Holy Week must haves

[Nick Baty]

Just preparing for our last rehearsal and mulling on which pieces I couldn't imagine omitting from our celebrations. Aside from the mandatory items (Holys, Alleluias etc) which ONE piece defines each day of your Holy Week celebrations? Which one piece could you simply not omit?

Mine are:
Palm Sunday: My Song is Love Unknown
Maundy Thursday: Pange Lingua and Stay with me – Taizé (Yes, I'm cheating)
Good Friday: When I survey the wondrous Cross
Vigil: The McGuinness Exsultet (When we were allowed to have it, of course! )
Sunday: Surrexit Christus – Taizé
Sunday 2: Godhead here in hiding

[HallamPhil]

Palm Sunday: Father, if this cup (Dean)
Holy Thursday: No greater love (Joncas)
Good Friday: Reproaches (Jakob)
Easter Vigil: Christus Vincit (Walker's version)
Easter Sunday: Thine be the glory or Christ the Lord is risen today!
Easter 2: Godhead here in hiding

It'll be a different Triduum as the Cathedral is closed for re-ordering etc so most bits will happen in St Matthew's (High Anglican) and Thursday in the URC!

We've just had our last rehearsal (although will also be rehearsing on the day for an hour or so). Just broken the back of Rutter's Christ is risen and am feeling confident. Not so confident that the diocesan singers will make it through the expected snow tomorrow for the Chrism Mass!

Happy Easter to all our readers!

[IncenseTom]

Not all 'must haves', but I thought I would share our Triduum selections (at the risk of being shot down at this late stage!)

Maundy Thursday
Opening - Praise to the Holiest
Gloria - Revised Celtic
Gospel Acc. - A new commandment
Washing of feet - Brother, sister, let me serve you and Faith, hope and love (Laudate supplement)
Offertory - The song of the supper (John Ainslie version)
Sanctus - revised Gathering
Mem Acc - revised Gathering b
Great Amen - revised Gathering
Agnus Dei - revised Celtic
Communion - Soul of my Saviour
Procession to the Altar of repose - Stay with me

Good Friday
Veneration of the cross - When I survey and The Old rugged Cross
Communion - My Song is Love Unknown (my all time favourite - i'll be in tears by the last verse!!!)

Vigil
Gloria - Revised Celtic
Gospel Acc - The Stone which the builders rejected (Farrell)
Offertory - Lord Jesus Christ (Living Lord)
Mass part as per Maundy Thursday
Communion - Alleluia, sing to Jesus
Recessional - Out of Darkness (Easter Verses)

Hope all goes well everyone.
Tom

[Nick Baty]

My Song is Love Unknown (my all time favourite - i'll be in tears by the last verse!!!)

So with you there. "No story so divine..." On "-vine" French horns in rising crotchet consecutive sixths – that's when I really lose it!

And it's the 50th anniversary of John Ireland's death in June!

[alan29]

Seeing that list makes me really, really wish we had an organ, and not the rubbishy clavinova! I used to find that the physical playing of "When I survey" and "My song is love" and (yes even) "Soul of my Saviour" during communion on Good Friday, were an important part of my personal worship. As was the serious work of learning a proper voluntary for after the Vigil a part of my Lenten observance.
(Note to self - must look for a post in an Anglican church.)

[Peter Jones]

I must admit that when I looked at the title of this thread, my mind went immediately to the shopping list...... must have - Palms, enough Altar Breads, Wine, Vigil Candles, Paschal Candle, Charcoal, Incense, spare Sanctuary lamp for the Altar of Repose etc…… and the practical matters (where's what SC called the "portapotty" been stored?)

(Note to self - must look for a post in an Anglican church.)

Errrrrrrrr........... that would be very sad. Don't you think you're a "must have" for your parish, Alan? I feel sure you are much appreciated, even if the parishioners might not often articulate that sentiment.

[Nick Baty]

Don't you think you're a "must have" for your parish, Alan? I feel sure you are much appreciated, even if the parishioners might not often articulate that sentiment.

Hear! Hear!

[alan29]

I must admit that when I looked at the title of this thread, my mind went immediately to the shopping list...... must have - Palms, enough Altar Breads, Wine, Vigil Candles, Paschal Candle, Charcoal, Incense, spare Sanctuary lamp for the Altar of Repose etc…… and the practical matters (where's what SC called the "portapotty" been stored?)

(Note to self - must look for a post in an Anglican church.)

Errrrrrrrr........... that would be very sad. Don't you think you're a "must have" for your parish, Alan? I feel sure you are much appreciated, even if the parishioners might not often articulate that sentiment.

Thank you Peter. I am lucky that people do appreciate and are invariably king (the fact that I am 6 foot 3 might have something to do with it.) But, Oh for a pedal board.

[mcb]

Here are our Holy Week staples. We always sing these, and I can't think of anything that would take their place:

Palm Sunday: All glory, laud and honour / Father, if this cup (Dean) / My song is love unknown
Holy Thursday: Ubi Caritas (Duruflé) / Pange lingua / Stay with me (Taizé)
Good Friday: Ave Verum Corpus (Byrd) / Soul of my Saviour
Easter Vigil: I will sing to the Lord (Boulton Smith)

plus two 'almost alwayses' - Thine be the Glory at the end of the Vigil, and Now the green blade riseth on Easter Sunday. We always have my setting of This is the Day on Easter Sunday too, but that's just vanity.

[Nick Baty]

We always have my setting of This is the Day on Easter Sunday too, but that's just vanity.

Not at all. Superb piece. Vanity means we always have my "O give thanks to the Lord".

[HallamPhil]

How very singular ... I have a list of such vanities!

We've just done Chrism Mass at Doncaster because the cathedral is closed for restoration. Went very well despite the snow... Hallam really sings well. At the end of communion we sang Bernadette Farrell's 'Renew me' which i arranged for the celebration. It's a great piece with a wonderful text from Owen Alstott (him, indoors).

Happy Triduum!

[alan29]

Meekness and majesty - Maundy Thursday entrance.
Stay with me - watching. We get a good chunk of the assembly singing that in harmony.

[organist]

My song is love unknown on Palm Sunday. We sang it and "Greater love" in the RSCM Cross of Christ service on Good Friday evening. Also the Somervell version of Praise to the holiest which has some stunning Amens. Maundy Thursday Soul of my saviour, An upper room during washing of the feet, To mock Thy reign to Tallis 3rd tone (words Pratt Green) Pange lingua, Stay with me. The Anglicans sing Psalm 22 to plainchant during stripping of the altars.
Easter day Must have Jesus Christ is risen today. Saraband for the morning of Easter by Howells at the end. Those final C major chords say unequivocally "He is risen!"
2 weeks time I'm playing Hallelujah chorus as final voluntary.

[dmu3tem]

Yes, all these suggestions are very nice, and many are tried, tested and enduring; however I would like them to be paralleled by another approach, which summed up in two words:

Creative innovation.

Or, to express this in concrete terms, ensure that there is at least one new piece of music during this period, preferably using one technical musical and/or textual innovation that has not been tried before in one's celebrations.

In other words ensure that music and liturgy in a given church community is a living developing force.

[JW]

I don't disagree with what Thomas says, but the title of the thread is Holy Week must haves. If it hasn't been done before it's unlikely to be a must have, surely?

If you go to the posts of music for each day of the Triduum, it is striking that posters to this forum are keen to innovate where appropriate. Although some parishes may stand still, many don't. For example, our musical innovations this Holy Week were:

(1) the Psallite songs for the Palm Sunday Procession, the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday and the Exodus Canticle on Holy Saturday. The Washing of the Feet song is a cantor over congregational ostinato - the first time that we've ever attempted this except for the Taize Veni Sancte Spiritus.
(2) the Marty Haugen My God, My God for the Palm Sunday psalm
(3) the Eugene Monaghan Year B setting of 'As the Deer Yearns for Running Streams' on Holy Saturday '
(4) the Peter Jones Exsultet - the first time in our parish that the Exsultet was not sung by an ordained minister
(5) sanctuary bells ringing during the whole of the Gloria on Holy Thursday and Easter Vigil

Textual innovation (apart from the new translations) was the congregation saying the crowd bits during the reading of the Passion on Good Friday; they had been asked to do it on Palm Sunday but were too shy.

I'm sure that many parishes are looking to improve and develop their celebration of Holy Week year by year and if we were to have a thread asking what innovations were made this Holy Week, there would be lots of responses if modesty didn't forbid.