Category: church music

Trinitie Sunday

Byartsyhonker March 2, 2014 0 Comments
A few weeks ago when Fr Duncan and I were discussing hymn lists, he said he'd like to have a lot of George Herbert this Sunday. It seemed like as good a reason as any to write an anthem. I launched into a setting of "Love (III)" but it didn't quite "sit" right, wasn't working out, and was perhaps a little long. So instead I decided to set the poem "Trinitie Sunday" as an anthem. It isn't Trinity...

The Doubter

Byartsyhonker January 27, 2014 0 Comments
This is another piece I wrote for the Small Choirs Competition. Unusually, I've used my own text for this one. I had planned to set the text just as a hymn, but enjoyed employing a bit of retrograde and some changes to timing in order to turn it into a more interesting anthem. It's set for unison voices but there's no reason you couldn't swap things around even more by setting some for lower and...

Versicles and Responses

Byartsyhonker January 27, 2014 0 Comments
I wrote these for the Small Choirs International competition. It's a fairly standard Versicles and Responses for Anglican Evensong services -- but being set for SAB instead of SATB it might be more suitable for small choirs or those with few men. License for the music is CC BY-SA, as usual. The MIDI file is a bit odd in the timing in one or two places: making the reciting notes display...

“I walked in darkness”: an anthem for Epiphany

Byartsyhonker January 13, 2014 0 Comments
I wrote this one for a competition at St Paul's Cathedral. They didn't get back to me, so I'm assuming that someone else won. The words are by Thomas Thurman, and were written at my request. I like his poetry generally, but have usually worked with finished works; it was interesting and delightful to see this poem taking shape and even have a bit of influence over the wording in one or two lines....

O Emmanuel

Byartsyhonker December 22, 2013 0 Comments
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster. O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God. Emmanuel means God-with-us. The juxtaposition of God-with-us and imagery like "king" and "lawgiver" is a good one. This is not some lofty palace-dwelling ruler who...

O Rex gentium

Byartsyhonker December 21, 2013 0 Comments
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti. O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay. I always feel the "you made us" argument is a bit petulant, almost. "Oi! God! You got us INTO this mess, you get us out of it! We...

O Clavis David

Byartsyhonker December 19, 2013 0 Comments
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. This...

O Radix Jesse

Byartsyhonker December 18, 2013 0 Comments
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare. O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. This is an interesting one to try and relate to, at first glance....

O Adonai

Byartsyhonker December 17, 2013 0 Comments
O Antiphons by Kathryn Rose O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento. (English:) O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm. The photograph is from St Catherine's...

O Sapientia

Byartsyhonker December 16, 2013 1 Comment
The "O" Antiphons are traditionally sung with the Magnificat starting on 17th December (Roman use) or 16th December (Book of Common Prayer). I like the BCP use, so I start today. O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponens que omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. (English:) O Wisdom, which camest out of the mouth of the most...