Give the Lord glory and honor!
Give the Lord glory and praise!
Give the Lord glory and honor, glory and praise!
Bukas Palad’s Catholic Mass Media Awards nominee, (for his song WE ARE YOURS, interpreted by Lea Salonga) Noel Miranda, is certainly among my favorite BP composers. Ok, so he was my student and beadle in 1988 during my first year of teaching at the Ateneo de Manila High School, and even then, he was a diligent student who took his piano lessons quite seriously. But really, biases aside, I am impressed with the work he has been churning out lately, especially because of his insightful lyrics and intelligent sense of music. It is no surprise then that Noel (pictured in this blog entry with fellow BP members Candice and Shine) has two songs being recorded for Bukas Palad’s latest album, the first of which is GIVE THE LORD GLORY.
O sing a new song to the Lord!
O sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell among the nations His glory
And His wonders, to all now proclaim.
I did ask Noel about his thoughts on this song of praise, and here is what he has this to say:
“GIVE THE LORD GLORY was one of the first liturgical songs that I composed—it was actually sung in a mass back in 1996. I was a member of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines then, and was assigned to Santa Maria Catholic School. Some of us teachers were requested by the Santa Maria Parish to sing regularly during the 10AM Sunday mass. To make our mass a bit more special, we decided to assign a cantor to sing the responsorial psalm. If there was already an existing song we knew for the Sunday psalm, we would simply learn and use this song.
“On our second week as a choir, however, the psalm for the liturgy was Psalm 96 and we didn't know any song based on this psalm. Over the week, I tried to compose a simple tune for Psalm 96 and GIVE THE LORD GLORY was born. I actually served as cantor that week. In other words, kinanta ko ito in public.”
Give the Lord praise, all you peoples,
Unto Him glory and power!
Give the Lord the glory of His name.
Bring an offering and enter His courts.
Based on an existing psalm, GIVE THE LORD GLORY is a perfect choice for congregations to sing after the first reading or even as an entrance hymn since it invites devotees to come and worship the Lord. Its fluid melodic lines and distinct rhythmic style encourage all to burst into song. It is infectious and uplifting, a real mood setter to get people ready to celebrate in the Lord’s name.
“My original peg was a song from the Broadway musical, "Once On This Island." If you hear the original instrumentation, it's really a bit choppy with a mild Caribbean feel. Siyempre may lilting flute like the peg. Another peg is a little known alleluia by David Haas titled, "Stand Up Friends," which also has that choppy, syncopated, Caribbean feel. Yun bang parang magwo-work kung tugtugin sa steel drums.
I wanted the song to be sing-able so I kept the melody very simple. Tapos the verses are just a slight variation of the refrain theme.”
Come and let us worship the Lord!
Let all the earth tremble before Him!
Proclaim to all the nations: God is king!
He governs His people with justice!
GIVE THE LORD GLORY promises to be among the songs Bukas Palad will be singing in the many masses we will be attending. We hope that soon, you will be joining us in this song to gather and sing praises to God our Redeemer.
GIVE THE LORD GLORY
Disc: Liturgical
Lyrics and Music: Noel Miranda
Instrumental Arrangement: Palan Reyes
Vocal Arrangement: Jampao Reyes and Palan Reyes
Vocals: Roy Tolentino and the Bukas Palad Music Ministry
Featuring Norman Agatep on percussions and Toto Sorioso on guitar
No comments:
Post a Comment