Take our bread, we ask you. Laudate 610

[Hare]

To cut straight to the chase, does anyone observe the written rhythm, minim followed by minim rest, in bar 6 of the verse? It flows better without the rest, IMHO, and people naturally seem to want to sing it that way. We don't sing it often in my parish, but I ask because I have to play it at a Nuptial Mass tomorrow in another parish with which I am unfamiliar..... Thanks in advance

[Ros Wood]

I've never heard it sung as written. In my experience the rest is always removed for the reasons yu have stated.

[Nick Baty]

The two most painful things I can think of our Take Our Bread and attending a wedding. And you're going to attempt both at one time! Our prayers will be with you. But you're right, noone sings it as written. Would that they wouldn't sing it at all. (Exits stage left muttering under breath....)

[pirate]

Surely that should be Exit, pursued by Mr. Bear...

[johnquinn39]

To cut straight to the chase, does anyone observe the written rhythm, minim followed by minim rest, in bar 6 of the verse? It flows better without the rest, IMHO, and people naturally seem to want to sing it that way. We don't sing it often in my parish, but I ask because I have to play it at a Nuptial Mass tomorrow in another parish with which I am unfamiliar..... Thanks in advance

No

[Peter]

This is another contender for the thread Hymn book BearTraps - maybe it should be moved there? To complicate matters, whereas Laudate 610 and CFE 678 both have the rest in the middle of the verse and an odd 2/4 bar at the beginning of the verse to compensate, HON 511 has a minim rest at the start of the verse as well (presumably to avoid that 2/4 bar). I've no way of telling which is the "right" version but (like Nick and Ros) I've never heard either rest observed in practice. If you can't cut out the hymn altogether, at least cut out the minim rest(s)!

[Boadicea]

I've used the Laudate version and HON - but never has a rest been heard in either. I'm sure you'll be fine if you just keep going. I doubt the congregation will obseve the rests, if they're singing!

[Hare]

Thank you for all the replies. Apologies for starting another thtread - I forgot about the Bear Traps one. Perhaps our eponymous moderator could amalgamate it there?

I am just going with the flow with this wedding. They have also selected "All that I am" to be sung at some point, but not at the Offertory.... Hello?!

[Southern Comfort]

The problem is that Joe Wise could play the guitar and sing but couldn't read music, so I've been told, so someone else had to write it down for him. Whether that's true or not, there's no real reason for that 2/4 bar at the beginning of the verse. If you do the whole verse in 4/4, starting at the beginning and rebarring as you go, then not only do the main accents fall in the right place instead of at the half-bar, but that extra minim rest can just fall out. I've never heard it observed either.

[Nick Baty]

"All that I am" to be sung at some point, but not at the Offertory....

Well it's far from suitable for the Offertory – in fact it's not really suitable for anywhere unless you've had a few gins first.

[Hare]

"All that I am" to be sung at some point, but not at the Offertory....

Well it's far from suitable for the Offertory – in fact it's not really suitable for anywhere unless you've had a few gins first.

Am I missing something in the words, or are we talking personal taste here? (Not that I like it particularly either.... )

[mcb]

The two most painful things I can think of our Take Our Bread and attending a wedding.

My choir performed it by request at a wedding once. I wrote an arrangement with verse 2 sung by the sopranos, with the the lower voices singing "ooh" (or it may have been "aah"; I can't remember) to some more adventurous harmonies than Joe Wise's. The tenor part had the melody from Mendelssohn's Wedding March smuggled into it. I like to think we did the song justice.

Maybe we could sing it at our workshop tomorrow, Nick?

[Nick Baty]

Am I missing something in the words, or are we talking personal taste here?

It's a tad me, me, me.
All that I am, all that I do, all that I'll ever have I offer now to you.
Shouldn't the offertory song be about giving to God what he has given to us?

[Nick Baty]

Maybe we could sing it at our workshop tomorrow, Nick?

I'd have to drown meself in the font!

[docmattc]

At only 600 in Laudate, "All that I am" is definitely off topic by a full 10. But I'll grant you that's only 1% off topic in the grand scheme of Laudate.