Ideas for the Our Father?

bonniebede

Hi. Our organist and choir director has decided that it is time for a new Our Father. The one we currently sing is very commonly used in Ireland, a somewhat swingy version probably from the '70's... something else would certainly be an improvement. Also she has invited me to supply suggestions, along without others, a definite step up in involvement (building trust and contributing cheerfully does work!) so I don't want to mess up this opportunity which may in time lead to other chances to contribute to musical choices. But I am finding it difficult to come up with a range of ideas. We sing a lot of the St Louis Jesuit/David Haas type of music, including from a new collection from the national liturgy centre in Ireland which has new composers of the same SLJ sort of pop tradition, with a few supposedly Irish twiddles thrown in.
so the choir is used to that sort of sound, easy listening, sweet, but not very used to chant.

So far my number one suggestion will be to teach the ICEL missal chant in English based on the Latin Pater noster, and for the following reasons:
1 It is simple, and may already be vaguely familiar to some
2 there is an accompaniment,
3 the embolism uses the correct text rather than some songified translation,
it is a step towards the people learning what is considered the basic repertoire in Jubilate Deo,
albeit in English rather than Latin.
4. It will be free and so we won't need to pay royalties (what? we don't have license for all this music we
sing and photocopy at will? goodness, I know where we can get one, for only a few hundred euro)

I want to also further suggest the idea of using different Mass settings for different seasons. Once the congregation are singing this one confidentially, (maybe a year?) we could start to vary the settings as we move from one season to another so that the congregation are getting the sense of that transition in their bones, this based on the ideas I have picked up from the Latin Mass settings often labelled for ordinary time for Easter season etc. etc.

Lastly I also want to suggest that we provide some sort of worship aid for the new our father, and that we might teach it bit by bit for a few Sundays. At the moment we don't teach anything before mass, not even the response to the psalm, and taking those few minutes would make a big difference in the long run, an idea the priests are supportive of. for example we are still struggling to get people to say the new translation, even just switching to 'and with your spirit'.

However I also want to be flexible and offer other ideas, to show willing. But I can't seem to come up with anything free from the various websites.

Please any help or suggestions that would upgrade our musical repertoire? Latin and polyphony are no use at this time.

Thanks!

bonniebede

sorry forgot to add , came across the Snow one discussed here, never heard of it before and it is not used in Ireland. It does not seem to be preferable to the ICEL chant.

Adam Wood

Use the ICEL

I have other suggestions for good ones, but if your congregation doesn't know the ICEL one, they should- and I'm afraid suggesting other things as well would clutter up that fact.

The ICEL chants should be considered, in my opinion (and- as far as I can tell, the opinion of ICEL) to be the "default." If you don't know it, there's no sense in running off on other ones, no matter their excellence (and there are some excellent ones).

On a side note:
I really don't understand the hodgey-podgey nature of many parishes' Service Music selection. "We need a new Our Father" seems weird (but bonnieb- not at all unusual). Perhaps I'm overly holistic (is that a thing?) in my approach to this. I change Ordinaries at the season, never piecemeal. Even when (by necessity) combining acclamations/responses/whatevers from different sources, I still consider it (from the practical-use standpoint) to be one-whole-thing.

bonniebede

Thanks Adam, I agree the ICEL should be the obvious choice, except it may not be obvious to the ultimate gate keeper here.
To the idea that we change the whole ordinary, yes that is the idea I want to get to , eventually, of course we would have to sing the whole ordinary first (not there yet).

My fear is that the various people will come armed with their favourite setting. If I arrive with only one option, the ICEL chant, and that is rejected, we can only be left with various light pop offerings, and we will be singing it for years!

However if I have a whole sheaf of possibilities, to lay beside the raft of light pop offerings, it might make it easier for the ICEL chant to emerge as the obvious place to start because of its simplicity, and priority re the Missal. (That may sound devious, in fact it is devious, but well, what's a girl to do?)

So please please, give me your suggestions for other good ones... pretty please?

After all this situation is a crucial opportunity to be positive, helpful and included in the decision making.

hartleymartin

Take a look at the AECL (Australian English Liturgy Comission) version. I think that it is a much better adaption of the traditional Pater Noster Tone to the English Text.

Attached is a GIF with the AECL Our Father in Modern Notation (I never got around to doing a chant notation version).

It is much closer to the original Chant Tone and it is already sung by 5 million Catholics in Australia. We basically ignore the ICEL version.

hcmusicguy

There's nice chant-like setting by Lucien Deiss in WLP that I recommend. It was in People's Mass Book ('84 ed) but not sure if it's been continued in subsequent books/missals.

If you want something in a regular meter, Eugene Englert's "Rejoice" setting (also from WLP) is good too.

bonniebede

thanks for the suggestions. discovered what WLP means (who knew?) but unfortunately its not free.

hcmusicguy

Unfortunately, no.

Ambrosius

bonniebede

We use several versions: (a) The new ICEL version (though it doesn't trip of the tongue very well); (b) the Rimsky-Korsakov (which is easy, widely used, and goes down quite well): public domain versions around; (c) the Robert Stone (available at CPDL; we sing it SATB, but you don't have to); (c) the trad, Latin plaisong, which ideally everyone should get to know; (d) and sometimes we sing the 'Our Father' entirely on a single note (as done in Anglican Evensong), occasionally with an SATB ending to round it off - not very exciting, but anyone can join in that!

Producing a worship aid (either every week with changing text, or a one-off with the basic responses plus some music) is really easy and makes an enormous difference to people's perception of a particular liturgy: it shows that thought has gone into its preparation; it shows that you want people to participate, and helps them to do so; it allows infrequent church-goers, non-English speakers extra help, etc. etc.

bonniebede

Thanks so much/ I am familiar with the Rimsky Korsakov but had no idea it was by him, that's a definite one to bring to the table.(Church Slavonic might be a step too far, but nice English translations.) Am also following up cpdl resources.
When I put in Robert Stone up popped the lords prayer, no wonder I could not find resources, putting in the paternoster got me latin and the our father doesn't help either. Of course, the Lords prayer (doh!)

ClemensRomanus

Stravinsky's is easy enough for choirs, and there's a Latin version.

ClemensRomanus

Sorry, I meant 'average' choir.

hilluminar

ICEL gives 3 versions of the Our Father. The first version is much more flowing and closer to the Pater Noster in Latin than the lame Snow version. The second version is from the Mozarabic rite, and the third is the Solemn Tone. On another thread I asked if anyone ever used the 2nd or 3rd versions. No one seemed to pick up on my question. Perhaps no one ever uses these? IMHO all 3 versions are good and extremely doable.

Paul_Onnonhoaraton

If you are avoiding the SNOW version, the ICEL is nice, and based on the Gregorian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdCQusYsUc

noel jones, aago

The great thing about Catholic music that you have to pay for is that many people do not do it because they have to pay for it.

Possibly we are marketing chant in the wrong way. 99% of priests would balk at going back to the traditional music of the church, while 99% of the priests would jump at singing chant because it's free. JT >•<, what yo you think about that?

Ben

Oh, just wait until >•< sees this. He'll write another 10 posts on the cafe about it.

Don't laugh. You know it's true. :D

Adam Wood

Most priests probably don't know what you have to pay for and what you don't.

bonniebede

you guys are a riot.
Adam, I think you are right. One of the topics to gently drop into some upcoming conversation will be an inquiry into what royalties, copyright or performance licence we have at our church, probably none, no parish does that I am aware of. In our praise and worship charismatic community, we always did, at the cost of several hundred euros per annum.
then I will trust the Holy spirit will work on the consciences of those involved to move to free resources rather than those which we should be (but aren't) paying for. for example we have bought a whole set of books recently printed by our national liturgical committee. The music in them remains copyrighted to the composers, and so we can own the music but technically should not be singing the music in public (ie at Mass) You would think the NLC would point this out somewhere in the publication, but they seem to have forgotten to do so.

bonniebede

Oops I always forget to add I'm in Ireland, so it is our NLC I am talking about.

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