Psalm 113

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm; themes of God’s care for the poor.

Refrain:
“Praise, oh praise the Lord, who lifts up the poor.”        

                           

Verses:                       
1) Praise, you servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed by the name of the Lord both now and forever.

2) High above the nations is the Lord;
Above the heavens is God's glory.
Who is like the Lord, enthroned on high,
Who looks upon the heavens and the earth below?

3) God raises up the lowly from the dust; from the ash-heap
God lifts up the poor to seat them with princes, with princes of his people.

Arrangement:

Vocal:                         
Refrain:  SATB choir
Verses:   Cantor    

Instruments:           
Piano, guitar, bass with recorders (or flutes or other reeds)   

Availability:

Sheet Music:           
Lead sheets.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:

Video:       New Dawn Concert, May 20, 2011     [link to be added]

CD:            Praise for the New Dawn, Vol. 1   
Order from Wood Harbor Music.
Digital download available at CD Baby.
Listen on YouTube or at Spotify!

Composer's Notes:

This is a favorite psalm, describing God’s concern for the poor and marginalized.  In the 3^rd verse the psalmist wrote of God who lifts up the poor from the dust and ashes to seat them with the princes of his people. 

The text is timeless as even in today’s world, the text could be updated to tell of God who raises up the poor from the slums of the 3^rd world, from the poverty of Appalachia, from the depressed urban neighborhoods, and seating them at a banquet table with the fabulously rich.  Time passes, but the word of God is eternal!

The arrangement is inspired by setting of Psalm 103 (Praise the Lord, O My Soul!) composed many years ago by a friend and Berklee grad, George Guenther.

  

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Psalm 98

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm; psalm for the Christmas season; themes of salvation.

Refrain and Verses:
Four versions of Psalm 98 are available as found in the Lectionary.

Versions 1 and 2 share same verses:

Refrains:
Refrain 1) “Sing to the Lord a new song for God has done marvelous deeds.”  (repeat)

Refrain 2) “All the ends of the earth have seen the saving pow’r of God.”  (repeat)

Verses:
1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for God has done such wond'rous deeds!
His right hand as won the vic'try for him, his holy arm.

2) The Lord has made his salvation known
To the nations revealed his justice.
God has remembered his kindness and faithfulness to Israel.

3) All the ends of the earth have seen salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
Break into song; sing praise!

4) Sing Praise to the Lord with the harp and song;
With trumpet and horn give praise.
Sing joyfully to the king, the Lord; break forth in praise.

Version 3:
Refrain:
“The Lord has come to rule the earth with justice.”  (repeat)

Verses:
1) Sing Praise to the Lord with the harp and song;
With trumpet and horn give praise.
Sing joyfully to the king, the Lord; break forth in praise.

2) Let the sea and what fills it resound,
The world and those who dwell in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
The mountains shout with them for joy.

3) Before the Lords, for he comes, for he comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.

Version 4:
Refrain:
“The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.”  (repeat)



Verses:
1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for God has done such wond'rous deeds!
His right hand as won the vic'try for him, his holy arm.

2) The Lord has made his salvation known
To the nations revealed his justice.
God has remembered his kindness and faithfulness to Israel.

3) All the ends of the earth have seen salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
Break into song; sing praise!

Arrangement:

Vocal:                         
Refrain:  SATB choir
Verses:   Cantor(s) - (I often use 2 cantors, alternating verses)    

Instruments:           
Piano, guitar, bass

Availability:

Sheet Music:           
Lead sheets for each of the 4 refrains.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions of Version 2 ("All the Ends of the Earth"):

Video:       New Dawn Concert, May 20, 2011     [link to be added]

CD:            Praise for the New Dawn, Vol. 1   
Order from Wood Harbor Music.
Digital download available at CD Baby.
Listen on YouTube at Spotify!

Composer's Notes:

For years, the Haugen/Haas setting from Psalms for the Church Year Vol. 1 has been the workhorse when Ps. 98 comes around in the Lectionary, which is a fairly frequent occurrence.  Thus, the inspiration for a new setting was born.  

The inspiration for the refrain melody came to me on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 2010, while sitting at another church and hearing the pianist recite the psalm (yes, recite in spoken voice, with no music).  I went home that evening and had the two refrains.  (The alternative refrain is “Sing to the Lord a new song, for God had done marvelous deeds.”)  The verses were written, appropriately, on New Year’s Day 2011.

Like the Gloria from the Mass of St. Anne, the melody is kept fairly easy for the cantor, while the keyboardist and bass player navigate the mildly challenging changes and the ever-descending bass line of the verses.  The cadence from the verse back to the refrain consists a potentially unprecedented four consecutive ascending major chords (Gb, Ab, Bb, C7), the last being the dominant.

  

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Psalm 90

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm, offertory or communion song, All Souls, end of liturgical year

Refrain:
"In every age, you have been our refuge. You have been our God."          

                             

Verses:                         
1) Your word can turn us to dust, saying: "Return, O children, to earth."
You take them as they sleep,
Then by morning they rise like the grass,
But by evening they wither and fade.

2) Teach us to number Your days, that we may learn Your wisdom.
For a thousand years to You, O Lord, are like the passing of a single day,
Or the passing of one night.

3) Fill us with Your kindness at daybreak,
And we will rejoice all our days.
May your gracious care be ours.

Arrangement:

Vocal:                           
Refrain:  SAT choir
Verses:   Cantor    

Instruments:             
Acoustic guitar, piano, bass with synth      

Availability:

Sheet Music:             
Lead sheets for each of the 3 refrains.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:

Video:       New Dawn Concert, May 20, 2011     [link to be added]

CD:            Praise for the New Dawn, Vol. 1   
Order from Wood Harbor Music.
Digital download available at CD Baby.
Listen on YouTube at Spotify!

Composer's Notes:

Psalm 90 is a personal favorite, particularly in the fall, around All Saints/All Souls days.  In the fall, the changing foliage is a brilliant reminder of dying, while in the Liturgy, the readings start to speak of the end times.  I often take a walk through nearby Mt. Auburn Cemetery to spend time with the beauty of the season and remembering the transitory existence that is our life here on earth.

All Souls Day at Mt. Auburn Cemetery,
Cambridge, MA

The psalm speaks to our transience: “teach us to number our days that we may learn your wisdom.”  Yes, our days are numbered but we must embrace this transitory existence and not be afraid of or obsessed with our eventual death.

The Psalm continues “for a thousand years to you……is like the passing of a single day,” contrasting the eternal nature of God to our brief existence, with an understanding that time can be experienced differently, something that would be embraced in Einstein’s special relativity centauries later. Our lives pass in snippets of time, maybe a century at most, yet God spans the centuries (“por los siglos de los siglos,” como se dice in Español).

The intentionally spacey arrangement, begins with a piano improvisation, and employs some odd meters in the verses, particularly a stretch of 5/4 measures in the second verse.  The stretch of time is like our attempts to make the most of the time we have, trying to stretch things out just a bit.
  

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