Stand up, friends standin' in the need of prayer, abide with me, I need you to listen: Soon and very soon, at evening, in the bleak midwinter rain down by the Babylonian rivers, where charity and love prevail deep within, two fishermen on eagle's wings come to set us free, sent forth by God's blessing in the breaking of the bread, singing songs of expectation with drums and dancing for the healing of the nations diverse in culture, nation, race.
timeout from thread focus K, I'm manning the doorbell tonight. Are you fortified with enough treats to pass through the All Hallow's passsover unscathed? It is deepest night, nochte profundis (mixed language's, just like the early Church), for which the urchins must be rewarded for singing chant. I say, make them sing before dropping treats "Ka-a-thy, elesison....or Cha-ah-arles, eleison." CMAA's little effort to reclaim the HolyDay. Cheers to you, wherever you are. C
For the Beauty of the Solemn Fast For the Beauty of the Feast For the Beauty of the Bye and Bye For the Beauty of the Torch, Jeanette, Isabella For the Beauty of the Butterfly Song For the Beauty of the Frenzied Unclean Spirit The Butterfly Song Has Ended
O come, all ye faithful, the God of Abr'ham praise! Let all things now living, when morning guilds the skies, Sing praise to God who reigns above!
Once in royal David's city, while shepherds watched their flocks by night, The angel Gabriel from heaven came from the Father's throne on high.
(And a little fun with tune names - Was it somewhere along Duke Street, or was it Regent Square where Gabriel's Message was passed by old Wareham to Mendelssohn in the hopes that the Italian Hymn would not be heard at the Ash Grove when the Lord of the Dance sought Consolation there after returning from Innsbruck? At any rate there was a profusion of Wondrous Love when the Sicilian Mariners went to Union Seminary expecting to see a Peacock but found, instead, a Crucifer singing Brother James' Air whilst St Clement (of Alexandria?), who had just come out of a Forest Green, averred that everyone should 'Rendez a Dieu' before St Louis could get to the Land of Rest with his Diademata and, thereby, outshine the Kings of Orient. Fear not, though: all was rendered moot when, late one 'Stille Nacht', St Agnes was found under a Royal Oak in the Abbot's Leigh to be singing an Ode to Joy such as had never been heard outside of Picardy when The Snow Lay on the Ground. (O, that we were there!)
My wife and I are reading our way through Purgatorio. Maybe that's where the title got its inspiration, but I've always been annoyed by the title of the wretched Dutch hymn "What is this place, where we are meeting?"
To participate in the discussions on Catholic church music, sign in or register as a forum member, The forum is a project of the Church Music Association of America.