A NEW REVIEW

Today's Missal Advent 2007--Lent 2008

A couple of months ago, I did a nine-part review of the OCP Music Issue 2008. Here's a brand new review - I have, on my desk, a copy of Today's Missal, dated 12/2/07 to 3/15/08.

I won't even go there with Celtic Mass (the new default Mass in the missalette). Heritage Mass was far better. And most of the Psalms - well, many may argue that these Psalms are singable. The problem is, most of them very weak. And that "Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ" that is in the readings section of the missalette sounds like really good counterpoint to "Mary Had a Little Lamb". It's downright horrible.

That said, here's the music section of the missalette.

STUFF WE SING AT HOLY GHOST, AND WILL CONTINUE TO SING (45):
19 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
20 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (kudos for keeping this text intact!)
21 On Jordan's Bank / 32 O Come, Divine Messiah
35 Christ, Circle 'Round Us (The "O" Antiphons, set by Schutte to a metrical adaptation of Salve Regina - not bad at all)
41 Creator of the Stars of Night / 56 Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates
60 O Come, All Ye Faithful (need more Latin verses, however)
61 Joy to the World / 62 God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
63 Angels We Have Heard on High / 64 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
67 Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming / 70 Silent Night (but lose the Spanish)
75 It Came upon the Midnight Clear / 79 O Little Town of Bethlehem
85 Once in Royal David's City / 86 The First Nowell
87 We Three Kings of Orient Are / 89 What Child Is This
91 As with Gladness Men of Old / 92 Songs of Thankfulness and Praise
98 Attende, Domine (in Latin) / 105 Again We Keep this Solemn Fast
106 Remember Your Love (Kreutz) / 110 Parce, Domine
115 At the Cross Her Station Keeping / 117 'Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here
118 The Glory of these Forty Days / 119 Lord, Who Throughout these Forty Days
123 O Sacred Head, Surrounded (first set of verses) / 129 Were You There
131 Tantum Ergo Sacramentum / 133 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
134 Holy God, We Praise Thy Name / 135 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
136 Now Thank We All Our God / 137 Blessed by Your Sacrifice
138 Beautiful Savior / 139 We Gather Together / 140 Immaculate Mary
141 Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above / 143 God, We Praise You
148 Come, Ye Thankful People, Come / 149 Holy, Holy, Holy

STUFF WE HAVEN'T DONE AT HOLY GHOST BUT I WOULDN'T MIND INTRODUCING IN THE FUTURE (36):
29 Patience, People (a rare Foley gem) / 30 People, Look East
31 The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns (I like the tune St. Stephen better, but Morning Song is fine, too)
34 Wake, O Wake, and Sleep No Longer / 37 Comfort, Comfort, O My People
39 The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came / 42 The Advent of Our King
52 The Coming of Our God
57 Advent/Christmas Gospel Acclamation (refrain only / use the Missal or Gradual verses with it instead, however)
65 Away in a Manger (but with Kirkpatrick's tune - see Worship II, #34)
68 A Child Is Born in Bethlehem / 69 Wake from Your Sleep
72 Of the Father's Love Begotten / 74 O Christ, the Sun of Light and Grace
77 O Come, Little Children / 78 Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
80 Good Christian Friends, Rejoice / 81 The Snow Lay on the Ground
82 Go, Tell It on the Mountain
83 While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Not a bad tune, though Winchester Old is better, IMO)
90 Angels, from the Realms of Glory / 93 What Star Is This, with Beams So Bright
94 When John Baptized by Jordan's River / 103 Led by the Spirit of Our God
104 Lenten Gospel Acclamation (Prendergast/Sullivan) (first refrain only)
107 Behold, before Our Wondering Eyes (I'm normally not a big fan of Berberick, though she's a fellow RI'er, but this is by far her best piece - actually really good!)
108 From the Depths We Cry to Thee / 110 Holy Patron, Thee Saluting
120 Forty Days and Forty Nights / 122 The Kingdom Calls Us to Repent
132 Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord / 142 Humbly, Lord, We Worship You
144 Soul of My Savior / 145 Bright as the Sun, Fair As the Moon
150 Dona Nobis Pacem / 151 In His Temple Now Behold Him

STUFF I WON'T TOUCH WITH A 39-1/2 FOOT POLE (52):
22 Maranatha (Schoenbachler) / 23 Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus (Whitaker)
24 Waiting in Silence / 25 Litany of the Word (huh? there's such a thing?)
26 A Voice Cries Out (the premier of Advent drinking songs)
27 The Whole World Is Waiting for Love
28 Beyond the Moon and Stars (this takes the same tune as another old Schutte ditty: Before the Sun Burned Bright, from Volume 2 of the old 3-volume Gory and Puke)
33 Alleluia! Hurry, the Lord is Near / 36 Emmanuel (Angrisano)
38 Lord, Make Us Turn to You (Roberts)
40 Stay Awake (clap clap, be ready - a possible inspiration by Walker for Inwood's Alleluia Chee-Chee)
43 Let the King of Glory Come / 44 Ready the Way (Hurd)
45 Let the Valleys Be Raised / 46 Advent Gospel Acclamation
47 Advent Lamb of God (Keil) (way too many text alterations)
48 See How the Virgin Waits / 49 Lord Emmanuel, Come
50 Ready the Way (Stephan) / 51 Maranatha (Westphal) (This tune is SO '60's!)
53 Every Valley / 54 Maranatha (Chiusano)
(Of all the Maranatha's I've seen over the years, the only one I've found any decent is one by Lucien Deiss, which used to be in WLP's worship aids. What the hell happened to it?)
55 Come, Lord Jesus (talk about a first grader's melody)
58 Bread of Life (Farrell) / 59 Today Is Born Our Savior (Inwood)
66 Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow (I like a good Spiritual, but this isn't one of them)
71 A Light Has Shone / 73 A Christmas Gloria / 76 See, amid the Winter's Snow (Keil)
84 Children, Run Joyfully (aka, "Chunks Shall Run Joyfully")
88 Child of the Poor / 95 Signed by Ashes / 96 Ashes / 97 Leave the Past in Ashes
99 Out into the Wilderness (one of the latest of "kiddie ditties")
100 Save Your People / 101 Lenten Gospel Acclamation (Anstey)
102 Beyond the Days / 111 In these Days of Lenten Journey
112 Lenten Gospel Acclamation (Wright) / 113 Transfigure Us, O Lord
114 Now Is the Acceptable Time / 116 Somebody's Knockin' at Your Door
121 Transfiguration (They should have stuck with Mosley for this text instead of letting Manalo kill it)
124 Turn to Me / 125 Seek the Lord (even worse with the bastardized text)
126 Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling / 127 Change Our Hearts
128 Roll Away the Stone / 130 Turn Our Hearts / 146 God with Us
147 Saints of God in Glory

Peace,
BMP