You might think the life of a 19th century hymn translator was pretty uneventful. Not so for John Mason Neale, who translated our first hymn in this week’s programme, Christ is made the sure foundation. His fairly short life (48 years) was marked by disagreements with church authorities, his writings were often controversial, and he had to put up with verbal abuse in the street from time to time.
Restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris Photo: AFP
SONG: CHRIST IS MADE THE SURE FOUNDATION
Artist: Choir of All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, Thomas Foster (dir), Craig Phillips (organ)
Words/Music: Anon trans John Mason Neale/Henry Purcell
Recording: Gothic 349074
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.
http://anglicanhistory.org/neale/lewes.html
The Late Riot at Lewes
by John Mason Neale
The Times, London, November 23, 1857, page 10.
[John Mason Neale’s letter to The Times, London, November 23 regarding the newspaper’s account of the riot at Lewes]
SONG: HERE IN THE BUSY CITY
Artist: Viva Voce, John Rosser (dir), Michael Bell (organ)
Words/Music: Shirley Murray/Barry Brinson
Recording: NZ Hymnbook Trust 9413000
Here in the busy city now let the Church be seen
Where lesser gods are worshipped in money and machine;
Where news is but sensation, the Good News hardly heard
Now let the Church take action in living out the Word!
In policies and planning the Church be there to speak
To moderate the powerful, to argue for the weak:
Where law must sit in judgment and love is little known,
There at the crisis centre the Christ concern be shown.
Where litter chokes the gutter and people go to waste,
Where joblessness is bitter and living lost its taste
To underleavened people the proof of rising yeast,
In lives devoid of flavour be saltiness released.
Here in the busy city God walks on every street
In generous or greedy, the honest or the cheat,
And daily we must offer the good that goes unpriced
With vigour and with vision the lifestyle of the Christ.
SONG: GOD BEYOND ALL NAMES
Artist: St Thomas More Group
Words/Music: Bernadette Farrell
Recording: OCP 1991
God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.
Refrain:
All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.
Refrain:
God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.
Refrain:
God, beyond all time, you are labouring within us;
we are moving, we are changing, in your spirit ever new.
Refrain:
God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.
Refrain:
SONG: O GOD, YOU SEARCH ME AND YOU KNOW ME
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Words/Music: Bernadette Farrell
Recording: Hyperion 112105
O God, you search me and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down you are before me:
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.
You know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting you besiege me:
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.
Before a word is on my tongue, Lord,
You have known its meaning through and through.
You are with me beyond my understanding:
God of my present, my past and future, too.
Although your Spirit is upon me,
Still I search for shelter from your light.
There is nowhere on earth I can escape you:
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight.
For you created me and shaped me,
Gave me life within my mother's womb.
For the wonder of who I am, I praise you:
Safe in your hands, all creation is made new.
SONG: GOD BE IN MY HEAD
Artist: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Words/Music: Anon/Henry Walford Davies
Recording: Guild GMCD 7109
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing.
SONG: BROTHER JAMES’ AIR (THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD)
Artist: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Words/Music: Psalm 23/James Bain
Recording: Guild GMCD 7109
The Lord's my Shepherd; I'll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of blessedness,
E'en for His own name's sake.
Yea, though I pass through shadowed vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me, and Thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
My table Thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head with oil Thou dost anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my days
Will surely follow me;
And in my heart forevermore
Thy dwelling place shall be.
SONG: DO, LORD, REMEMBER ME
Artist: Moses Hogan Singers, Louis Davis, Moses Hogan (dir)
Words/Music: Trad arr Moses Hogan
Recording: Hal Leonard HL 08743982
Refrain:
Do, Lord, oh do Lord, Lord remember me
Do, Lord, oh do Lord, Lord remember me
Do, Lord, oh do Lord, Lord remember me
Way beyond the sun.
I got a home in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a home in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a home in Beulah land that outshines the sun
Way beyond the sun.
I got a crown in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a crown in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a crown in Beulah land that outshines the sun
Way beyond the sun.
Refrain:
I got a mother in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a father in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a saviour in Beulah land that outshines the sun
Way beyond the sun.
Refrain:
SONG: AND CAN IT BE
Artist: Choir of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Catherine Palmer (dir), Ronald Jordan (organ)
Words/Music: Charles Wesley/James Campbell
Recording: Marquis MAR 175
And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? [Repeat last two lines]
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee. [Repeat last two lines]
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own. [Repeat last two lines]
