In an effort to stop my choir singing a truly awful folk ditty, I am attempting to find a hymn that can be sung for the Sprinkling of Water at the Easter Vigil. Unfortunately, the excuse is that there is no time to learn another tune, so I need to find something to a tune they already know. Are there any suitable pieces in 76.76/76.76D (e.g. sung to AURELIA)?
Here's a hybrid rendering of Psalm 51:[9] has a (dactylic - 3/4 time) 10.10 form of an antiphon - you could repeat the first line of the melody of SLANE or some other plausible vivisection of said tune:
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Are you giving the excuse of not having time, in an effort to avoid the "awful folk ditty," or are you being told that there isn't time to learn a decent replacement?
You are looking for another suitable chant or song which can legitimately be sung instead of the Vidi aquam during the sprinkling at the Easter Vigil. Here's what I found:
At the dawning of creation (87 87) – David Fox; original tune: CROSS OF JESUS
3. Water from the rock of Moses, water from the the temple's side, water from the heart of Jesus, flow in this baptismal tide.
4. Thus united in this water each to all, and each to Christ; to his life of love he calls us by his total sacrifice.
Cf. Ez. 47: 1-12
When to the sacred font we came (CM) – Scottish Paraphrases, 47, verses 2-4; original tune: TALLIS' ORDINAL
1. When to the sacred font we came, did not the rite proclaim, that, washed from sin, and all its stains, new creatures we became?
2. With Christ the Lord we died to sin; with him to life we rise, to life which, now begun on earth, is perfect in the skies.
3. Too long enthralled to Satan's sway, we now are slaves no more; for Christ hath vanquished death and sin, our freedom to restore.
The English version from ICEL is not difficult. Even a choir of basic skill levels should be able to pick it up in about 2 minutes. Here's Jeff O's adaptation with accompaniment and verses: http://www.ccwatershed.org/media/pdfs/11/10/19/09-12-56_0.pdf
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