Massive rehearsal tonight in Dubuque, Iowa for Lessons and Carols, tomorrow evening’s event for the second annual Loras College Liturgical Music Conference. I’ll write a bit more on the conference as the week progresses. We’re off to the cathedral for liturgy tomorrow, as we were tonight for practice with choir, organ, piano, brass quintet, flute. I have my hammer dulcimer and guitar. The former worked so well on the guitar-possible music, that I’m only playing the latter on two pieces.
Reflecting on the line-up, I was struck that this is really the mainstream of Catholic liturgical music. Everything, just about. A solidly catholic lineup, inclusive of polyphony and chant, but also other musical traditions, too. Not, unfortunately for my reform2 friends, chant and polyphony only. Here’s what’s in store:
We Gather Here To Worship You, O God – a new hymn by Michael Joncas
Psalm 148 read
All People That On Earth Do Dwell
Gloria from Joncas’s Missa Sacramentum Caritatis (new ICEL)
Schutte’s Glory and Praise to our God
Te Deum plainchant
Isaiah 55:6-11
O Christ the Word Incarnate (Wesley’s tune AURELIA)
Joncas’s Lord To Whom Shall We Go
Praise to You O Christ Our Savior (Farrell)
Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus (Psalm 42)
Romans 8:18-23, 25-27
Lord of All Hopefulness
the Lord Have Mercy from Missa Ad Gentes (Joncas again)
Canticle of the Turning
Attende Domine
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Let All Mortal Flesh
We Come To Your Feast
I Am The Bread of Life
Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
All Creatures of our God and King
Christ, Be Near, At Either Hand (another relatively new piece from Joncas)
your favorite liturgical song in 5/4
A nice hymn by Joncas, Great God Your Love Has Called Us Here
On Eagles Wings, with an arrangement by Craig Kingsbury the composer had never heard
22 pieces of music and five passages from Scriptures. Should be interesting.
Catholic Sensibility 
The Joncas “gathering” hymn is a worthy addition to OCP’s current hymn content. People who automatically foam at the mouth when his name is uttered haven’t kept up with his recent choral output….
Craig Kingsbury is a stud arranger/composer. Bob Hurd, particularly, has benefited the most from his genius.