Managed to get iSNARK! 186 up and running (the review of the Adoremus Hymnal, Second Edition) in the middle of my continuing series on the title-by-title follow-up of our review of the hymnal Worship, Fourth Edition.
The sections covered in this installment: Lament (I lament when I see a good number of these songs be passed for hymns, believe me, or as the elderly of French-Canadian origin say, "believe you me"!), Blessing, Faith, Trust
* = new to the Worship series.
*668 God Weeps with Us Who Weep and Mourn (Morris) - Note how many times the name "God" is used in just the opening lines alone, just for the sake of refraining from giving God HIS FATHERhood. Ridiculous.
*669 When Streets Resound with Cries of Grief (Morris) - Way too many jumpy arpeggio jumps in this tune. I think of Randall DeBruyn's In Perfect Charity which does the same thing.
*670 When Painful Memories Haunt Each Day (Morris) - ok, not only do we have three Sally Ann Morris tunes in a row, two out of three (668 and 670) are the exact same tune! How about another CMD (Common Metre Double) tune? (Not Kingsfold, however. I like Kingsfold, but not to seven hymns in one hymnal.)
*671 May the Lord, Mighty God (Chinese) - no thank you.
672 May the Grace of Christ Our Savior ("Stuttgart") - missing that third verse from Carroll Thomas Andrews that was in Worship II and III.
*673 Faith Begins by Letting Go ("Dix") - Let me put it this way: Faith begins by letting go / of such songs like this, you know... ("Letting Go", pretty much the emotional opposite of one that's in Gather Comprehensive II, called "A Touching Place")
674 We Walk by Faith (Haugen) - Again, pretty much the only Haugen tune I don't mind, although I used to use "St. Anne" at my former parish (we had the Muzak Issue, which also uses the Haugen tune). Worship III used "Dunlap's Creek". Another nice tune that would work well for this hymn is "St. Botolph".
*676 A Living Faith ("St. Catherine") - Ah yes, the dreaded "A Living Faith" sadly made its way into the Worship series after infesting "RitualSong", "Catholic Community Hymnal", and "Gather Comprehensive II". This is the bastardized, watered-down, politically correct, puke-inducing version of "Faith of Our Fathers", where only the first verse is the revered hymn, while the next three verses involve all the other relatives. Blech!
*677 O God, Who Gives Us Life and Breath (Morris) - another Morris tune that sounds more like a Haugen tune.
*678 Center of My Life (Inwood) - blech!
*679 Show Me Your Hands, Your Feet, Your Side ("Land of Rest") - fine hymn
*680 Be Not Afraid (Dufford) - You should be! One would find this quite appalling to find this overplayed (especially at funerals) piece of dreck in a Worship hymnal.
*681 Good Shepherd, You Know Us ("St. Denio") - fine hymn
682 You Are the Way (Haugen) - the same tune as "We Walk by Faith". Appeared in Worship II as "THOU ART the Way" with the tune "Dundee", which is far better, but dropped in Worship III.
*683 To Whom, Lord, Shall We Go ("Festal Song") - Actually a fitting tune for this hymn.
*684 How Can I Keep from Singing (Lowry) - ah yes, the Quaker hymn, as one local friend of mine once called it, "How Can I Keep from Sinking". Not a fan!
*685 Nothing Is Impossible with God (Chepponis) - sounds like just about any old piano/guitar-driven ilk that one can find in a music issue.
688 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God ("Ein' Feste Burg") - same translation used in Worship II. Was bastardized to "God Is Our Fortress and Our Rock" in Worship III. The really cool original rythymic version that appeared as a second tune in II and III is dropped in IV.
689 O God, Our Help in Ages Past ("St Anne") - Key switched back and forth in the melody editions: C in Worship II, B-flat in Worship III, back to C in Worship IV. We need to bring back the "thees" and "thous", however.
*690 On Eagle's Wings (Joncas) - another one over-requested at funerals. AKA "Eagle's Claws", and "Beagle's Things". Like "Be Very Afraid", it's not a hymn, just a love ballad. I could play this on my radio all day long. Not at Holy Mass.
*691 The Lord Is My Savior ("Paderborn") - not bad at all; surprisingly the author is not afraid to use the masculine pronouns to refer to the Lord. Surprisingly even more that GIA allowed it to be included in one of their hymnals. Tune is nice too, some nice Marian texts have been set to it.
*692 The Storm Is Strong ("Erhalt Uns Herr") - tune good; help me on the text, someone!
Next installment: Love
Peace,
BMP
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