Easter Vigil

[HelenR]

At Easter this year we have 4 people being received into the Church including 3 baptisms. There is a great organist and possibly a pianist and guitarist available. We dont have a strong choir and cant manage SATB but probably could do two parts. What would you recommend that we could sing during the blessing of the water, baptism, confirmation and sprinkling?
And where should we be singing - a few years ago we were given a piece by Margaret Rizza to sing during confirmation but it was far too complicated and sounded dreadful and as only one person was being confirmed it held up the service for ages. The singers are very enthusiastic but recognise their limitations so are really looking for ideas which the congregation will join in with.
Any ideas? We use Laudate but have access to a lot of other resources and some money to buy new music.

[docmattc]

The texts for singing during this part of the Easter Vigil are given in the Missal.
Firstly there is the Litany of Saints, which might incorporate those Saints chosen as confirmation and baptismal names. I've used the plainsong version and the one by Geoffrey Steel, both are in Resurrexit (Decani), the plainsong one may be in the altar missal. It should accompany the procession to the baptistry, if this happens.

Secondly there is the acclamation after the blessing of the water. "Springs of Water bless the Lord" or other appropriate acclamation. There are a couple in Resurrexit, Laudate 511 is also this text. I've used "Come flowing Water" in the past, which is set to "Lasst uns Erfreuen" so a familar tune to the congregation and parts are easy to come by for a choir. Its to be found in "Music for Holy Week and Easter" by McCrimmons. This book also has several settings of the Litany of Saints.

The third place for music is during the sprinkling which calls for a "Song which is baptismal in character", Vidi Aquam being the model text. 2 Settings in MfHW&E, a couple of options in Resurrexit, 512-514 in Laudate.

For either the acclamation, the sprinkling, or both, Lyon Trapp's "Springs of water, bless the Lord" based on the tune 'blessed assurance' might have mileage. A search of OCP for "Springs of water" brings up a few pieces which might be useful (I haven't listened to all)

Resurrexit has a couple of pieces for after each baptism, for the newly baptised etc, but I'm not sure I'd want to use all this at the vigil. Even though the RCIA rite suggests an acclamation after each baptism, I wouldn't chose this moment to introduce this. The vigil is already music rich, there's no need to over egg the pudding with extra pieces which might just serve to clutter the rites rather than augment them. There are already 3 pieces of music called for during the liturgy of baptism which may well be unfamiliar, why add even more?
I would't sing anything during the baptism or confirmation, let people concentrate on what's going on, hear the words with which these sacraments are conferred, and don't be afraid of silence!

[festivaltrumpet]

I agree here with docmatic. The missal illustrates where singing should take place, singing at other places would be alien to the rite.

[Angela Barber]

We sing the Bernadette Farrell "Saints of God in Glory", putting in our own relevant saints. The congregation pick up the refrain easily and sing it well, or, rather, wholeheartedly! I improvise softly while the cantor reads the saints' names and this seems to work well.
We sing "O let all who thirst, let them come to the water" for the Isaiah reading . Think its in Laudate but I don't personally go much on it. We keep silence during baptism, apart from the priest intoning Blessed be God, Who calls you by name, Holy and chosen one, the three phrases which are repeated by the congregation. This may change this year with a new priest who can't sing! We sing "The church's one foundation" in preparation for confirmation and then keep silent, apart from Alleluia after each one is confirmed. This is probably peculiar to our church but I'd be interested to hear what others do.
At the preparation we're inflicted with "We place upon your table" which is probably my least favourite hymn ever but, with a new priest, I think I've put that one to bed!
I feel very strongly that there should be time for silent prayer during mass - not easy with playing the organ, etc. so we're trying thanksgiving hymns on alternate Sundays during Lent and await the reaction of our congregation (who only seem to sing when its something like Amazing Grace!) Keep smiling

[gwyn]

Out of intertest, what are we using for the Exodus 15 canticle "I will sing to the Lord, Glorious His Triumph?

[Angela Barber]

Gwyn - We're using the Gregory Murray version but of course
we're not a very good choir and tend to stick to the easier stuff.

[Southern Comfort]

Stephen Dean's setting in The Great Squeak. We have previously used Inwood's setting - I think it's in Easter Mysteries, the one that starts "I will sing, sing, sing...".

[gwyn]

Gwyn - We're using the Gregory Murray version but of course
we're not a very good choir and tend to stick to the easier stuff.

Thanks Angela. I've found that the simple settings are often the most effective.

Thanks S.C. Stephen Dean is very singable.

[mcb]

Out of intertest, what are we using for the Exodus 15 canticle "I will sing to the Lord, Glorious his Triumph?

Geoffrey Boulton Smith's setting from The Responsorial Psalm Book. We've used it for the last twenty years at least. Every year I look out for a better one, but I've yet to find one that comes close.

[Reginald]

Clifton almost always use John Gibbons' setting which I believe is in one of the Psalm Songs volumes - highly recommended, particularly if it is to be accompanied on piano.

[VML]

There's a version in HON to the Hebrew tune Zena Zena, which we used a few times in the 1990s.

[organist]

John Gibbons' setting is one thing I really miss now - oh the joy of a glissando at Mass!

[Anne]

I like 'I willl sing, sing to the Lord, Glorious his triumph' [by Teresa Brown - mod.] - it is easy to sing for congregations who don't have high powered choirs, and it is faithful to the words in the Missal. it is on her collection called the Watermark - more details on her web site - http://www.devinemusic.org.uk

[Reginald]

I know that a glissando isn't good grounds for choosing a piece of music at Mass - but I couldn't agree more with you organist. By the by, cracking refrain and super word-painting.

[organist]

Well it does illustrate the Egyptians being drowned!