Any suggestions for "modern" advent pieces please?

[nickelbabe]

Me again!

DH & I have been having ongoing discussions about this year's advent service, and because some of the ladies from our sister church have shown interest, (and after the very explosive PCC meeting), i thought it might be nice to include a couple of (sorry MmeBleuberry, I can't avoid the phrase because i can't think of any other description that fits the music style better) happy-clappy pieces for the choir to sing.
It's likely that we will have mostly women - so alto and soprano voices- in the choir for the service.

We don't want anything that has unusual/difficult rhythm, or repetitive verses, or odd things going on in the middle where you think it's going to go "verse, chorus", but it goes "half verse half verse half verse verse chorus half verse refrain something completely differnt verse chorus". I assume that anything that would be suitable for choir only wouldn't have this strangeness in anyway. We also want something that won't feel out of place in a traditional service (eg we have to sing a 4-part Gabriel's Message and the Advent Chorale and traditional advent hymns)

MaMoTTaT, I think you might have some good suggestions for this, as I know you have all the SoF books....

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me!

Nickel - I've been around too many "traditionalist" (who secretly like some of the newer stuff) for too long.

One bloke at our church that used to sing the choir used to complain bitterly when we had "modern" hymns in the service. (ironically if you look at the dates that some of the "modern" stuff was written it was often before some of the "traditional" ones that some of our congregation like ).

Anyhow, we had a Songs of Praise type service last year where people could pick their favourite hymn.

This bloke chose "Be still for the presence of the Lord".

I looked a bit like at him - and he looked at me and said "well I like this one"

sounds about right! doh!

I always laugh when the happy clappies (sorry) say that they love "such and such a really old hymn". then they complain that we do old stuff.
like, we sometimes do Let All Mortal Flesh during communion, (unaccompanied and with full harmonies) and everyone who normally dislikes our style of unaccompanied old slow stuff says how lovely it is and how they love listening to it! but but but but!

we can't win, really, can we?
(i'm a traditionalist with a modern edge - i like quite a few children's hymns and i like some modern hymsn that follow a formula, and outside of church I like gospel)

nope - can't win - so my friend and I (she used to be the Church Warden - now a trainer reader - but we still do the hymns together) just choose the hymns we like that are suitable for each Sunday.

So as we both like a good combination of new and old we get a mix that (mostly) keeps everyone happy

that's the best way, i think.

:)

I love the fact that you 2 have the same length names... it looks lovely in my "threads i'm on" as it is really regular [v sad]

Now I have spoilt the columns...bah.

Surely the Bach isn't very modern?

lol - CN you pedant

I really do wish you would stop looking down on 'happy clappy'. People like them for a reason, and they turn away from 'dreary organ music' for a reason. You have to meet people where they are and stop trying to force them to enjoy your tastes. Your way isn't working, by your own admission.

Apart from the style of the music, evangelical worship songs are sung to God, rather than about him. This makes them quite difficult for the reticent wing of the church.

Harping on about how you hate Graham Kendrick and happy clappy means that you have got as far as the 80s and early 90s.

I have a long, dull and complicated reaction to choruses. Sang them for years when I was evangelical by denomination. But for various reasons which I won't go into here, I now have a pretty pavlovian reaction to them and the basic reason is it's because they tend to be so prescriptive about how you are supposed to be feeling when singing them.
"I just really feel this..."
"Oh how I want to do that..."

This is why I now like the more traditional music and liturgy - OK so it may be "about" rather than "to" but it means I can sing/say it without feeling aggravated that it is trying to dictate a mood to me. The words are true and can be sung/said whatever frame of mind you are in. I'm not saying the chorus words are not true, but that by their very nature they are designed to evoke emotion, much of the time.

As I say, it's complicated, my relationship with corporate worship...

Sorry none of that was about advent! It's a slightly under-served season, musically!

oh fgs Mme - lighten up - it's phrase that many "happy clappy" people themselves use.

I'm going to Spring Harvest next year (hopefully New Wine as well) - I call them happy clappy too. "Modern" doesn't really cover it - as Brother Sister, Will you come and follow me, and a few other well known "traditional" type hymns are actually very modern - more so than some of the "happy clappy".

And I'm sorry - but most of the Kendrick stuff is rather poo. Or if not poo just a bit "meh" - it's only in very recent years that HE has got out of the 1980's/early 90's and started writing so slightly more decent stuff.

I don't know why you insist on taking such offense at the term when so many don't use it as a derogotary word, but rather a descriptive word.

Lets face it - as beautiful as Abide with me, or Tell out my soul are - you just can't get all happy and bouncy, or clap in time to the music with them can you???

Huh?

What about "The bridegroom comes awake"? thats for advent isnt it? though I cannot for the life of me think who the music was by...

what do you mean "huh?" - I'm talking about you taking offensive because someone uses the term happy clappy.

CN - oh dear I think it's definitely Friday night - I can't read that song title without snurking

I thought this was a christian thread!

even Christians have sex you know

I thought little baby christians were found under gooseberry bushes!

well someone could have told me that before I pushed 2 of the little sods darlings out, and had one cut out through the sun roof !

Are there any Advent songs in the Iona songbooks - John Bell? They are good on more folky yet trad hymns with usually challenging themes. I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I can hunt some out.

"I really do wish you would stop looking down on 'happy clappy'. People like them for a reason, and they turn away from 'dreary organ music' for a reason. You have to meet people where they are and stop trying to force them to enjoy your tastes. Your way isn't working, by your own admission.

Apart from the style of the music, evangelical worship songs are sung to God, rather than about him. This makes them quite difficult for the reticent wing of the church.

Harping on about how you hate Graham Kendrick and happy clappy means that you have got as far as the 80s and early 90s."

MmeBlueberry - I don't look down on happy-clappy - i call it happy-clappy because the people sing it are happy and they do a bit of clapping (andwaving arms around)

I don't like Graham Kendrick's music, having heard what I have, I can say that as a general rule - although, as you've seen from the discussion of Thorns in the Straw, I can make decisions on a song-by-song basis.

a lot of organ music and hymns accompanied by organ are not dreary - most hymns were written to be played by organ, so of course they work.

the suggestions I'm asking for don't just have to suit me, they have to suit the organist who will play them (yes, even modern stuff we play on the organ), they have to suit the choir that will sing them and they have to suit the audience that will hear them.
As i've said before, I can listen to quite a few different stylesof church music - I don't necesarily like them in a church service, but if i visit another church outside of my normal service times (like when i go to the sister-church in the evening service), then i do enjoy them.

We're not looking for congregational music - this is just to be sung by the choir.

I know you think I'm shooting myself in the foot, but I'm trying to please most of the people.

and you haven't made any suggestions for Advent pieces, either, so it's obviously not as easy as you think.

(sorry for ranintg, it's just I thought we were getting somewhere on this thread and I feel like that was a personal attack)

Sorry, just catching up on the posts!

CaptainNancy, I'm with MaMot on the Bridegroom comes awake, it is a bit ...
[snurk]

Thank you Katisha that's exactly what I mean! :)
If you listen to the words telling everyone how wonderful God is - you can do this with a dreary tune (or with no tune at all), but with the music-style-that-is-predominately-sung-by-modern-evangelical-christians-usually-with-drums-bands-and-guitars, it is designed to make you stand up, clap and shout. It doesn't necessarily mean that the people singing it are getting the meaning.

(listen to rock songs that aren't based on christian teachings and you can get the same emotion as with Christian Rock)

And with MaMo on the Modern music - Tim Dudley-Smith and all of those she mentioned, and any composer that is still alive is modern, but their style of music sounds traditional. But you have to call a hmyn written in the last 20 years modern, because it is! the style of music which I will now refer to as above (music-style-that-is-predominately-sung-by-modern-evangelical-christians-usually-with-drums-bands-and-guitars) is happy and clappy.

I did make a song suggestion :(

yes, you did make a song suggestion, but it was a Christmas one.

sorry if you thought i was yelling at you, i wasn't, i was a bit shocked at seeing your comments.
:(

and I do love the calypso carol. (at christmas)

friends? :)

"It doesn't necessarily mean that the people singing it are getting the meaning."

and of course the same could be said of many of the traditional hymns

yes, you're right!