It has been said, so many times by so many people that it is impossible to ascribe it to one person, that music is the handmaid of liturgy. Wherever you find Christianity, Judaism, Islam or any other religion, you will always find music as some part of their celebrations. Within Christianity, ranging from the most severe sects of Protestantism to the most flamboyant Catholic practices, music is always present. In this little article, I am going to look at some of the music in communion services.
Before the Reformation the Catholic church had a huge and varied repertoire. Within the Mass (eucharist) this was divided into two groups: the Ordinary (those texts which were pretty much the same week in and week out, and the Propers (those texts which were different week by week and, at times, day by day). There wasn’t any hymn singing for the congregation – their job was to sit there and pray. In our modern Anglican services this division is still visible, but the Propers have been replaced by hymns.
The Ordinary consist of Lord, have mercy (Kyrie eleison), Glory be to God on High (Gloria in excelsis Deo), I believe in one God (Credo in unum Deum), Holy, Holy, Holy (Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus), Blessed is He who comes (Benedictus qui venit) and O Lamb of God (Agnus Dei). Before the Reformation, these parts of the service were the business of the choir but, with the emphasis on congregational participation coming to the fore after the Reformation, provision was made for them to just be read or, if sung, to simple music.
The first Book of Common Prayer, published in 1549, specifically commands such things as “the clerkes [choir] shall syng,”. John Merbecke published in 1550 The Booke of Common Praier Noted, which supplies some 150 pages of simple, congregational music so that a choir wasn’t necessary. Unfortunately for him, in 1552 a new prayer book was published, somewhat influenced by the Protestant hard-heads of Geneva, which, apart from couple of short references, totally ignores music. The texts of the Ordinary were to be read. There was a grudging (unofficial) acknowledgment that a metrical psalm (one turned into a regular verse form) could be sung, but that was it. And so it stayed for three centuries. The 1559 and 1662 prayer books were no more encouraging. Of course, irregularities crept in, but
church music mainly consisted of slow, or even slower, or very slow metrical psalms –
sometimes accompanied by a surprising variety of instruments.**
From the1830s things began to change as the Oxford Movement sought to re-emphasise some of the Catholic elements of Anglican worship and, although this was initially seen as a high church phenomenon, their ideas gradually permeated the Anglican church as a whole. Robed choirs were reintroduced (most NMMA churches still have choir stalls) and the texts or the Ordinary were sung again. In some places, such choirs dominated the liturgy completely but in others the congregation sang.
Merbecke’s music was reintroduced and, over the next two hundred years and making allowances for changing translations, other settings were composed. Many used the standard texts of the day but others have versified these texts so that they can be sung to known hymn tunes. Here in the NMMA we can see a variety of approaches. In some churches they are still just read by the congregation but in others they are sung. Not necessarily all of them but often a selection. For instance, in St Teilo’s, Llantilio Pertholey,
the Gloria and Sanctus are sung to a setting by Dom Gregory Murray whereas in St Nicholas’, Grosmont, music by Dom GM and others is used. In St David’s, Llanddewi Rhydderch, a standard-text Gloria is sung but the Sanctus is versified.
If there’s any interest in widening congregational singing to include part of the Ordinary, it’s probably the Gloria and Holy, Holy, Holy for which it is most suitable as these are great songs of praise. An anonymous Yorkshire vicar has published two versions of the Gloria which, he/she says, may be freely used without further permission (hps://aigc88.wixsite.com/beautyo oliness/post/two-metrical-glorias).
Here’s one of them:
Glory be to God in heaven,
And to all his people, peace.
Heav’nly King, almighty Father,
May our worship never cease;
May our voices ever thank you,
Songs of blessing ever send,
May we always live to praise you,
For your glory without end.
Jesus, Son of God the Father,
Merciful beyond compare,
All our sin, by you forgiven;
Lamb of God, receive our prayer.
Jesus, you alone are holy,
Jesus, you alone are Lord,
With the Holy Spirit reigning,
And the Father—glorious God!
It‘s sung to the tune for Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.
If you’re looking for a metrical Sanctus, the version which begins “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord,” is in many of our NMMA hymn books, is well known and, best of all, copyright free.
Singing the texts of the Ordinary allows music to take more of its traditional place in a communion service – to be a handmaid of the liturgy.
**It’s not only a piano or an organ can be used for service accompaniment; there’s a whole history of other instruments being used. (Try Googling West Gallery Music.)
