Feed Your Ears

[Luigi]

Here is "O Magnum Mysterium" arrangeed by Morten Lauridsen, sung by an octet of Dominican student friars, under the direction of Br. Matthew Paul Grote, as the post-communion meditation at their Christmas Mass, with Latin lyrics and English translation. The friar (Brian John Zuelke) who composed the "Domine refugium" by the group Aeternum - the first song posted in this thread - is a member of this province; he sings traditional church music very well, but he's not part of this octet., It just goes to show the breadth of musical talent in this province. 

Latin text:

O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
iacentem in praesepio!
O beata virgo, cuius viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Iesum Christum.
Alleluia!

English translation:

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the newborn Lord,
lying in a manger!
O blessed virgin, whose womb
was worthy to bear
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!

Remote video URL

[Credo in Deum]

On 12/30/2023 at 8:15 PM, Luigi said:

And, even though I'm Catholic, I want some "church" music that I can listen to while I'm cleaning the basement, or folding laundry, or driving long distances - not exactly liturgical settings. Gospel music in all its different strains provides that. Admittedly, it's not all theologically aligned with Catholicism, but most of it doesn't outright conflict with Catholic theology. 

 

Exactly!  I've been also opening myself up to secular music in which the content doesn't conflict with my Catholic faith. This usually leads me to folk, Americana, bluegrass, and country; mostly artists who are not in the mainstream. Along with instrumental music, or stuff like Matt Fradd's Catholic LoFi.

 

 

[Luigi]

"I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord" goes back a long way. And there are dozens of variations on it. I like this version by the Blind Boys of Mississippi. 

 

[Luigi]

"Jesus Is the Rock that Keeps Me Rolling" was written be Steve Van Zandt (Springsteen's guitarist) and is sung by Darlene Love (one of the great pop voices of American music). 

 

[Hna.Caridad]

I am thoroughly enjoying this thread!  It needs some Swahili, though.  I present to you:  Zabron Singers:

 

[Luigi]

^   LIKE   ^

I've always enjoyed the harmonies in African group singing. I remember the first time I hear the Missa Luba - I had never heard anything like it. Now, with the popularity of World Music, I'm more accustomed to it, but still just as impressed by it. 

[Luigi]

The Missa Lube is so old that it might be new to a lot of people. Here's the Sanctus from it, although you can find all the part of the Mass on YouTube. For those who don't know the history: Father Guido Haazen was a Belgian missionary to the Congo. He established Les Troubadour du Roi Baudouin, a boys' choir of 45 voices 9 -to-14-years-old. They composed the Missa Luba in 1957 or '58 using setting the Mass parts to typical local types of songs. 

 

[Luigi]

This is Michael Martin Murphey, a Texas singer-songwriter, covering Ray Lewis' "(I Can Almost See) The Lights of the City." I first heard it in a retreat group, and it had three verses (Murphey sings only two). I also thought it was written by Ed Gutfreund. I think it's a great song but I find very few versions of it on YouTube; those I do find are pretty amateurish. So this is the best version I can find. If you know of other/better versions, I'd be happy to hear them. 

 

Edited January 4, 2024 by Luigi

[Credo in Deum]

 

[Luigi]

^  Most excellent  ^  I like this very well. I thought maybe all the singers would join together for the last verse or chorus. They didn't. But I still like it very well. The style reminds me of Ricky Skaggs rendition of "Talk About Suffering Here Below." Maybe I'll post that tomorrow. 

[Luigi]

Here's Ricky Skaggs singing "Talk About Suffering Here Below" solo and a cappella. He also recorded as a duet with Tony Rice. He says this is from the "hard shell Baptist" tradition - they apparently don't use musical instruments in church, so all their music is a cappella. This song also picks up the train imagery mentioned in earlier posts in this thread. 

Skaggs speaks an introduction in this video - the music doesn't start until 0:50. 

 

[Luigi]

Here's a classic Gospel song (1983) with what I call that classic "walking beat" - slow but strong and steady. Rev. F. C. Barnes and Rev. Janice Brown sing "I'm Coming Up on the Rough Side of the Mountain." This one's particularly good for people who are "going through" - struggling one way or another. It ends on a hopeful note.

 

Edited January 7, 2024 by Luigi

[Luigi]

"Something That the World Didn't Give Me" by the Marshall Family, the same group that sings "Amen, There's a Higher Power" posted above. This is an upbeat, positive song. 

The lead singer on this one is the mother, although I can't track down her name; most reviewers list only 'Pop' (Chester), Judy, David, Ben, and Danny. David provides dynamite banjo accompaniment on this one. The very brief intro here is provided by Ralph Stanley himself. He was sort of a sponsor and agent for the Marshall Family.   

 

[dUSt]

On 1/5/2024 at 1:41 PM, Credo in Deum said:

 

Here is the original: 

 

[Luigi]

^ LIKE!  ^

This group, The Lower Lights, sings "I Hear a Call" which was written by one of Nashville's most productive songwriters, Tony Arata. " I first heard the song from Emmylou Harris, and I like her work very well, but sometimes I struggle to understand her pronunciation. In spite of the album title, this song was composed pretty recently - 1992 or '93. The lyrics are easier to decipher by The Lower Lights. It's really a song about responding to a vocation. 

 

[Luigi]

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes recorded "Why Is Love Such a Sacrifice" in 1980. On the surface, this is a straight-up American pop love song with a dynamite brass section. But a good love song can often be interpreted as applying equally well to one's relationship with God as to one's significant other - after all, God is a pretty significant other! So notice the religious terminology throughout. Fr. Mike Schmitz often emphasizes that love requires sacrifice, and that's sort of the point of this song. 

 

[Luigi]

Ralph and Carter Stanley wrote "Who Will Sing for Me?," a song for singers. This is Emmylou Harris' rendition, with 
Vince Gill on tenor harmony. 

 

[Luigi]

Here's June Carter Cash on the last album she recorded. Her voice is rough, and she's sometimes short on breath (heart problems). She's singing "Meeting in the Air," originally recorded by The Carter Family (including her mother, Maybelle Carter) in the 20s or 30s. This is another song for singers. There are a number of songs in the  Gospel repertoire that celebrate crossing into heaven and/or singing in heaven. The Catholic hymn repertoire doesn't have anything like that, at least that I can think of. 

 

[Luigi]

Sister Shirley Caesar sings "Satan, We're Gonna Tear Your Kingdom Down" a cappella with a good-sized choir. What I find impressive about the song is that she addresses Satan directly, without fear, in the full knowledge of the power of Jesus' name and the power of prayer. There's nothing like this, that I know of, in the Catholic song repertoire although I believe their is in the prayer repertoire (prayers of exorcism would be even stronger than this). 

 

[Luigi]

Here's the Marshall Family singing "Exactly What I Need." It was popularized by Dottie Rambo, a well-known Southern Gospel singer with a long career. But I dislike her version - and all other versions - intensely. The Marshalls, however, do a dynamite arrangement of it. NOTA BENE: This particular YouTube video has a couple of problems - 1. the first couple of words (When I thought I needed...) didn't get recorded, and 2. the volume is pretty low. You can find a cleaner recording of it if you search for "Requests [1976] - The Marshall Family" - that's the whole album, and this song is the third track. 

Judy Marshall (the daughter) sings lead, and her brother David provides good harmonies on the chorus, but what I particularly like about this recording is the mother's alto harmonies. 

This song reminds me of Job and of God's providence.