Top ten hymns

[musicus]

I thought it was time we had a poll, so, taking my cue from a discussion about hymn books elsewhere on the forum:

What are the ten most popular hymns or songs in your church community?

Popular with your community, that is. Don't include service music; just opening, preparation, communion and closing hymns/songs, most popular first,

e.g.

1. As I kneel before you
2. Full in the panting heart of Rome
3. etc

You get the idea.

If this poll proves popular, we could try other more searching ones in the future.

M

[presbyter]

just opening, preparation, communion and closing hymns/songs

Oh sigh - you mean there are parishes still singing four metrical hymns at Mass And whiich version of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal are they using then?

[mcb]

What are the ten most popular hymns or songs in your church community? ... Popular with your community, that is.

Define popular! (i) we sing them the most often; (ii) the assembly sings most lustily; or (iii) we get complaints that we don't sing X often enough.

For (i), in no particular order, these are hymns and songs we've sung at least eight times in the last four years:

Love divine, all loves excelling
Take, O take me as I am (Bell)
Be thou my vision
Tell out, my soul
Lord, your love has drawn us near (Dean)
The servant King
Thanks be to God (Dean)
Here I am, Lord
All people that on earth do dwell
Be still, for the presence of the Lord

(There are a few others nudging for places -

Christ is made the sure foundation
Alleluia, sing to Jesus
Thou whose almighty Word
Spirit of the living God
Ubi Caritas (Hurd)
Will you let me be your servant)

Not sure that the list gives any indication of true popularity, though. I choose the music, with a little (printed) help from Patrick Geary and Stephen Dean, and occasional input from the Cathedral clergy. I don't think I'd use popularity as much of a criterion for choosing, anyway. Except, I guess, that the only item in the above list which probably isn't as worthy as the others is Here I am, Lord. There's a great parody out there somewhere on the net, making fun of the change of person in the verbs between verse and refrain. I once saw Dan Schutte trying to perform this with a very enthusiastic audience/assembly in the UK. The look on his face when people joined in the verses while he was trying to be God all by himself (with the hoi polloi singing the refrains) was memorable. He had to give in and let everyone sing along in traditional jumbled-up fashion. We sing it at the Cathedral because people always seem to join in heartily.

(ii)

Hail Queen of Heaven
Soul of my Saviour
Here I am, Lord

(iii)

Any hymn to Our Lady (in May/October/a leap year/etc)
Hail Glorious St Patrick (on Sundays within the season of 17th March)

M.

[musicus]

Errr ....... you're not hinting that some parishes are just are still singing a four-hymn sandwich with no other music at Mass are you?

No, because I very carefully wrote "hymns/songs", and not just "hymns"

M

[musicus]

Define popular! (i) we sing them the most often; (ii) the assembly sings most lustily; or (iii) we get complaints that we don't sing X often enough.

I am a Bear of Little Brainâ„¢, mcb, and had your first option in mind.

Hey, this is only meant to be a mild diversion, people! I am not suggesting that a four-hymn sandwich is, or ought to be, the norm; or that popularity is an acceptable criterion for choice. I also recognise that the Office Hymn for the Feast of the Holy Hand Grenade is unlikely to feature in your lists. I am, however, assuming that the liturgical, pastoral and musical judgements have already been soundly made. That being the case, which ten songs (or hymns) do you sing the most often?

M

[musicus]

Here's my list:

1 Christ be our Light (Farrell)
2 O God, you search me and you know me (Farrell)
3 Gather us in (Haugen)
4 Alleluia, sing to Jesus
5 Blest are the pure in heart
6 Will you come and follow me (The Summons)
7 Love divine, all loves excelling
8 One bread, one body (Foley)
9 This is my body, broken for you (Owens)
10 I heard the voice of Jesus say

(estimated from memory, and very unscientific)

M

[gwyn]

Musicus said

Hey, this is only meant to be a mild diversion, people! I am not suggesting that a four-hymn sandwich is, or ought to be, the norm; or that popularity is an acceptable criterion for choice.

I understood exactly what you meant Musicus, and I'm only a Welshman who's not expected to fully understand or comprehend the English language. Will those pretending that they didn't understand the intention at the outset of this thread say ten Ave Marias as a penance and stop being so silly.

Right:

1: Christ be our Light (Farrell)
2: One bread, one body
3: Guide me, O thou great Redeemer
4: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus
5: O Mother blest (each verse played/sung a semitone higher than the previous and preceeded by a V7 chord in the new key - this is a useful way of reviving some old so-called pot-boilers)
6: You are salt for the earth / Bring forth the Kingdom (Haugen)
7: The servant King
8: Glory and praise to our God (Schutte)
9: Soul of my Saviour
10: O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (which I use at any time of year)

This is by no means an exhaustive list.

[mcb]

Will those pretending that they didn't understand the intention at the outset of this thread say ten Ave Marias as a penance and stop being so silly.

Steady now! I merely wanted to point out that my choosing the same hymn eighteen weeks in a row (or whatever) doesn't make it (or me) popular!

And anyway, what's a penance?

M.

[musicus]

And anyway, what's a penance?

Moderating this forum, sometimes.

Any more lists?

M

[Tsume Tsuyu]

This is difficult as we have two choirs whose repertoires are quite different. I've only looked at the choir I sing with and I’ve listed those songs I think are the most popular (as in used most often). This has been a scientific exercise! I've looked back through my planning notebooks for the past couple of years and roughly counted how many times we’ve used songs. I know, I need to get a life! These are in no particular order:

Gather us in (Walker)
Sing of the Lord’s Goodness (Sands)
Laudate Dominum (Walker)
Out of Darkness (Walker)
All The Gifts of God are Holy (Lee/Wellicome)
The Summons (Bell and Maule)
God Has Chosen Me (Farrell)
Be Thou My Vision
Now in this Banquet (Haugen)
Lord You Give the Great Commission

closely followed by:

Tho' The Mountains May Fall
Christ Triumphant
Tell Out My Soul
Amazing Grace
Blessed Are You (Stanley)

I have to say, though, that none of these has been 'done to death'. We've used lots of other stuff too.

TT

[Dot]

This is like the voting for the Eurovision Song Contest.

These are the results of the ****** jury, based on frquency of use over the last two years or so:

All the Gifts of God are Holy (Lee/Wellicome, from Baptised with Fire)
Be Thou my vision (both straight and "wonky", meaning rhythm jazzed up a bit)
Send us as your blessing, Lord (Walker)
The Summons (Iona)
Sing of the Lord's goodness
At the name of Jesus (tune - Brierley)
God has chosen me (Farrell)
Amazing Grace
For the healing of the nations (tune - Picardy)
Laudate (Walker)

The last 7 are in no particular order, as they have been used 4 times each.

There is good reason why a song for the Preparation of the Gifts comes top - because we find it hardest to choose a song for this particular point in the Mass.

There is one other song which we use as regularly as All the Gifts, but partly for political reasons. As the Composers' Guide to the Roman Missal frowns on it, I exclude mention of it.

[Dot]

ROTFL

[musicus]

My, what a (fairly) like-minded bunch we are.

BTW, when I started this poll I forgot to set a cut-off date, so let's say Sunday, shall we? I will then summarise the 'results'.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. Perhaps we could hear from those of you who just read these messages (it's called lurking!). Lurking for a week or two is a very good idea if you are new to the strange world of forums, but we would like to hear from you.

Remember: It's good to lurk; it's more fun to post!

M

[presbyter]

(iii) we get complaints that we don't sing X often enough.


Any hymn to Our Lady (in May/October/a leap year/etc)
Hail Glorious St Patrick (on Sundays within the season of 17th March)

Just as a matter of interest mcb - how do you tell folks it is wrong to have a hymn to the BVM at Sunday Mass during May/October?

[mcb]

how do you tell folks it is wrong to have a hymn to the BVM at Sunday Mass during May/October?

I don't think I'd subscribe to the idea it's "wrong". We do occasionally finish with a hymn to Our Lady at these times of the year, and I've more recently had to defend it than to defend not doing it. There's an uncontentious tradition of ending Prayer of the Church with a hymn to Our Lady, and I don't think it runs counter to the Christ-centered nature of the Sunday Eucharist to do the same at the end of Mass, at least once in a while, especially given that the Missal doesn't foresee any music at this point as integral to the rites. When there are Sundays in May that fall outside of Eastertide, singing a hymn to Our Lady seems to meet a widely-held devotional need. During Eastertide I pick recessional hymns with an Easter character - Thine be the glory, Battle is o'er, that kind of thing, and people seem happy with the explanation that the season of Eastertide takes precedence over the devotional tradition for May. I suppose strictly speaking if Eastertide takes precedence so does the feast of Sunday, though, so it's not as if my approach necessarily has any logic to it. But it doesn't seem to me that God will be made to feel insecure, as it were, by our addressing hymns to his mother occasionally.

I don't seem to get so many requests in October for Marian hymns - I wonder whether May devotions are more deeply etched in the memory than the rosary in October?

Was that the wrong answer? (And what on earth am I doing up this late?!)

M.