Having looked at what was sung on individual Sunday’s during the Easter season of Year A, 2023 (see here and here) I’m now going to look at Eastertide as a whole to see what music is being used in our parishes. I won’t include Easter Sunday itself which I looked at here, but on Sundays 2-7.
And what did we sing?
- Sung on 20 occasions – Alleluia give thanks
- Sung on 19 occasions – This is my body
- Sung on 18 occasions – Be still and know I am with you
- Sung on 14 occasions – I will be with you
- Sung on 12 occasions – The king of love
- Sung on 10 occasions – Blest are you Lord; Hail redeemer; Now the green blade
- Sung on 9 occasions – Be still for the presence; Bring flowers of the rarest; He is Lord, he is Lord; Take our bread
- Sung on 8 occasions – Abba, Abba Father; Hail queen of heaven; In bread we bring you Lord; Thine be the glory; This joyful Eastertide
And what about the rest of England?
- Sung on 29 occasions – Alleluia sing to Jesus
- Sung on 24 occasions – This is my body
- Sung on 16 occasions – Be still and know I am with you; National Anthem
- Sung on 15 occasions – Now the green blade riseth
- Sung on 14 occasions – All that I am; As I kneel before you; In bread we bring you Lord; Thine be the glory
- Sung on 13 occasions – Alleluia give thanks; Be still for the presence; I will be with you; The Lord’s my shepherd
- Sung on 12 occasions – Christ be our light; Hail redeemer
- Sung on 11 occasions – Battle is o’er; Take our bread
- Sung on 10 occasions – Gifts of bread and wine; He is Lord; This joyful Eastertide
It was interesting to see the progression of the choice of music as we moved through the season. Some hymns such as ‘Thine be the glory’ and ‘Now the green blade’ were sung on many Sundays by churches really making an effort to keep the Easter season to the fore. Other places, fewer in number were more general in the selections. Overall though, the music moved from overtly Easter with the resurrection to the Ascension and then to the coming of the spirit.
The National Anthem was there because of the King’s coronation.
Once again, ‘Offertory hymns’ seem to be very prevalent. Understandable in one way but also a bit of a shame. As I’ve said before, the preparation of the gifts is a good place to have a hymn that really picks up on what has been heard in the Liturgy of the Word, even more so if it can reflect on what was said during the homily.
Again, Marian hymns made a large appearance during May. In two or three cases they actually took over the whole Mass which seemed to be focussed on a statue of Mary. This is not something I’ve experienced in any of the parishes I have belonged to. Please, if you want to honour Our Lady do so but not at the expense of Sunday Mass, particularly during Eastertide. If people have so much devotion they will attend an extra service or at least keep it to the end of Mass. I note that the only Marian hymn that made the top 19 list countrywide was ‘As I kneel’ but that’s really due to the fact that the choice of Marian hymns otherwise was much wider.
Music, Liturgy and ME 