Music for our newcomers

[Crumhorn]

Hi, everyone,

Like a lot of East Anglian parishes, mine is now seeing a welcome influx of Eastern Europeans and Keralans. It's great to have them with us at Sunday Mass, and several are now playing active roles in parish life, but I'm looking for ways to reach out to them and involve them in our music.

I'm trialling the idea of inviting members of each community to help us out with a communion piece that could be in their own language, using their own music. Can anyone help me to source material suitable for (to start with) Poles and Keralans? Both groups seem willing to respond, but I'd like to give them positive assistance. We do have an organ and a willing (half-Polish) organist but this may not help with Keralan music...!

[oopsorganist]

Hey, where's that?

I'm off to google Keralan.
(Maybe something with medieval instruments would be fun! Something with a nice drone effect?).

Seriously though, I keep wondering if we need to do more in our parish but what? My first thought is to keep things very simple if people are new to English. The idea that we could learn something a bit ethnic got binned when I realise that we would do it badly and probably miss the mark anyway for everybody due to ignorance. Which could be worse than doing nothing. It could be a summer school thing could it not? A sharing of cultures.

My colleague went to South African where she reports lusty singing and so she grabbed some music from the band......... so we now have a creed based on "I believe that every drop of ... etc" and a copy of that Lamb of God sung to Eidelwiess both bound for room 101, all the way from Africa. Now I suspect our Parish would really like both of these! She's just gone to Spain. I hope she does not bring me anything back.

I suspect that warmth of welcome and social and practical support are probably more priority to immigrants that the songs we sing. It is something that deeply concerns me.

[musicus]

I'm trialling the idea of inviting members of each community to help us out with a communion piece that could be in their own language, using their own music.

Along Taizé lines, perhaps? Short and memorable, easily learnt and sung by all in procession, without recourse to books or sheets (but with translations at some stage so people can know what they're singing). I think there is mileage in this approach.

[Crumhorn]

Thanks to oops and musicus for their thoughts. My idea was to bring out the musical talent among our newcomers - with some help from us - rather than foisting our 'version' of their music on them. My problem is that Keralan (i.e. southern Indian) music is rather less accessible than Polish music to an East Anglian congregation, so I wondered whether anyone knew a simple piece that might fit the bill...?

Polish suggestions also welcome.

[oopsorganist]

Google Christian Keralan music!

Very nice. Go well with a crumhorn accompaniment.

Daniel Bath was well into Indian music, he had a drone box.

[musicus]

... Keralan (i.e. southern Indian) music ...

Ahah! Well, the 'classical' music of southern India is called Carnatic, about which I do know something. I will have a dig around the library at work. I doubt that I will find much (any?) Christian material, but many of the song melodies are attractive and singable, and might be adaptable to Christian words. (But don't hold your breath: I'm on half-term at the moment )

[mcb]

There's an Asian hymn book published by GIA called Sound the Bamboo which may well have some useful material. We did something from it at Summer School (Loh I-to's setting of Come, Holy Spirit). The book has music from all over Asia, so it's bound to include southern India.

I haven't got it to hand, but I'll have a look tomorrow and see if anything catches the eye.

[mcb]

he had a drone box.

In the bar at Summer School I suggested to him that you could save money buy putting a big tin of baked beans in the right place on the organ keyboard.

[John Ainslie]

I think it's worth pointing out that the liturgy native to Kerala is not the Roman rite but the Syro-Malabar rite: see http://www.catholicherald.org/archives/articles/syromalabar.html.

I know nothing about the music for this liturgy, except that the priest's part is at least partly chanted, maybe entirely. I know that much because we had a Keralan priest in our parish for 12 months. He claimed that he couldn't sing a note, until I chanced upon his occasional Syro-Malabar rite Mass, and found him chanting away happily. After that, he couldn't refuse to sing in the Roman rite, and sang the Eucharistic Prayer doxology with consummate ease.

[MaryR]

It could be a summer school thing could it not? A sharing of cultures.

It was! At last year's summer school, Bob Hurd gave a seminar on the importance of opening our assemblies to the multicultural reality that is now part of our churches.

But there's no reason why we shouldn't revisit this. I'll suggest it at our soon-to-take-place planning meeting for Summer School 2008.

[Crumhorn]

Thought you might all like to know what actually happened with our Keralan Christmas music.

Fortunately we have a Keralan councillor on the PPC, so he was the man I approached as soon as I'd got our PP's agreement to a Keralan component for Christmas. I asked him for suggestions for a) a carol (or Keralan equivalent) to sing before Mass (yes I know, but that's a different thread... in fact it's http://www.ssg.org.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=595!) and something for communion.

Sensibly, he sent me links to a shortlist of titles on an internet music site. In the end we chose http://www.malhits.com/malayalam/mail.php?action=song&id=591 to sing as a carol and http://www.malhits.com/malayalam/mail.php?action=song&id=495 to sing at communion. His 16-year-old daughter supplied some translations, and also led the music using her electronic organ.

We chose these pieces because they had choruses singable even by those of us not gifted in Malayalam... easy tunes, simple words or just 'la's and 'mm's.

In the mean time we recruited Portuguese and Polish members of the congregation to make their own contributions (so for example we had 'Silent Night' in four languages, including English).

Result? One of the richest, and most satisfying Midnight Masses of recent years, with a bigger congregation than the Day Mass the next day (despite a competing, and earlier, 'midnight' mass which is traditionally held at an Anglican church in another part of our rather oversized parish). Excellent feedback from people who had never heard our Keralans sing, and were surprised and delighted to hear them. And a delighted response from the Keralans (and Portuguese and Poles) who were very pleased to be asked, and thrilled to contribute.

All in all, very satisfying!

For the record, here are the transliterations and translations:

'Carol' (Shandha Rathri Thirurathree)

Shandha rathree thirurathree (Silent night, holy night)
Pulkudillil poothorurathree (A birth in the manger)
Vinnilae tharaka dhoodharaerangiya (Angels come from heaven)
Mannil samadhana rathree (Peace on earth tonight)

Unni pirannu unni yeshu pirannu (3) (The infant is born, infant Jesus is born)

Shandha rathree thirurathree (Silent night, holy night)
Dhaveedhil pattanam polae (To David’s town)
Pathakal nammallalangirichu (2) (We've made our way)
Veejupakarunna manjil mungee (On a snowy night like chilled wine)
Veedum manasukal padee (Our hearts sing again0

Unni pirannu unni yeshu pirannu (3) (The infant is born, infant Jesus is born)

Shandha rathree thirurathree … ((Silent night, holy night))

Kundhirikathalaeruthee (Like burning incense)
Sandhesha geethathil poovidarthee (2) (The good news is spread)
Dhuraninayeeram azagin kaykal (To thousands all over the world)
Ennum ashamsakal thoogee (And all greet one another in joy.)

Unni pirannu unni yeshu pirannu (3) (The infant is born, infant Jesus is born)

Shandha rathree thirurathree … ((Silent night, holy night))

Communion song (Paythalam yeshuvae)

Paythalam yeshuvae (infant Jesus)
Ummavechummmavechunarthiya (waking you by my tender kiss)
Aatidayaa unnathanae (hey! Shepherds)
Nigal thn hrithil yeshu nadhan pirannu (2) (Rejoice for the savior is born!)

L l laaa l l laaa l l l l laaa
L laaa ahaaa ahaaa …..

Thalapoliyaekam thamburuveetuvan (let the music be played)
Tharatupadeeyurakeeduvan (2) (let us sing a lullaby for my son)

Paythalam yeshuvae…

Ullil thirathaellum mothathodaethum (many people from all round the world)
Parakae prekshakar niraniraya (2) (will rejoice of his legendry birth)

Nadhadhinadhanayee vazumaen yeeshanayee Unarvoldae (my son is the king and he will rule the earth and spread wisdom)

Paythalam yeshuvae…

[gwyn]

Fantastic! I'm feeling inspired.

I particularly like the idea of singing hymn/song verses in the mother-tongues of the parish mix.

Thanks Crumhorn.

[MaryR]

It could be a summer school thing could it not? A sharing of cultures.

It was! At last year's summer school, Bob Hurd gave a seminar on the importance of opening our assemblies to the multicultural reality that is now part of our churches.

But there's no reason why we shouldn't revisit this. I'll suggest it at our soon-to-take-place planning meeting for Summer School 2008.

At our 2008 Summer School at Worth Abbey (booking forms can be found in the forthcoming issue of the journal ), Daniel Bath will give a seminar entitled 'Entertaining Angels - inclusive liturgy for a multicultural society'.