would be an improvement!
With all due respect to Mr Cats, we (and the congregation) ignored what was written and sang it con jiggissimo.
@Piglet and @Cathscats, what is the “dotted version” of KELVINGROVE? In our hymnal, it’s in 3/4 time, and the only dotted notes are dotted half notes/minims at the ends of lines, which also seems to be how CH4 has it, and I can’t imagine what else would be dotted.
In the Orange Book (upon which be curses) it's in 2/4, with equal quavers on every single note (even at the start of each line), which is about as dull as you can get! Even 3/4, with minim/crotchet timing would be an improvement!
With all due respect to Mr Cats, we (and the congregation) ignored what was written and sang it con jiggissimo.
Thanks, @Piglet. I did a bit of digging and found versions of the traditional tune (as opposed to the hymn tune) in 4/4 and written as you described. Sort of a Scotch Snap, I suppose.
One Way Jesus - I lay my life down at your feet (a new one to me and I won't be sorry if I don't hear it again) Shine, Jesus, shine (not a new one to me but ditto) Jesus loves me, this I know There is strength within the sorrow (Sovereign over us) None like you (Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind)
Strictly speaking, a Scotch snap is when you get a semiquaver or other very short note (on a strong beat) followed by a dotted crotchet or longer note; in "Kelvingrove" it's the other way round.
Strictly speaking, a Scotch snap is when you get a semiquaver or other very short note (on a strong beat) followed by a dotted crotchet or longer note; in "Kelvingrove" it's the other way round.
Strictly speaking, a Scotch snap is when you get a semiquaver or other very short note (on a strong beat) followed by a dotted crotchet or longer note; in "Kelvingrove" it's the other way round.
One Way Jesus - I lay my life down at your feet (a new one to me and I won't be sorry if I don't hear it again) Shine, Jesus, shine (not a new one to me but ditto) Jesus loves me, this I know There is strength within the sorrow (Sovereign over us) None like you (Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind)
One Way Jesus I am not familiar with it but my irreverent mind now imagines a Latin American cabbie who will only take you to the airport but not back.
One Way Jesus - I lay my life down at your feet (a new one to me and I won't be sorry if I don't hear it again) Shine, Jesus, shine (not a new one to me but ditto) Jesus loves me, this I know There is strength within the sorrow (Sovereign over us) None like you (Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind)
One Way Jesus I am not familiar with it but my irreverent mind now imagines a Latin American cabbie who will only take you to the airport but not back.
Yes; I had similar irreverent thoughts during the singing.
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas) at Our Place tomorrow:
Sing we of the blessed mother (Abbot's Leigh) We hail thy presence glorious (Offertorium) Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Picardy)
Something from The Sheet (presumably for the Procession - might be Faithful vigil ended, but that's in the Orange Book. However, it might be easier to handle The Sheet, with FVE on it, whilst holding a candle as well!)
“Awake, awake: fling off the night!” (Morning Hymn.
“Light of the world” (Tim Hughes).
“Mary and Joseph came to the temple” (Bunessan).
“Faithful vigil ended” (North Coates).
“Like a candle flame” (Kendrick).
“The light of the morning is breaking” (Crugybar).
I agree to about "Diadem" being the "chapel" tune for "All hail the power", as opposed to "Miles Lane" foe the Anglicans. I believe the Americans go for "Coronation".
It depends on the Americans. Presbyterian, Lutheran (ELCA and LC–MS), Reformed (RCA and CRCNA) and United Church of Christ hymnals go for CORONATION. The United Methodist, Moravian and Southern Baptist hymnals go for both CORONATION and DIADEM. (DIADEM is what I’ve actually encountered being in United Methodist services.) The Episcopal hymnal goes for both CORONATION and MILES LANE. (Older Reformed hymnals did likewise.)
Growing up PCA, we had DIADEM and CORONATION in the hymnal, but sang the former. Lutheran contexts I've been in are more 50/50 MILES LANE/CORONATION, and although the TEC hymnal has both of those, I've only sung it in those contexts to CORONATION.
What hymnal(s) did your PCA place use? Was it the Trinity Hymnal? As I recall, many PCA churches, at least until the PCA joined in on the Trinity Hymnal (around 1990?) continued to use the 1955 Hymnbook they “inherited” when they withdrew from the PCUS, and it had CORONATION and MILES LANE. But growing up in he old PCUS, and singing out of the Hymnbook for the first 30 years of my life, I never encountered MILES LANE being used.
Sorry I never replied to this...haven't been aboard for a couple weeks!
I grew up on the '90 Trinity (and, interestingly enough, it seems like the PCA has left the Trinity behind again for the third edition, but I don't know the details there).
Today's theme was forgiving one another through the love Jesus has for us.
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (Kingsfold)
Praise Him, Praise Him! Jesus, Our Blessèd Redeemer (Joyful Song)
Make Me A Channel of Your Peace (Make Me A Channel of Your Peace)
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Blaenwern)
I am starting to work towards retirement by taking one Sunday a month off and easing in those who will replace me when old age or mortality bring things to a halt.
So I am off to Liverpool Met this morning for the 11 o'clock where they will be singing
Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of creation
Introit - Latin plainsong
Gloria and sanctus - Cantus Missae Rheinberger
Creed and Agnus Dei - Latin plainsong
Communion chant - Latin plainsong
Ave Verum - Mozart
Blest are the pure in heart
Fanfare - Matthias
I was in the choir 40 years ago for several years. Its interesting that there is more Latin chant now than back then. Only two congregational hymns, though we will be expected to join in the creed and Agnus Dei, I expect. £2.5 million was recently spent on an overhaul of the very fine organ to mark its 50th birthday.
Oh, and Candlemas is tomorrow.
First Sunday in the month Hymns of Praise service.
How Great Thou Art - HOW GREAT THOU ART
How Deep the Father's Love for Us - own tune (Townend)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness - FAITHFULNESS
I Will Sing the Wondrous Story - HYFRYDOL
In Christ Alone - own tune (Getty & Townend)
... I was in the choir 40 years ago for several years. Its interesting that there is more Latin chant now than back then ...
When we were at St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast the choir was invited to sing at St Peter's, the Roman Catholic cathedral (the first non-Roman choir to do so) and we did a Candlemas service, which included a few Latin motets. One of the priests remarked that it was the most Latin he'd heard since Vatican II.
Our offerings at a rather less elevated St Peter's this morning, where candles were blessed for the forthcoming year:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise - St Denio Restore, O Lord, the honour of your name - Kendrick Arise to greet the Lord of light - Repton Let there be love shared among us - Dave Bilborough In Christ there is no East or West - Kilmarnock
Christ whose glory fills the skies- Ratisbon
Faithful vigil ended-Pastor Pastorem
Lord the light of your love -Shine Jesus shine
Virgin born we bow before thee-Quem Pastores
Love Divine -Blaenwern
The visiting retired priest spoke very slowly, with lots of meaningful pauses, yet she rushed into saying the Agnus Dei which is normally sung.
@Alan29 - yes, Candlemas is indeed properly celebrated on 2nd February, but small churches who can't reasonably expect a weekday congregation transfer it to the nearest Sunday.
A fair attendance at Our Place, and Faithful vigil ended (Pastor Pastorum) was indeed sung during the short procession at the end of the service.
Interesting - I've only ever sung it to St Barnard (which IMO is rather dull).
McKEE or ST. PETER are the normal tunes here, at least in my experience, with a preference for McKEE. Apparently it was the Episcopalians who first paired the text with McKEE in their 1940 Hymnal, making it the first use in the US of an African American tune in a mainline Protestant hymnal. (Those not familiar with McKEE can hear it here.)
Another recorded service for us today, as another winter storm was moving in. The hymns were:
“God Is Calling through the Whisper”/W ŻŁOBIE LEŻY
“His Eye Is on the Sparrow”
“What Does the Lord Require of You”/MOON
“Live into Hope”/TRURO
We had a surprisingly robust attendance - on the good side of 'normal' - considering that quite a few people were away with coughs, sniffles and other illnesses; some had (legitimate) other things to attend to (including a funeral in Nigeria); and - above all - many folk were exhausted after our church panto (a show on Friday followed by two yesterday, a brief party and a great deal of taking-down and tidying-up).
Our Place had quite a few Missing Persons - lurgy, hospital appointments etc. - but my Spy reports that we still had 30 in church. Not a lot, you may say, but before Advent we were lucky to get 20...and 30 or so seems to be the average now...
We were 8 this morning, which is pretty good for a winter Sunday. We've been quite robust in general this winter by our standards - usually there's one Sunday where it's 3-4 of us and I don't think we've been below 6, and often into double figures.
Though I tend to think that's in spite of the hymn choice, rather than because of it. We had:
All that I am, all that I do
Standing in the need of prayer
"I have a dream" a man once said
Blest are they the poor in spirit (this was a new one on me, and such an unmetrical stinker that every verse is printed with separate melody to help fit the words in, which in turn meant I had to key in all 5 versions into Musescore alongside the chords. Not a bad hymn, but not one I'm convinced is worth the effort)
How deep the Father's love for us
It being the first Sunday of the month, we had Evensong:
Ferial responses
Psalm 107 (part) - chant by Parratt
Usual chants to Mag & Nunc
Hymns: Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire - Veni Creator Spiritus Rejoice, O land, in God thy might - Wareham Saviour, again to thy dear name we raise - Ellers (ghastly old wailer)
Apart from officiant and organist, there were four of us, all from the choir.
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord By grace alone somehow I stand I've tried in vain a thousand ways Come you weary heart now to Jesus (O the goodness of Jesus) I lift my hands to the coming King
@Alan29 - yes, Candlemas is indeed properly celebrated on 2nd February, but small churches who can't reasonably expect a weekday congregation transfer it to the nearest Sunday.
A fair attendance at Our Place, and Faithful vigil ended (Pastor Pastorum) was indeed sung during the short procession at the end of the service.
Blest are they the poor in spirit (this was a new one on me, and such an unmetrical stinker that every verse is printed with separate melody to help fit the words in, which in turn meant I had to key in all 5 versions into Musescore alongside the chords. Not a bad hymn, but not one I'm convinced is worth the effort)
...and of which I am now thoroughly sick, having played it on repeat to learn it and then before the service for the congregation to learn it. It's not heading rapidly for the earworm thread.
@Alan29 - yes, Candlemas is indeed properly celebrated on 2nd February, but small churches who can't reasonably expect a weekday congregation transfer it to the nearest Sunday.
A fair attendance at Our Place, and Faithful vigil ended (Pastor Pastorum) was indeed sung during the short procession at the end of the service.
We don't have that option.
So I understand.
The C of E is (perforce, maybe) rather more flexible in this regard, and The Presentation was celebrated at our Cathedral's principal Eucharist yesterday. It was also celebrated this morning at the associated King's School Eucharist, just for good measure!
Comments
Three of the hymns are from The Sheet, so I'll have to wait for my Spy to report, but the entrance hymn (from the Orange Book) is God is working his purpose out (Benson).
Not one of my personal favourites, but YMMV.
Only two of tomorrow's hymns are from The Sheet - they are singing Abide with me (Eventide) as the Communion hymn...
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven - LAUDA ANIMA
Blest are the Pure in Heart - FRANCONIA
Guide me, O thou great Redeemer - CWM RHONDDA
Sadly, one of our two regular volunteer organists died unexpectedly at the end of last year. We no longer have an organist every Sunday, sometimes a pianist stands in, or we have recorded organ music. It was recordings today, and I think the sound desk settings could have been better. Cwm Rhondda lacked the "oomph" needed which dampened the congregation's usual enthusiastic singing.
Our offerings at St Pete's were (mostly) not too bad today:
Brightest and best of the suns of the morning - Epiphany
Will you come and follow me? - Kelvingrove*
Dear Lord and Father of mankind - Repton
Bind us together, Lord
Thou, whose almighty word - Moscow
* I only realised at choir practice yesterday that the tune Kelvingrove has virtually no dotted notes in it (except at the very start of each line); I explained this to the choir, but as I predicted, the congregation (and, in fairness, the choir as well) dotted away merrily. I had assumed it was just another aberration in the Orange Book, but I've done a bit of googling, and it looks as though the undotted version is right.
For once, I think the "mistake" is actually an improvement; it felt rather dull to have all the notes being equal. I'd be interested to hear what you think!
Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven (Lauda Anima)
Blest Are The Pure In Heart (Franconia)
Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken (Austria)
Crown Him With Many Crowns (Diadem)
I'm pretty sure these machines generate the music digitally and no actual player is involved.
We had
Gather us in
I will be with you
Oh the word of my Lord (to a gentle bossa nova 🤭)
Christ be our light.
Before Mass I asked our group of singers to "sing their chops off" to encourage the congregation to actually open their mouths. It worked, but I then had to spend time interpreting that idiom to a lovely Italian lady.
“Come, let us praise the Lord” - Darwall's 148th.
“Here is love vast as the ocean” - Dom Ond Iesu.
“Master, speak! Thy servant heareth” - Magister/Ottawa.
“Saul left for Damascus” - Stowey.
“For my sake and the Gospel's, go” - Bishopsgarth.
In anticipation of the bad weather, and in order to let people know sooner rather than later what to expect this weekend, notice came out on Thursday that all activities at church today were canceled. Instead, we held and recorded the entire service at the usual choir practice time Thursday night. The link went out this morning, as it usually does for the livestream. My wife is watching it now.
The hymns were:
“Be Thou My Vision”/SLANE
“God, be the Love to Search and Keep Me”/GREEN TYLER
“Open Your Ears, O Faithful People”/YISRAEL V’ORAITA
“Will You Let Me Be Your Servant”/THE SERVANT SONG
“Soon and Very Soon”
There’s one other bit possibly worth noting. In lieu of a regular prelude and postlude, the choir sang a very simple protest song that our music director heard in a video from Minneapolis:
Hold on, hold on,
My dear ones, here comes the dawn.
It worked nicely in that pretty much everything the choir is singing in these weeks after Epiphany relates to light. The plan had been that on the “postlude,” the congregation would be invited to join in. Obviously that wasn’t an option, but after we were done recording there was discussion of continuing to use the song at the beginning and ending of the service in the coming weeks.
@Piglet I agree that the dotted version is more fun to sing. However Mr Cats who is above all things an organ and musical Purist (note the capital P) Does Not Agree, and Will Not Play it in this manner. By the way, all organists playing in the regular recitals at the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow are required to begin with Kelvingrove. Mr Cats once arranged for a visiting American to give the recital, then had to slide hurriedly onto the organ bench when he realised our transatlantic friend did not know it.
Mass of St Thomas
Judge eternal, throned in splendour- Rhuddlan
O thou who camest from above- Hereford
Longing for light - Christ be our light.
Bread of heaven, on thee we feed- Bread of heaven
O for a thousand tongues to sing - Lyngham
A good selection, though our one bass failed to do justice to Lyngham.
I have to agree with the Vicar of Dibley that it's OK to shout on the "bread of heaven" bit.
GMOTGJ is absolutely written to be sung molto con welly!
One of my favourite memories is a friend's wedding in a tiny church in Wales packed to the rafters with people who could really sing and I could give it as much welly as I could *and no-one noticed because I was drowned out by everyone else*!
OK, maybe the person in front of me got my tune-free rendering in the lug but apart from them...
In the Orange Book (upon which be curses) it's in 2/4, with equal quavers on every single note (even at the start of each line), which is about as dull as you can get! Even 3/4, with minim/crotchet timing would be an improvement!
With all due respect to Mr Cats, we (and the congregation) ignored what was written and sang it con jiggissimo.
Shine, Jesus, shine (not a new one to me but ditto)
Jesus loves me, this I know
There is strength within the sorrow (Sovereign over us)
None like you (Water you turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind)
/tangent
Its the rhythm when you say "sausage."
One Way Jesus I am not familiar with it but my irreverent mind now imagines a Latin American cabbie who will only take you to the airport but not back.
Yes; I had similar irreverent thoughts during the singing.
Sing we of the blessed mother (Abbot's Leigh)
We hail thy presence glorious (Offertorium)
Let all mortal flesh keep silence (Picardy)
Something from The Sheet (presumably for the Procession - might be Faithful vigil ended, but that's in the Orange Book. However, it might be easier to handle The Sheet, with FVE on it, whilst holding a candle as well!)
“Awake, awake: fling off the night!” (Morning Hymn.
“Light of the world” (Tim Hughes).
“Mary and Joseph came to the temple” (Bunessan).
“Faithful vigil ended” (North Coates).
“Like a candle flame” (Kendrick).
“The light of the morning is breaking” (Crugybar).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3RH54tBeug&list=RDF3RH54tBeug&start_radio=1
Sorry I never replied to this...haven't been aboard for a couple weeks!
I grew up on the '90 Trinity (and, interestingly enough, it seems like the PCA has left the Trinity behind again for the third edition, but I don't know the details there).
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (Kingsfold)
Praise Him, Praise Him! Jesus, Our Blessèd Redeemer (Joyful Song)
Make Me A Channel of Your Peace (Make Me A Channel of Your Peace)
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling (Blaenwern)
So I am off to Liverpool Met this morning for the 11 o'clock where they will be singing
Praise to the Lord the Almighty the King of creation
Introit - Latin plainsong
Gloria and sanctus - Cantus Missae Rheinberger
Creed and Agnus Dei - Latin plainsong
Communion chant - Latin plainsong
Ave Verum - Mozart
Blest are the pure in heart
Fanfare - Matthias
I was in the choir 40 years ago for several years. Its interesting that there is more Latin chant now than back then. Only two congregational hymns, though we will be expected to join in the creed and Agnus Dei, I expect. £2.5 million was recently spent on an overhaul of the very fine organ to mark its 50th birthday.
Oh, and Candlemas is tomorrow.
How Great Thou Art - HOW GREAT THOU ART
How Deep the Father's Love for Us - own tune (Townend)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness - FAITHFULNESS
I Will Sing the Wondrous Story - HYFRYDOL
In Christ Alone - own tune (Getty & Townend)
Our offerings at a rather less elevated St Peter's this morning, where candles were blessed for the forthcoming year:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise - St Denio
Restore, O Lord, the honour of your name - Kendrick
Arise to greet the Lord of light - Repton
Let there be love shared among us - Dave Bilborough
In Christ there is no East or West - Kilmarnock
Mass of St Thomas
Christ whose glory fills the skies- Ratisbon
Faithful vigil ended-Pastor Pastorem
Lord the light of your love -Shine Jesus shine
Virgin born we bow before thee-Quem Pastores
Love Divine -Blaenwern
The visiting retired priest spoke very slowly, with lots of meaningful pauses, yet she rushed into saying the Agnus Dei which is normally sung.
A fair attendance at Our Place, and Faithful vigil ended (Pastor Pastorum) was indeed sung during the short procession at the end of the service.
Another recorded service for us today, as another winter storm was moving in. The hymns were:
“God Is Calling through the Whisper”/W ŻŁOBIE LEŻY
“His Eye Is on the Sparrow”
“What Does the Lord Require of You”/MOON
“Live into Hope”/TRURO
Though I tend to think that's in spite of the hymn choice, rather than because of it. We had:
All that I am, all that I do
Standing in the need of prayer
"I have a dream" a man once said
Blest are they the poor in spirit (this was a new one on me, and such an unmetrical stinker that every verse is printed with separate melody to help fit the words in, which in turn meant I had to key in all 5 versions into Musescore alongside the chords. Not a bad hymn, but not one I'm convinced is worth the effort)
How deep the Father's love for us
Ferial responses
Psalm 107 (part) - chant by Parratt
Usual chants to Mag & Nunc
Hymns:
Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire - Veni Creator Spiritus
Rejoice, O land, in God thy might - Wareham
Saviour, again to thy dear name we raise - Ellers (ghastly old wailer)
Apart from officiant and organist, there were four of us, all from the choir.
By grace alone somehow I stand
I've tried in vain a thousand ways
Come you weary heart now to Jesus (O the goodness of Jesus)
I lift my hands to the coming King
If Candlemas is today, was yesterday Tallowe'en?
We don't have that option.
...and of which I am now thoroughly sick, having played it on repeat to learn it and then before the service for the congregation to learn it. It's not heading rapidly for the earworm thread.
So I understand.
The C of E is (perforce, maybe) rather more flexible in this regard, and The Presentation was celebrated at our Cathedral's principal Eucharist yesterday. It was also celebrated this morning at the associated King's School Eucharist, just for good measure!