CFE versus Laudate

[Merseysider]

Has anyone bought either Laudate or Celebration for Everyone (with supplement) and wishes they'd bought the other?

I'm about to purchase new music collection for our parish and, as this isn't my money I'm spending, I want to make sure I'm making the right decision.

Here's a few thoughts:

In Laudate but missing from CFE

Four-square hymns – Abide with me; I heard the voice of Jesus say

John Bell – The God of all eternity

Bernadette Farrell – Word of Justice

Marty Haugen – Come now, the table's spread

Christopher Walker – Give me a new heart; Because the Lord is my Shepherd

In CFE but missing from Laudate

Four square hymns – And can it be; Be still my soul; Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; Father, Lord of all creation; We are marching in the light of God; What wondrous love is this?

Teresa Brown – Let us go forth in the peace of Christ

David Haas – Blessed be God; Come and be light for our eyes; Hosanna Hosanna

Marty Haugen – Lead us from death to life; Return to God with all your heart

Graham Kendrick – O Lord, your tenderness

Christopher Walker – Bread for the world broken; Send us as your blessing Lord; When my mind is still

Ernest Sands – Holy Name Communion Song

Music from the Dutch Jesuits – I lift up my eyes; If God should lead us; Stand and stare not

Sadly, some of their music is in neither collection – My God you fathom my heart and you know me; Lest he be remote from us; Our help is the name of the Lord; Who wants to live as God; Wedding Song. Gorgeous stuff – wonder why there's less of it around!!!

I'm not really interested in service music in either volume as the assembly sings these items without words in front of them. Anyway, both volumes include the classics – followed by rather stranger items – when will someone include Martin Barry's "Spring Acclamations" – stupendous with or without the lush choir parts.

All comments welcome – as long as they're not unkind to editors of either volume!

Merseyside.

[musicus]

My vote is very firmly for Laudate. I think there's a much higher percentage of dross (much of it quite recent) in CFE.

Just my opinion, of course.

[Merseysider]

I spent hours compiling a spreadsheet compating the contents of the two. I knocked out the dross – both ancient and modern – and was quite pleasantly surprised what I was left with.

[dunstan]

My vote is very firmly for Laudate. I think there's a much higher percentage of dross (much of it quite recent) in CFE.

I'll cast a firm vote for CFE for the needs of my parish. Too many of the texts in Laudate have been messed about with. Having said that, we got out the old copies of "Praise the Lord" last week, as they have the traditional words of 'Tis good Lord to be here, which is absent from our bench copies of CFE.

I remember some while ago the chappie from Southwark was asking for views on a new book he was putting together. Is anyone in touch with him? It sounded quite promising.

[musicus]

My vote is very firmly for Laudate. I think there's a much higher percentage of dross (much of it quite recent) in CFE.

I'll cast a firm vote for CFE for the needs of my parish. Too many of the texts in Laudate have been messed about with....

Yes, that is true. However, as I use Laudate as one of many source books for our Calamus-licensed weekly service sheet, I am able to restore the original texts when they have been over-politically corrected.

Dunstan is right, of course. You have to put the parish's needs first.

[oopsorganist]

I just had to look up hymns for Triduum in HON and CFE to see which was best to use for Easter and I found that there is not an Ubi Caritas in the CFE? That's strange. Anyway it looks like I will have to type up all words as I can't get the music from one book or t'other. Not that I have anything else to do with my time!

Grrrr "Big jobs" (Disc World quote).

And, a little while back I went to get another full score music set from the local music shop and they said it was out of print? Is it back in print? Were they re editing it? Anyone got more info as we do not have a Parish Master Copy for visiting organists to use.

[mcb]

In Laudate but missing from CFE

Four-square hymns – Abide with me
Christopher Walker – Because the Lord is my Shepherd

Both are in CFE, if memory serves.

If service music doesn't matter, I'm not sure that either necessarily has the edge. Laudate is better for service music though.

One thing I find disappointing with both is the random contents of the full music editions. One piece will be arranged for SATB with optional descant, but on the next page another piece will be arranged for a bare unison-voices-plus-keyboard. So for quite a lot of things if you want to sing a piece with a choir you're going to have to buy a set of octavos just to get the SATB arrangement. Disappointing when the full music editions are so expensive. My choir has a set of full-music CFEs, but they're not much use for things other than traditional hymns. It's pretty much the same with Laudate. I wonder if that's due to the reluctance of the (original) publishers to license SATB versions, or just editorial whim?

M.

[gwyn]

Well as I sit here thumbing through my copy of CFE I note that:

Abide with Me is number 9
Because the Lord is my Shepherd (Walker) is number 77.

You're right, mcb, many of the versions in CFE have sadly, and perhaps unnecessarily, been stripped of their atb facets.

I await with baited breath Nick Gale's forthcoming publication. This promises to be a good, dedicated choral book, not an attempt at "catch-all" which is the case with Laudate and CFE. I hasten to point out that that's not intended as a criticism, merely an observation, they represent the best in the "catch-all" category and they fulfill that purpose well.

[Merseysider]

You are both right, of course – I music have been indignant with my indices. Looks like we're going for Laudate.

Thanks to all for advice and opinions.

M

[presbyter]

Given that Rome has said NO to anything but the official text of the Lamb of God (but presumably we can still use the ICET version???? Can we?) - Laudate is remarkably thin on settings. Aren't they all troped? (not got a copy to hand)