This week’s listener requests include a contemporary setting of Psalm 23, a chorus from John Stainer’s oratorio The Crucifixion, and a 21st century hymn by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.
Detail of angel in Sainte Chapelle, Paris Photo: Flickr / Fr James Bradley
SONG: CHRIST IS MADE THE SURE FOUNDATION
Artist: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Words/Music: Anon trans Neale/Henry Purcell
Recording: Hyperion 712801
Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the Head and Corner-stone,
Chosen of the Lord, and precious,
Binding all the Church in one,
Holy Sion's help for ever,
And her confidence alone.
All that dedicated city,
Dearly loved of God on high,
In exultant jubilation
Pours perpetual melody;
God the One in Three adoring
In glad hymns eternally.
Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants
What they ask of Thee to gain,
What they gain from Thee, for ever
With the blessèd to retain,
And hereafter in Thy glory
Evermore with Thee to reign.
Amen.
SONG: LO! HE COMES WITH CLOUDS DESCENDING
Artist: St Michael’s Singers, Coventry Cathedral
Words/Music: Charles Wesley/Trad adapted Thomas Olivers
Recording: Integrity Music 2007
Lo, he comes, with clouds descending,
once for our salvation slain;
thousand thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ the Lord returns to reign.
Ev'ry eye shall now behold him
robed in glorious majesty;
those who set at nought and sold him,
pierced and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing
shall their true Messiah see.
Yea, amen, let all adore thee,
High on thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the pow'r and glory,
Claim the kingdom for thine own.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone!
SONG: IN THE SWEET BY AND BY
Artist: Harvard University Choir
Words/Music: Sanford Bennet/Joseph Webster
Recording: Dallas Christian Sound DCS 2008
There's a land that is fairer than day,
and by faith we may see it afar;
for the Father waits over the way
to prepare us a dwelling place there.
Refrain:
In the sweet by and by,
we shall meet on that beautiful shore;
in the sweet by and by,
we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
We shall sing on that beautiful shore
the melodious songs of the blest,
and our spirits shall sorrow no more,
not a sigh for the blessing of rest.
Refrain:
To our bountiful Father above,
we will offer our tribute of praise
for the glorious gift of His love,
and the blessings that hallow our days.
Refrain:
SONG: HOLY SPIRIT, LIVING BREATH OF GOD
Artist: Kristyn and Keith Getty
Words/Music: Stuart Townend and Keith Getty
Label: Getty Music 2013
Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Let the presence of the risen Lord,
Come renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see,
Give me passion for Your purity;
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.
Holy Spirit, come abide within,
May Your joy be seen in all I do.
Love enough to cover every sin,
In each thought and deed and attitude.
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my strivings into works of grace;
Breath of God show Christ in all I do.
Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth,
Cause Your church to hunger for your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise;
Lead us on the road of sacrifice,
That in unity the face of Christ
May be clear for all the world to see.
SONG: THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD
Artist: Amy Wood (sop), Daisy Fancourt (org), Mary Scully (dbass), Enchanted Voices, Tippett Quartet, Howard Goodall (dir)
Words/Music: Psalm 23/Howard Goodall
Recording: Classic FM CFMD 13
The Lord is my Shepherd, I'll not want;
He maketh me down to lie in green pastures
He leadeth me
Besides the still waters
The Lord is my Shepherd, I'll not want;
He maketh me down to lie in green pastures
He leadeth me
Besides the still waters
Yea though I walk through the valley in the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
For you are with me
you will comfort me
You are with me
you will comfort me
Comfort me
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of thy Lord forever.
SONG: GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, FROM THE CRUCIFIXION
Artist: Choir of St John’s, Elora
Words/Music: John 3, 16-17/John Stainer
Recording: Naxos 8.572540
God so loved the world,
God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoso believeth, believeth in him
should not perish,
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn her,
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn her;
but that the world through him might be saved.
God so loved the world,
God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoso believeth, believeth in him
should not perish,
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God so loved the world,
God so loved the world,
God so loved the world.
SONG: HOW SHALL I SING THAT MAJESTY
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Words/Music: John Mason/Ken Naylor
Recording: Hyperion 112101
How shall I sing that Majesty
which angels do admire?
Let dust in dust and silence lie;
sing, sing, ye heavenly choir.
Thousands of thousands stand around
thy throne, O God most high;
ten thousand times ten thousand sound
thy praise; but who am I?
Enlighten with faith's light my heart,
inflame it with love's fire;
then shall I sing and bear a part
with that celestial choir.
I shall, I fear, be dark and cold,
with all my fire and light;
yet when thou dost accept their gold,
Lord, treasure up my mite.
How great a being Lord, is thine,
which doth all beings keep!
Thy knowledge is the only line
to sound so vast a deep.
Thou art a sea without a shore,
a sun without a sphere;
thy time is now and evermore,
thy place is everywhere.
SONG: THE STRIFE IS O’ER, THE BATTLE DONE
Artist: Choir of Truro Cathedral
Words/Music: Francis Pott/Edwin Monk
Recording: Priory PRCD 710
The strife is o'er, the battle done;
now is the Victor's triumph won;
O let the song of praise be sung:
Alleluia.
Death's mightiest powers have done their worst,
and Jesus hath his foes dispersed;
let shouts of praise and joy outburst:
Alleluia.
On the third morn he rose again,
Glorious in majesty to reign;
O let us swell the joyful strain:
Alleluia!
He brake the age-bound chains of hell:
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell;
Let songs of joy his triumph tell.
Alleluia!
Lord, by the stripes which wounded thee
from death's dread sting thy servants free,
that we may live, and sing to thee
Alleluia.
