Psalm 100 / Vous qui sur la terre habitez (Taizé)

Vous qui sur la terre habitez
Chantez à pleine voix, chantez
rassemblez-vous dans le Seigneur
célebrez-le d'un même cœur.

Car il est Dieu et Créateur,
il est Sauveur et seul Seigneur
de tout son peuple qu'il bénit;
tel un berger il le conduit.

Pour toi, Seigneur, que notre amour
se renouvelle chaque jour,
qu'il s'entracine dans la joie
qui de nos cœurs monte vers toi.

See also the English version: All People That On Earth Do Dwell

From Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (Geneva, 1551)

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
- in English

Psalm 95 / Venez, crions de joie pour le Seigneur (Taizé)

Antiphon: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Venez, crions de joie pour le Seigneur,
Acclamons le rocher qui nous sauve,
Allons devant sa face avec actions de grâces,
Au son des musiques, acclamons-le.

Car c'est un Dieu grand que le Seigneur,
Un Roi grand par-dessus tous les dieux.
En sa main sont les creux de la terre,
Et les hauts des montagnes sont à Lui,
A Lui la mer, c'est Lui qui l'a faite,
La terre ferme, ses mains l'ont façonnée.

Entrez, courbons-nous, prosternons-nous,
A genoux devant le Dieu qui nous a faits.
Car c'est Lui notre Dieu,
Et nous le peuple dont II est le berger,
Le troupeau que mène sa main.

Aujourd'hui puissiez-vous écouter sa voix:
"Ne fermez pas vos cœurs comme à discorde
comme aux jours de tentation dans le désert,
quand vos pères m'ont éprouvé et tenté
et pourtant ils voyaient mes actions"

Antiphon: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
- in English

O grâce magnifique (Taizé)

O grâce magnifique,
Dont Dieu seul est l'auteur:
Jésus, son Fils unique,
Est notre Rédempteur!
Etoile matinale
Qui n'a pas son égale
Dans tout le firmament!

O grâce mémorable
Qu'on adore à genoux:
Dieu même est favorable
Aux pécheurs tels que nous!
Au ciel et sur la terre,
Qui pourra nous soustraire
A l'éternel amour?

O grâce salutaire,
Ta force nous confond!
D'un aussi grand mystère,
Qui peut voir jusqu'au fond?
Grâce incompréhensible,
Lumière inaccessible,
Abîme de bonté!

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
- in English

Hymn Do Trójcy Świętej (Hymn to the Holy Trinity / Christopher Tin)

Już słońce wschodzi ogniste
Ty jedność, światło wieczyste
W sercach naszych, Trójco Święta
Rozlej miłość niepojętą
Ciebie my z rana wielbimy
Ciebie wieczorem prosimy
Racz to sprawić byśmy Ciebie
Z Świętymi chwalili w niebie.
Ojcu razem i Synowi
świętemu także duchowi
Jak była, tak niechaj wszędzie
Wieczna chwała zawsze będzie.
Amen

You are the unity, eternal light
In our Hearts, Holy Trinity
spread the inconceivable love.
We adore you in the morning
we beg you in the evening
bring us to you
with the Saints in heaven adored.
Together Father and Son
and the Holy Spirit
As there was, and ever will be
Eternal Glory, always and forever. Amen

From the album, Calling All Dawns

Composer: Christopher Tin (2009)

Perfect Praise (Oh Lord How Excellent!) [Brenda Joyce Moore]

Oh Lord How excellent! How excellent! How excellent!
How excellent is Thy name

There is none like you, none like you, none like you
Jesus excellent is Thy name

In all the earth, in all the earth, in all the earth
Jesus excellent is Thy name

In all the Earth, in all the earth, in all the earth,
Jesus excellent is Thy name

Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord
Jesus excellent is Thy name

Composer: Brenda Joyce Moore

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) series.   

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies (Tune: MATERNA)

O beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain,
for purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control,
thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for patriot dream
that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam,
undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.


Text: Katherine Lee Bates (1859-1929)
Tune: MATERNA, CMD, by Samuel Augustus Ward (1848-1903)

Before the Lord's Eternal Throne (Tune: WINCHESTER NEW)

Before the Lord's eternal throne,
all nations, bow with holy joy;
know that the Lord is God alone,
he can create and can destroy.

His sovereign power, without our aid,
formed us and fashioned us of old;
and when like wandering sheep we strayed,
he brought us back into his fold.

We'll crowd your gates with thankful songs,
high as the heavens our voices raise;
and earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
shall fill your courts with joyful praise.

Wide as the world is your command,
vast as eternity your love;
firm as a rock your truth shall stand
when rolling years have ceased to move.

Text: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Tune: WINCHESTER NEW LM (Musikalisches Hand-Buch, Hamburg, 1690)

O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair (Tune: WAREHAM)

O wondrous type! O vision fair
of glory that the Church may share,
which Christ upon the mountain shows,
where brighter than the sun he glows!

The law and prophets there have place,
the chosen witnesses of grace;
the Father's voice from our the cloud
proclaims his only Son aloud.

With shining face and bright array,
Christ deigns to manifest today
what glory shall be theirs above
who joy in God with perfect love.

And faithful hearts are raised on high
by this great vision's mystery;
for which in joyful strains we raise
the voice of prayer, the hymns of praise.

O Father, with the eternal Son,
and Holy Spirit, ever One,
vouchsafe to bring us by thy grace
to see thy glory face to face.

Text: "Caelestis formam gloriae," from the Sarum Breviary, 1495; trans. John M. Neale, 1851; alt. in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861
Tune: WAREHAM LM

Hail to the Lord's Anointed (Tune: ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVÖGLEIN)

Hail to the Lord's Anointed,
great David's greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
his reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
to set the captive free,
to take away transgression,
and rule in equity.

He comes, with succour speedy,
to those who suffer wrong;
to help the poor and needy,
and bid the weak be strong;
to give them songs for sighing,
their darkness turn to light,
whose souls, condemned and dying,
were precious in his sight.

He shall come down like showers
upon the fruitful earth;
love, joy, and hope, like flowers,
spring in his path to birth;
before him, on the mountains,
shall peace the herald go;
and righteousness, in fountains,
from hill to valley flow.

Kings shall fall down before him,
and gold and incense bring;
all nations shall adore him,
his praise all people sing;
to him shall prayer unceasing
and daily vows ascend,
his kingdom still increasing,
a kingdom without end.

O'er every foe victorious,
he on his throne shall rest;
from age to age more glorious,
all-blessing and all-blest.
the tide of time shall never
his covenant remove;
his name shall stand for ever,
his changeless Name of love.

Paraphrase of Psalm 72

Text: James Montgomery (1821)
Tune: ES FLOG EIN KLEINS WALDVÖGLEIN 76 76 D

God of Our Fathers

In celebration of Independence Day, 4th July 2013

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
leads forth in beauty all the starry band
of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
our grateful songs before thy throne arise.

Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
in this free land by thee our lot is cast;
be thou our ruler, guardian, guide, and stay,
thy word our law, thy paths our chosen way.

From war's alarms, from deadly pestilence,
be thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
thy true religion in our hearts increase,
thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Refresh thy people on their toilsome way,
lead us from night to never-ending day;
fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, laud, and praise be ever thine.

Words: Daniel Crane Roberts (1876)
Tune: NATIONAL HYMN 10.10.10.10

Yerusalem Kota Surgawi (Jerusalem, Heavenly City)

Source: Madah Bakti, no. 834 (Indonesia)

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Catholic series.  

Te Deum (William Walton)

We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting.

To thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory.

The glorious company of the apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee,
the Father, of an infinite majesty; thine honourable, true, and only Son, also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ; thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man, thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants,whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy saints, in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee, and we worship thy Name ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded.

Originally composed for the coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II

Text: Te Deum
Composer: William Walton (1902-1983)

The King Shall Rejoice (Bob Chilcott)

The King shall rejoice in thy strength, O Lord:
exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation.

Thou hast given him his heart's desire:
and hast not denied him the request of his lips.

For thou shalt prevent him with the blessings of goodness:
and shalt set a crown of pure gold upon his head.

He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him a long life:
even for ever and ever.

His honour is great in thy salvation:
glory and great worship shalt thou lay upon him.

For thou shalt give him everlasting felicity:
and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance.

"The King shall rejoice" is a new anthem setting by Bob Chilcott for mixed choir and organ, composed for the service at Westminster Abbey on 4th June 2013 to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. The work was commissioned by The Dean and Chapter of Westminster and sponsored by many of the choristers who sang in the Coronation Service in 1953. The anthem combines two texts. The first takes the opening six verses of Psalm 21, "The King shall rejoice in thy strength, O Lord". Four verses of the same text were set famously by George Frederick Handel in his Coronation Anthem "The King shall rejoice", written in 1727 for the Coronation of George II. The second text uses an adapted version of the same six Psalm verses set by William Byrd in his anthem "O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth our Queen" in honour of Queen Elizabeth I.

Text: Paraphrase of Psalm 21: 1-6
Music: Bob Chilcott (b 1955)

Heralds of Christ (NATIONAL HYMN)

1. Heralds of Christ, who bear the King's commands,
immortal tidings in your mortal hands,
pass on and carry swift the news you bring;
make straight, make straight the highway of the King.

2. Through desert ways, dark fen, and deep morass,
through jungles, sluggish seas, and mountain pass,
build now the road, and falter not, nor stay;
prepare across the earth the King's highway.

3. Lord, give us faith and strength the road to build,
to see the promise of the day fulfilled,
when war shall be no more, and strife shall cease
upon the highway of the Prince of Peace.

Text: Laura S. Copenhaver (1868-1941)
Tune: NATIONAL HYMN, 10 10.10 10

When we all get to heaven

Refrain:

When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory!

1. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus;
sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed
he'll prepare for us a place. (Refrain)

2. While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
clouds will overspread the sky;
but when traveling days are over,
not a shadow, not a sigh. (Refrain)

3. Let us then be true and faithful,
trusting, serving every day;
just one glimpse of him in glory
will the toils of life repay. (Refrain)

4. Onward to the prize before us!
Soon his beauty we'll behold;
soon the pearly gates will open;
we shall tread the streets of gold. (Refrain)

Text: Eliza E. Hewitt
Tune: HEAVEN, 87.87 with Refrain. By Emily D. Wilson

All because of Jesus

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) series. 

One Thing I Ask (Hangad)

One thing I ask:
To dwell in the house of the Lord all my days,
To gaze on His goodness
And walk in His ways.

He will shelter me;
He will be my strength.
In the triumph that He brings me
I can hold my head high.

In His house I shall lift up my voice.
I will sing, I will praise the Lord.

Setting: Hangad (Philippines)

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Catholic series.

All That I Am / Magnificat (David Haas)

Refrain:

All that I am sings of the God who brings new life to birth in me.
My spirit soars on the wings of my Lord.

1. My soul gives glory to the Lord, rejoicing in my saving God,
who looks upon me in my state, and all the world will call me blest;
For God works marvels in my sight, and holy, holy is God's name.

2. God's mercy is from age to age, on those who follow in fear;
Whose arm is power and strength, and scatters all the proud of heart;
Who casts the mighty from their thrones and raises up the lowly ones!

3. God fills the starving with good things, the rich are left with empty hands;
Protecting all the faithful ones, remembering Israel with mercy,
the promise known to those before and to their children for ever!

Composer: David Haas

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Catholic series.

How shall I sing to God (David Haas)

1 How shall I sing to God when life is filled with gladness,
loving and birth, wonder and worth?
I'll sing from the heart, thankfully receiving, joyful in believing.
This is my song, I'll sign it with love.

2 How shall I sing to God when life is filled with bleakness,
empty and chill, breaking my will?
I'll sing through my pain, angrily or aching, crying or complaining
This is my song, I'll sign it with love

3 How shall I sing to God and tell my Savior's story:
passover bread, life from the dead?
I'll sing with my life, witnessing and giving, risking and forgiving.
This is my song, I'll sign it with love.

Text: Brian Wren (1986)
Tune: David Haas

We worship you, most high

See my other blog postings in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) series.