White Semifinal 2

Let’s vote on the other white bracket semifinalists:

An NPM top-25 best known as an art song rather than in the older form of plainsong with the full text, Sacris Solemniis. The final two strophes begin at 3:04 in this media link.

The Easter hymn is a variant of the traditional chant Surrexit Christus. But it’s not the only development from the original. Here’s an English Renaissance setting performed by New York Polyphony.

 

White Semifinal 1

Let’s kick off the Spiritual Sixteen, shall we?

In the 72-hour voting periods, “Silent Night,” probably the most popular Christmas song in the US, eked out a pair of one vote wins. “Prayer of St Francis,” also identified in hymnal-speak as “Make Me A Channel of Your Peace,” had two easy wins. It might well be the most popular “refugee” from the Catholic 60′s.

Susan Boyle has sung the higher-seed.

The German guitar song is well suited for the autoharp.

Happy polling.

 

The Dance Regional Semi-Finals

Barring a huge comeback by “The Summons,” the regional semi-finals are set:

In the violet corner, we have #1 You Are Mine vs #12 O Come O Come Emmanuel and #7 Holy Holy Holy vs #14 Veni Sancte Spiritus

For the whites, #4 Panis Angelicus vs #8 Jesus Christ Is Risen Today and #3 Prayer of St Francis vs #7 Silent Night.

It’s easy being green: #5 Ave Verum Corpus vs #8 O Come All Ye Faithful and #6 One Bread One Body vs #10 Ubi Caritas (tied with the round’s top vote-getter).

And the red regional gives us #5 Shepherd Me O God vs #8 Come Holy Ghost and #2 Holy God We Praise Thy Name (tied for most votes) vs #6 Pange Lingua.

You’d never see this distribution in an NCAA March Madness: a #1, a #2, a #3, a #4, two 5′s, two 6′s, two 7′s, 3 8′s, and a #10, a #12, and a #14.

I think by tomorrow, I’ll have the first pairing up for polling. Tell your friends to come vote as we whittle the Spiritual Sixteen down to the Eternal Eight.

 

Complete the 16

Last vote to complete the Spiritual Sixteen:

Once this polling is complete on Wednesday, we’ll throw up the posts for the Sixteen.

 

At the Core of the Paschal Mystery

This should be an intriguing match-up. Most of the NPM top-25 songs have been going down in polling in either the first round or in the second. Today we have the penultimate Theological Thirty-Two pairing, in which one will survive and one will be eliminated. By the middle of next week, we’ll be down to the Spiritual Sixteen, an even half of which will be populated by those NPM seeds. But that’s getting ahead of things. Today, first your poll:

The six-seed here combines two of the NPM’s songs, as you know. “Tantum Ergo” is part of the larger work “Pange Lingua.”

If memory serves, “We Are Called” was part of David Haas’s first collection of RCIA music. It’s interesting that his two entries in the Dance, his two arguably most popular songs, we “buried” in the series focused on the rites of Christian Initiation, Who Calls You By Name. RCIA points to the deepest Christian mystery, and Pange Lingua is embedded in our celebration of it. More than intriguing, this is a very fitting match-up. Vote away; you have 72 hours.

 

In the Far-Off Winter

One glaring omission in the NPM top-25 is the lack of seasonal music. I suspect that many of these Advent/Christmas songs would rise to the top of consideration, if people had them in mind. Due to the luck of the draw, one of these two will be eliminated from further consideration, and the other will move on to the “Spiritual Sixteen.” Let’s see how the number one Advent song fares against the number three or four Christmas song:

 

Two P’s, Two Gowns, and a Living Room Guitar

Pardon for passing up the polling yesterday. People, you have it here:

For some reason, WordPress took out the rest of my commentary:

You can hear John Paul II sing Pescador de Hombres here.

As for Panis Angelicus, I prefer a clear version, as this one from Celtic Woman, above the operatic, from one of my otherwise favorite singers. The Franck adapts well to the guitar, of course.

 

Come Holy Ghost, Be Not Afraid

Two number-one seeds (courtesy of NPM’s top-four) are already eliminated. Don’t be afraid of today’s polling, maybe another one is in danger:

The Pentecost hymn needed “overtime” to outpoll “Adoro Te Devote.” Will this traditional hymn have an easier time with the second of two top-four settings of Isaiah 43?

Despite its popularity, “Be Not Afraid” is not a favorite of some music directors. A lot of musicians fuss about the sixteenth-notes as written in the score. Few people do them as indicated. This piece has evolved since Bob Dufford sang verses one and two solo and the people came in on the antiphon. Despite what the composer may think about it, I’d say the people in the pews have made this their own–with eighth notes. The SLJ’s always said their music (at least their early music) was liturgy-tested before going to press. I’d say the through-sung piece is how Christians have determined this will be sung.

I think there was a comment or two about the tempo and style of “Come Holy Ghost” on the first round polling. This is the tempo I’d prefer to play.

 

Charity and Vision

Two double-digit seeds in today’s poll:

I heard a really nice setting of Ubi Caritas Saturday night performed by the Ames Chamber Artists. Ola Gjeilo is a fine young composer who draws on plainsong and a modern sensibility of harmony. While many music lovers are drawn to a central European anchor for Western music (Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Wagner) I find the ambient spirituality on the periphery (Norway, Ireland, Latvia, and even Italy) to be much more inspiring.

And speaking of Ireland, our other tune is capably rendered here by an American icon of singing.

 

A Tale of Two Hymns

Two hymns deep in Catholic devotion. Only one will advance to the Spiritual Sixteen.

I suspect the Soul Of My Savior/How Great Thou Art was not an inspiring pairing for some of you. I split up each bracket into a similar number of NPM songs, chant, seasonal music, hymnody, and non-Catholic sources. Four hymns in one sub-bracket: that’s just how it panned out.

Just so you know that genre is a function less of the composer and more the performance, listen to a contemporary (but way too slow) rendering of “Holy Holy Holy” here.

Let the British do Anima Christi for you.

 

Welcome to the Night

Seasonal music is doing quite well in the head-to-head polling of this liturgical music madness. NPM’s number one song, “On Eagles’ Wings” got bounced by an Easter song we often sing only once a year. Let’s see how the most popular English-language Christmas song fares against a “gathering song.”

“Silent Night” had one of the more interesting polling experiences of the first round, making it to the “Theological Thirty-Two” by one vote. Admit it: it’s a good tune. According to legend, it was written on guitar in Germany–well over a century before guitars invaded churches in number. My ensemble in Kansas City liked to sing it in German. Many people like the Dan Kantor partner song, “Night of Silence.” Here is a recording from Chris Squire (best known as the bassist for the supergroup Yes).

I spoke with Marty Haugen many years ago at a workshop, discussing the composition of church music for singing congregations. He spoke of it being a craft, as I recall. Without being exclusive of the artistic aspect of music, I think he was getting at the notion of fashioning music to permit a worshiping assembly to easily enter the singing. Predictability, support, and perhaps something that would be less “fun” for the musicians involved. Did I mention a tune that suits well for various accompaniments, including pipe organ, like here by a young musician.

 

Songs of Winter on a Spring Day

Let’s see if a number two Christmas song fares well in polling with a traditional Advent hymn.

Listen to the “upset” winner (21-15) against “Here I Am Lord” taken at a pretty good clip in this clip. Latin text, as if y’all couldn’t tell.

A contemporary rendering of the Nativity favorite by Casting Crowns here. It wouldn’t be my choice of an arrangement, but the guitar picking is interesting.

Remember, you’re not voting on these particular performances, but on the songs themselves, in whatever language you prefer.

 

Holy God, Immaculate Mary

Today’s fresh poll:

Neither of these songs were in any danger of first-round elimination, “Immaculate Mary” 19-4, and “Holy God” 23-4. How will these traditional hymns fare against each other?

 

Raising and Rising

As a liturgist, I’m used to Psalm 91 as a Lenten offering. “Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble,” and all that. And textually, I know it is one of Saint Augustine’s seven penitential psalms. Mea culpa, mea culpa … On reflection, it is curious that a setting of a Lenten penitential Scripture would be the NPM’s number one choice of “songs that make a difference.” Have Catholics gone crazy, turning back to sin and penance? I suspect that modern Catholics latch on to the refrain of hope.  And even if few enough of us see eagles regularly in real life, we appreciate the image of flight and strength and God’s protection.

How often does Easter Sunday’s favorite hymn get programmed on the other days of Easter? It’s a great tune, and so, so singable. Which song would you rather sing?

 

No Lent Homer Here

Let’s put one of the three remaining top-seeds to the test, shall we?

Perhaps “Lord Who Throughout These Forty Days” benefitted from a “home game” in the first round; it narrowly outpolled its Eucharistic opponent 16-13. Remember the words were penned by an Anglican woman, Claudia Hernaman, in 1873. The music is much older, first appearing in John Day‘s 1562 publication, The Whole Booke of Psalmes, Collected into English Meter, an Elizabethan-era best seller in England.

Now nearly ubiquitous in mainstream Catholic hymnals, “You Are Mine” appeared in print in 1991 as the lead song in David Haas’s second RCIA collection Who Calls You by Name, Volume II. From his notes on the song:

(It) can be used  throughout the many different periods and rites of the catechumenate: a song of gathering for the rites of acceptance and welcoming, and it would be especially appropriate for the rite of election or the parish rite of sending for election, due to its strong references to call and choice, which are at the center of the election liturgy.

If this song was written for RCIA, it explains a bit better the reference point of the “you”–not mature believers, but people called by God to adhere to Christ and join the Christian community. The singers are merely “proclaiming” God’s message from Isaiah 43.