This page has information about our choir and help with the songs we're singing
The Liberal Catholic Church
Christ ever lives as a mighty spiritual presence in the World, guiding and sustaining his people. The Liberal Catholic Church exists to forward Christ's work in the world.
The original and authentic
Liberal Catholic Church
Our hearts are ever restless until they find their rest in Thee
The Deer's Cry by Arvo Pärt (Christ With Me)
History
The work was commissioned by the Louth Contemporary Music Society. The text is the final part of a traditional prayer for protection, Saint Patrick's Breastplate, attributed to St. Patrick, the primary patron saint of Ireland.[1] The text is known as "The Deer's Cry",[1] "The Breastplate of St Patrick", or "Lorica" and is often attributed to the saint. Pärt wrote his setting in modern English, beginning with "Christ with me", composed for a four-part choir a cappella.[4] It was published by Universal Edition in 2007,[2] and was first performed by the State Choir Latvija, conducted by Fergus Sheil, in Louth on 13 February 2008.[2] The Deer's Cry is in one movement and takes about five minutes to perform.
Text
Pärt set an excerpt of the prayer, its conclusion, and repeating the first line of that section ("Christ with me") in the end:
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in me, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Christ with me.
Music
The music is in A minor, consisting of slow, marked quarter notes as 72 per minute. The measures contain different even numbers of them, from two, often used for general rests, to eight. The lower voices begin with divided altos and basses, rendering "Christ is with me" four times in homophony with long rests in between. While they keep that pattern, the sopranos enter in the seventh measure to deliver the following text. From measure 17, the lower voices also take part in the text, singing "Christ in me". They are often juxtaposed to the sopranos, such as with "arise" vs. "sit down". A climax is reached in measure 33 when all the voices sing in homophony, and every one divided: "Christ in the heart ...". After the text is completed, followed by a general rest, all voices sing, similar to the beginning: "Christ with me", once softly, finally very soft and diminishing.
Performance and recording
In 2016, the Sixteen choir named a program of music by William Byrd and Pärt The Deer's Cry, which they performed in several venues. A collection of choral music by Pärt by the Estonian vocal group Vox Clamantis, conducted by Jaan-Eik Tulve, was performed under the same name. A reviewer notes the pure intonation required for the spiritual purity of the music. VOCES8 has a nice YouTube (see above)
| Our score, adapted from 8 parts to 5, mostly SATB with a little 2 soprano. I also ended with a major chord resolution. | SSATB (4-18-20 15:08:08) |
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Sung August 26, 2018
Cry No More (SATB)
by Dan Forrest, lyrics by Johanna Anderson, & Eva Norlyk-Smith
A nice country song (someday I'll write a nice choir arrangement)
10,000 Reasons (Bless My Soul)
by Matt Redman
Ave verum corpus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
K 618, Baden, June 17, 1791
Sung
Sung August 11, 2019
more: Ave Verum Corpus (videos, parts, etc.)
There Is A Balm In Gilead
Sung
Here are some different arrangements of this traditional African American spiritual. We can include some of these features as we develop. For now we are starting with a simple a cappella arrangement that we can learn and perform quickly.
There's many more secular harmony songs here, here and great voices here.
