This layered song by psalmist Richard Bruxvoort Colligan is based on Psalm 31. Each part can be taught to a different part of the community or choir. When each is secure, they can be combined to create a rich, textured space for prayer.
The song can be sung a cappella or can be accompanied. It could be useful in Taizé-style services, and the text also invites it to be sung during Holy Week, especially Good Friday.
Part 1:
"Into your hands I place my life."
Part 2:
"Oh, loving faithful God."
Part 3:
"Oh, my life is yours."
Richard's music is licensed through CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you print the text or music for your community.
Find sheet music for the song on Richard's PsalmImmersion website.
To the Bath and the Table is a three-part canon composed by Mark Howe, the Director of Music and Canon Precentor of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Burlington, VT. It's a quotation shared by liturgical scholar Gordon Lathrop and a powerful invitation into central symbols and ritual actions of the Christian faith.
The piece can be lined out in two chunks, using call and echo to reinforce the melody and text. When the community's singing is confident, you can divide them into parts and invite a canon.
Mark also composed a cantor part using Sylvia Dunstan's hymn text, Crashing Waters at Creation, which can be sung over the canon.
"To the bath and the table, to the prayers and the word,
come, every seeking soul."
Mark has given faith communities permission to sing and share the song without restrictions. Copyright for Sylvia Dunstan's hymn text is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text should you use it.
Sheet music can be found in Music By Heart, MMC's first collection of paperless music.
Here's a video of Emily Scott teaching the song at a Music that Makes Community workshop in Atlanta, GA.
Tar a thighearna is a beautiful Gaelic chant by singer and composer Ruth Cunningham. Translated "Come, Lord, come thou Being," the piece is a powerful invocation and useful for centering/gathering, prayers, and times when a gentle, focused energy is needed.
The text and the melody can be learned through call and echo. Take your time and repeat passages that need extra care, especially those with ornamentation. Invite improvised harmony when the community is ready.
Gaelic:
Tar a thighearna.
Pronunciation: tahr ah hear-nah, tahr-ah-hee
English translation:
Come, Lord, come thou Being.
Ruth has given faith communities permission to sing and share the song without copyright restrictions.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress. It also appeared in Music By Heart, MMC's first collection of paperless music.
Ruth and Ana Hernández recorded the song on Blessed By Light. Here's a link to a recording of Emily Scott teaching the song, then offering suggestions for how to lead it without paper.
Watch Rachel Kroh lead Tar a thighearna at Union Seminary in September 2015: