WORSHIP IV, THE FOLLOW-UP (Part the second)

Continuing our posts on the hymn section of Worship IV (the "pet name" of Worship - Fourth Edition), we're going to now comb the Christmas section of the hymnal.  Again, not all hymns will be listed.  Those not listed are those that pass without any question.  Any hymns marked with a * are new to the Worship series, but may have appeared in other hymnals, including but not limited to Gather, RitualSong, and hymnals by other publishers.

413 Silent Night / Noche de Paz ("Stille Nacht") - Adding on the Spanish is all well and good for those bi-lingual parishes that want to join in the fun.  But how about the original German?

414 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing ("Mendelssohn") - always love the carol, but certain lines on verse 3 annoy me no end.

*418 You Came among Us at Christmas Time ("Resonet in Laudibus", arr. Vaughan Williams) - the tune is always a pleasure.  However, Sr. Delores (who also infested mainstream Catholic hymn books, including Worship IV, with Sing a New Church) re-wrote the chorus so that it sounds more like a typical OCP/GIA Communion hymn.  Remember, most proper Communion antiphons didn't even come close to being Eucharistic-themed.  I say bring back Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine from Hymnal 1940 - same tune, same harmony, half-step higher.

*421 Sing Alleluia (O'Brien) - too sing-songy, just like most of what Francis Patrick O'Brien writes.

*422 Sing We Now of Christmas ("Noel Nouvelet") - a welcome addition

423 Gloria, Gloria (Taize) - typical

424 Joy to the World ("Antioch") - now with added Spanish.

426 O Come, All Ye Faithful ("Adeste Fideles") - now with added Spanish, but good to see the Latin is also retained - four verses, and not just like one like in OCP's Today's Missal.  Second verse should read, however, "Lo! He abhors not the Virgin's womb."

427 Good Christian Friends, Rejoice ("In Dulci Jubilo") - should be "Good Christian MEN, Rejoice".

428 Go, Tell it on the Mountain (Spritual) - I love to hear the Brothers Four go to town with it on my parents' old The Great Songs of Christmas album (volume 4).  However, I'm not big on singing it at Mass, probably because of my reminder of the days of sitting back on the recliner and rockin' out with the Brothers Four.

*430 Love Has Come ("Un Flambeau") - the tune that is normally associated with Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella.  Not bad for a modern text, but nothing beats the original.

*431 Wood of the Cradle (O'Brien) - toss with the firewood

432 A Child Is Born in Bethlehem / Puer Natus in Bethlehem ("Puer Natus in Bethlehem"/Mode I) - The text was in English and Latin in Worship II.  Latin was dropped in Worship III, then returned in Worship IV.  This time, instead of four verses, there are seven.  Two of the verses ("In hoc natali gaudio" and "Laudetur sancta Trinitas") are gone, but five more have surfaced.  Let me remind you of what I mentioned in the podcast, that Richard of Catholic Light, who sang with me at First Friday Mass last week, discovered 14 verses, all in Latin.  The verses from Worship II and III are verses 1, 5, 13, and 14, according to this site with the 14 verses.  The verses from Worship IV are 1, 5, "Cognovit bos et asinus" (not amongst the verses on aforementioned link), 6, 9, 11, and 12.  Nice addition.

*434 Glory / Gloria (Sosa) - garbage / basura

*436 Star-Child (Krisman) - garbage

Next installment - the remaining solemnities of the Christmas Season.

Peace,

BMP

WORSHIP IV, THE FOLLOW-UP (Part the First)

Last night, I uploaded my review of the brand-spankin'-new GIA hymnal, Worship IV, on the 185th installment of my iSNARK! podcast. During my review, I mentioned that as a follow-up I will do the best I can with this with the many new titles in this hymnal, but I'll be seeking help from the more learned. I'm going to list them all, in installments (after all, there are 614 titles in the hymn section). This is a black list, a white list, a question mark list, and an everything-in-between list. I didn't include any of the better regular staples unless something got changed about it. So here goes, part one.

NOTE: My main focus is on the hymns right now. We'll attack the music of the Mass Ordinary later. * = hymns that are new to the Worship series. Some may have appeared in Gather.

ADVENT:
386 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ("Veni, Veni, Emmanuel/Mode I) - thee/thou/thy eliminated, but nice to see the added Latin in the refrain. Would be nice to see the Latin verses as well.
387 O Come, Divine Messiah ("Venez, Divin Messie") - thee/thou/thy eliminated
389 Prepare the Way of the Lord (Taize) - mezza-mezza at best
*390 Wild and Lone the Prophet's Voice ("Aberystwyth") - nice tune, some questionable text "make a choice", "quitting all the sins you prized". Would have rather had "Watchman, Tell Us of the Night", which was in Worship II to the same tune.
392 On Jordan's Bank ("Winchester New") - I love the tune, but they bastardized the text once again. "Breast" in the second verse has become "soul", "heart", now "life". WTF?
*393 Awaken, Sleepers, Sing for Joy ("Tallis Ordinal") - ok
394 Come, O Long-Expected Jesus ("Jefferson") - returning the Early American tune that was in Worship II. Nice, but should be "Come THOU Long-Expected Jesus"
*396 Though Famed in Israel's Royal Hist'ry ("Wer Nur den Lieben Gott"/Neumark) - nice tune, text seems pretty good too.
*397 Like a Bird (Joncas) - garbage
*399 Are You the Coming One ("St. Thomas"/Williams) - nice tune - text questionable at best
*400 A Morning Star Draws Near ("Morning Song") - sounds good
403 The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns ("Morning Song") - good, but I'm partial to the "St. Stephen" tune that was in Worship III. Besides, only three hymns before this is another hymn set to "Morning Song".
*404 My Soul in Stillness Waits / En el Silencio Te Aguardo (Haugen) - garbage / basura
406 Awake, Awake, and Greet the New Morn (Haugen) - garbage
*407 Unexpected and Mysterious ("Dohmnach Trionoide") - nice tune, text seems ok
*408 Now the Heavens Start to Whisper ("Suo Gan") - not a big fan of the tune, but text seems ok
*409 Sleepers Wake ("Wachet Auf") - nice tune, text good, but this is the THIRD different translation of the "Wachet Auf" in three issues. Worship II had "Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying". Worship III had "Wake, O Wake, and Sleep No Longer".
*410 Wait for the Lord (in five languages/Taize) - eh...
*411 As Servants Working an Estate ("Llangloffan") - nice tune, but I'm used to seeing it in G minor. Text is a little weird. You be the judge.
*412 Maranatha, Lord Messiah (K. Powell) - not really

Tomorrow, the Christmas section!
Peace,
BMP

iSNARK RECOMMENDS

The St. Michael Hymnal

I've read quite a few complaints (and right they are) about many of the new and revised Mass settings that will appear in major worship aids from the "Big Three". It seems that they're doing the same old grind - about 30% anything that resembles dignified vs. about 70% hanky-panky.

Well, with the St. Michael Hymnal, that hanky-panky is out of sight and out of mind! There are eighteen Mass settings to be published in the forthcoming fourth edition of the hymnal, and they're ALL good! Twelve in English, and six in Latin (Jubilate Deo, plus Masses VIII, IX, X, XI, and XVII)! That's the next best thing since Ted Marier's brainchild, Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Canticles.

Click here to check the English settings out. They come with sample pages and audio. You'll really like what you hear!
Peace,
BMP

A RARE FIND!

Last week, a friend of mine came to write a letter of recommendation for me (he doesn't have a computer or even a typewriter, so I let him use mine). He came through my front door with a good sized box of books I let him borrow last fall (like some 1950's edition of Caecilia) and then some. Well, included in the "and then some" was this little rare find you don't see anymore:



Yes, this is the pioneer of GIA's Worship series - Worship I. This is a book that didn't last too long. Published in 1971, its successor, Worship II, was published only four years later. It's function was to basically serve as a hymnal for Roman Catholic parishes in a time where throw-away missalettes were the norm.

As for the variety, it was somewhat similar to Worship II in terms of repertoire, with a few extra "folksy" tunes. There weren't many of those "folksy" tunes. Just enough to keep the one-Mass-per-week folk group in check. Yeah, remember those days, when the folk group and its banal ditties were relegated to one Mass per week, or in some places, one Mass per month? Before the variety of banal ditties expanded and was running rampant at all Masses in many parishes?

Yeah, Worship II was the better seller. However, Worship I did get things started, per se. Now to see if there's an accompaniment edition floating around somewhere. :-)

Peace,
BMP

THOSE WERE THE DAYS

In the Winter 2007 edition of GIA Quarterly, there is a brief "Nunc Dimittis" article on page 8 for Nancy Bannister, who died of cancer last October at the age of 64. With that article was a 1976 picture of Daniel Reuning handing Ms. Bannister an autographed copy of Worship II.

Yes - Worship II! Those were the days! Now THAT was a book with very few flaws - lose some of the Sydney Carter/Shaker stuff and BAM! In 1975 that was the best Catholic hymnal in the United States in print at that time. Almost every hymn (stress on "Almost") was useful. There was no dumbing down of texts, none of that inclusive language crap to contend with. The hymnal's preface clearly stated that the so-called translation from English to English is a regrettable practice and hymn texts are poetry and not conversational English.

Now, IF in the event GIA should come up with a Worship IV (Worship III is still quite good, but they went totally against what they had stated in the preface of its predecessor about language), I'd love to see them use those principles from 1975 once again. God only knows if a Worship IV would happen, since they seem to be too engrossed in pushing their Gather products (especially the new softcover version of their newest hymnal - Gather Reprehensive Second Edition).

Peace,
BMP