Happy Assumptiontide!!

[RobH]

I noticed that no one had mentioned the Assumption -is it a bit "out of fashion?" I suppose this could come under another topic, but I wondered if any other people had experience of trying to keep unaccompanied singing going in procession. In our church yesterday afternoon we had an Assumption procession to an ancient wayside chapel (which used to be a pilgrim stopping place en route to Walsingham. We sang various Marian Hymns interspersed with the Rosary. I was rather surprised that people really made an effort and kept pretty well together and in tune - we had no instrumental accompaniment. So that fellow SSG posters can criticise the choice I include a list of some of what we sang:

Pilgrim Hymn (composed in 1897 for this event) O Mother,dear Mother we flock to thy throne. (Lourdes tune)
On this glad Assumption day. (Tune Orientis Partibus)
Hail Queen of Heaven
Here journeyed on the Pilgrim's Way (Westminster Hymnal)
Magnificat (Canon) Taize
Salve Regina (when we reached the chapel)

On return to the church we had Benediction - our Priest decided that our usual Latin O Salutaris and Tantum ergo should be sung in English as we were very glad to be joined by two Anglican churches in the town - we weren't certain whether or not their people would know the Latin for the Benediction hymns so we played safe. At the end of Benediction we sang Faith of our fathers and it was wonderful to see the Anglicans belting it out with us! We are very fortunate in our Parish to have a 'new' priest who is very keen on "traditional" Liturgy and music , but at the same time we love singing much of the good modern stuff. To me that is as it should be. Yesterday was the first time this traditional procession had been done for nearly thirty years and we had no idea how things would go.
We need not have worried as we had an extremely good turn out and everyone said how enriching and uplifting an experience it was.

[VML]

Happy Assumptiontide indeed.
We broke our summer break if you see what I mean. (All a capella Mass last two weeks.)

We began yesterday with 'O purest of creatures.' At prep of gifts we had 'Mary Immaculate, star of the morning,' which I have for years longed to add to our parish use. I think it is the first time we have sung it in 30 years, but it has been played as an instrumental piece at the opening/ consecration of the new church in 1992, and at our parish golden jubilee 8th Dec 2004, it being argued each of those times that 'nobody will know it.' They all sang yesterday!
'Tell out my soul' after Communion, and 'Hail Queen of Heaven' to end; a real Marianfest!

Are there any really good modern hymns to/ in honour of the BVM?
PP who is away loves 'As I kneel...'
'Holy Virgin, by God's decree' is not too bad, but I don't know any others post 1950ish.

[Nick Baty]

There's Ann Ward's Magnificat in Laudate (342) which tells Mary's story through the various stages of her son's life.

We keep hymns and songs to Mary for Evening Prayer when we always finish with one of the more "motherly" hymns. At Mass on Marian feasts we tend to go for songs about Mary. The exception being – as yesterday – after the final blessing we move (or turn, as it's a small church) to our Marian shrine to sing our parish anthem, Mary Immaculate, Star of the Morning. Love it! Wonder if Bach knew, back than, how high camp his chorale would sound to modern ears!

[docmattc]

Happy Assumptiontide too.

Our PP is on holiday too so a supply for morning Mass. Our musical fare (besides gloria, psalm, Gospel and Euch Accs and Agnus Dei, which I take as read) was "Behold in heav'n", the entrance antiphon and its psalm from Introit Hymns, "Sing we of the Blessed Mother", chosen for its specific assumption reference and reference in the first verse to the theme from John which we would otherwise have heard yesterday. During communion we sang "This is my Body" from Psalite and after communion "Tell out my soul" (a setting of the magnificat which was the communion antiphon).

I'd like to introduce a Magnificat setting that's closer to the actual text and did consider the Alstott/Farrell version but wasn't sure how well the congregation would remember it with no choir lead- we've done the Benedictus a few times which is the same tune but I wouldn't call it a standard. As we really don't have anything sung in the parish other than Sunday Mass its hard to know how to get a decent magnificat setting well known. Now if we regularly had evening prayer that would be a different matter.

[Southern Comfort]

Are there any really good modern hymns to/ in honour of the BVM?
PP who is away loves 'As I kneel...'
'Holy Virgin, by God's decree' is not too bad, but I don't know any others post 1950ish.

One of the best is "There is nothing told about this woman" ─ great text by the late Didier Rimaud and music by Chris Willcock. (Laudate 345)

If you're into Magnificats, Owen Alstott's "My soul rejoices" is a pretty useful alternative to "Tell out, my soul". Congregations find this very easy. For more contemplative Magnificat settings, Peter Jones's lovely ostinato setting needs a good cantor with a top F# (but can be made do-able for others by transposing it down a tone), and Alstott has another setting, "O Holy Mary", very chant-like as befits an ex-monk.

I wouldn't touch "As I kneel" or "HV by God's decree" with a bargepole, meself, on grounds of mawkish text. The latter additionally suffers from two different versions of the verse line before the refrain:
Lots of people erroneously sing "Mary, we .... you, hail / FULL____ of grace" which is quite ugly.
What they really ought to be singing is "Mary, we .... ___ you, / hail, full of grace."
(Hope that conveys it unambiguously.)

Doc mentioned the Alstott/Farrell setting. I don't care for this much (nor the Benedictus which uses the same melody) because the long lines make it difficult for congregations (indeed anyone) to breathe ─ especially if you hold the last note for its full length and start the next verse immediately ─ and because it is very obvious that Alstott has been forced to pad out the text in order to make it fit the long line-length: it sounds artificial to me.

[Nick Baty]

And there's Inwood's Great is the Lord, also in Laudate (25).

[docmattc]

If you're into Magnificats,

I quite like the Gelineau tone, but couldn't have dropped it on an unsuspecting (and depleted) congregation with any expectation of them joining in. Last time the Mag was the psalm we did the Psalite response with Gelineau verses sung by cantor.

[RobH]

We have just learned Great is the Lord from Laudate - It's lovely. Yesterday at communion we sang (the choir) Stephen Dean's ' Hail Mary full of grace' which is very singable and a lovely melody (if slightly camp). OK I know we should not really have been singing something like that at Communion, but I'm not going to apologise as we went a bit OTT for the Assumption yesterday and several old and not so old dears said how lovely it was just like "old times'.
Should this be taken as a compliment or an insult? It's slightly funny because we ended Mass with the Hymn "Sing we of the blessed Mother' to the tune Abbots Leigh which is certainly not an old Catholic tune -very Anglican, but never mind everyone was very positive. Please forgive my ramblings as I have had a G &T or two as I'm still celebrating the Assumption! I think the thing is it's always a lovely surprise when people are positive about the music - We are only human and a little praise occasionally helps us on our way.

[NorthernTenor]

Harry Bramah's arrangement of Rachmaninov's Bogoroditse Dyevo (Ave Maria) for the Anglicans on Saturday (followed by a sermon that skated nervously around the differences with Rome).

Palestrina's Missa assumpta est maria on Sunday, with Henry Washington's plainsong alternatim adaptation of Monteverdi's Ave maris stella, from the Vespers of 1610. Plainsong Gaudeamus and Beatam me. Rcessional: Sonata sopra Sancta Maria, Vespers of 1610.

A very happy Assumptiontide.

[Southern Comfort]

If you're into Magnificats, Owen Alstott's "My soul rejoices" is a pretty useful alternative to "Tell out, my soul". Congregations find this very easy. For more contemplative Magnificat settings, Peter Jones's lovely ostinato setting needs a good cantor with a top F# (but can be made do-able for others by transposing it down a tone), and Alstott has another setting, "O Holy Mary", very chant-like as befits an ex-monk.

Don't know what I was thinking of ─ Alstott's "O Holy Mary" isn't a Magnificat at all. But it's still a nice piece.

[gwyn]

The congregation drowned out the choir at several points during our 10.00 am Mass on Sunday 16th Aug.

Entrance hymn "'ll sing a hymn to Mary"
Gloria: De Angelis (dec &b can)
Responsorial: A delightful setting of the set psalm composed by Paul Nicholls, a chorister.
Credo iii (dec & can)
Salve Regina sung during the Intercessions
Offertory: Sing we of the Blessed Mother to Abbot's Leigh, a tune we've not used before but the choir got satb under their belts and the cong soon got the measure of it.
Communion Procession: A Hymnto Our Lady (Boulton-Smith)
Agnus Dei: Cum Jubilo
Recessional: Marian Medley always guaranteed to hasten the need for a new roof.

Yummy. Happy Assumptiontide everyone.

[MaryR]

.....Peter Jones's lovely ostinato setting needs a good cantor with a top F# (but can be made do-able for others by transposing it down a tone)....

I'd second this suggestion. It's quite beautiful and has to be among my all time favourites of everything we sing. The ostinato is simple, and easy to get going with the congregation before the cantor comes in. If you have a decent cantor, and want something the congregation can join in with, I'd go for this one every time.

We had a hymn sandwich on Sunday as both our choirs are on their summer break. The entrance song was Tell Out My Soul which I love, and the recessional song was I'll Sing a Hymn to Mary.

[johnquinn39]

We had a hymn sandwich on Sunday as both our choirs are on their summer break. The entrance song was Tell Out My Soul which I love, and the recessional song was I'll Sing a Hymn to Mary.

Our choir is also having a summer break. However, there are usually enough people there do sing the psalm, Alleulia, Sanctus and Memorial.

I had put together some ideas for the 20th Sun, and written out a 'Taste and see', when I heard the Mass for the Assumption on BBCR4!. I quickly composed an instant 'On your right hand...' (to be sung with a Murray tone).

The Marian stuff wot we sang woz 'Hail, Queen of Heaven', after the dimissal, and 'Adoremus Te, Domine' as the communion antiphon (well, there is a brief ref to the BVM here).

[Nick Baty]

I had put together some ideas for the 20th Sun, and written out a 'Taste and see', when I heard the Mass for the Assumption on BBCR4!

There – I knew my advance planning wasn't quite as anal as everyone thinks!

[organist]

At Westminster cathedral we sang "Sing we of the the blessed mother" to Abbots Leigh at vespers and mass and the congregation really sang! We had "Tell out my soul" after communion. The visiting Tribal chamber choir from Galway sang Mozart Spatzen Mass with MacMillan Sanctus and Bruckner Ave Maria and best of all Rachmaninov Bogoroditse. Final voluntary from David Grealy based on Salve regina.