TRACK #6: Noel Miranda's Give The Lord Glory

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

TRACK #5: Gary Granada's Hangganan

In a concert where we first sang Hangganan, a violent thunderclap threatened to end our performance abruptly. That was in the early 90s, but those of us in the show remember still how shaken the audience in the Ateneo High School Chapel seemed, and how the hairs on our backs suddenly lifted in the middle of the song. On hindsight though, maybe the weather had no part in this. Hangganan is after all by Gary Granada; and where there’s a Granada song, goosebumps are never far behind.

Unknown to many, Gary had been involved in Bukas Palad’s 2nd album, Pasko Na! As producer of that project in 1987 and having recorded all songs at StudiOne of Praise Incorporated, I was advised by the studio to have our reels mastered at Unison Records, at the Broadway Centrum Complex along Aurora Boulevard. Unison was being run by Gary. Together, we mastered each and every track of the album.

He had many kind words for Pasko Na! yet never realized then how thrilled I was to have heard all that as I was already a big fan. Neither was he to know that Bukas Palad would soon be singing his songs including Our Father and Earthkeeper, which we eventually performed in a concert in Sorsogon (with Gary also as a guest) and later recorded in our album, Let Your Praises Be Heard. This year, we immortalize his Hangganan in our 20th anniversary album.

Forget that his songs are always in perfect meter and rhyme. Or that his melodies are simple yet sheer genius. What it is that makes Gary’s music so memorable are his deeply poignant lyrics; and Hangganan is no exception. Here he speaks of how all things come to an end:

“Kagaya ng isang dula
Minsang ito'y umpisahan
Kung pa'nong mayro'ng simula
Ay mayro'n ding katapusan
Ang awit mang naririnig
Larawan bang namamasdan
Lahat ng bagay sa daigdig
Mayrong hangganan”

And if all things find their limit, shall we who fashion our lives to gain more, find ours?

“Ang iyong lakas ay may humpay
Huhulaw bawat halakhak
Sa salawahang tagumpay
Huhupa rin ang palakpak
Bakit ka ba patatangay
Patutuksong pag-abalhan
Ang bukas na hinihintay
Baka nga di mo pa datnan”

He thus concludes with a simple piece of advice:

Hangga't di mo natagpuan
Ang puno't dulo ng buhay
Lahat ay masasayang lang
Mawawalan din ng saysay
Hanapin mo ang Maylikha
Dahil Siya ang kahulugan
Nagwikang Siya ang simula
At ang hangganan

It takes solid conviction to write music like Gary Granada’s. His songs and messages of God’s unending love will last many lifetimes.

HANGGANAN
Disc: Inspirational
Lyrics & Music: Gary Granada
A cappella arrangement: Norman Agatep
Vocals: Mystery guest singer with the Bukas Palad Music Ministry

TRACK #4: The Love of God Endures Forevermore

Rica Bolipata Santos and Palan Reyes share with me their respective thoughts on writing this track and arranging it for Bukas Palad's 20th anniversary album. Not only are these two ultra gifted in what they do; they are also friends whom I can coerce on occasion to do the unthinkable--like contributing to this blog. Meanwhile, I have yet to twist the arms of Icar Castro and Lou Grant Tan and convince them to reveal their experiences of recording the song, THE LOVE OF GOD ENDURES FOREVER MORE. People...my guest bloggers, Rica and Palan.

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The Love of God Endures Forevermore
Rica Bolipata Santos

I believe in having a theme song.

Oh there’s the regular theme song you share with someone. Maybe the love song you first danced to. Maybe it was the song playing in the mall when he first reached for your hand. Or maybe it’s the song that nursed you back into couplehood.

But, that’s not what I’m talking about. The theme song I’m talking about is akin to an anthem. It’s what anchors your walk everyday. It’s what keeps you steady, with your eye on the future. It best arrives when you’re taking a walk and your feet naturally move to an internal rhythm. I have found out that one’s walk is attuned to the spirit of the heart and that the song that comes to mind is the perfect song for the heart’s state.

These days, for me, that song is The Love of God Endures Forevermore. Let me tell you a bit about how this song was born.

On a regular day, Manoling Francisco texted (a fact which is already worth talking about because Mano is not prone to texting unlike us lesser beings…) and invited me to write a song with him. He said that he already had the music and just needed help with the lyrics. You must know that to refuse would have been impossible and foolish. One does not pass up the chance to write a song with an icon!

The last time I had ever written a song was back in grade school. In love with words, I had the naïve idea that I could make music for it. Of course, this was foolhardy. I quickly abandoned that career path and concentrated on the part that made the most sense to me – playing with words.

Mano and I met at Loyola House of Studies and in my mind, we would simply be brainstorming, tossing ideas to each other and that it would take us at least a month to get to some kind of product. Lo and behold, he tells me as soon as I arrive (which was at 2 pm) that we had until 5 pm to finish the song! Behind him was the exit door and truth-be-told if Mano had not been blocking the way, I would have been out of there in an instant.

You see nothing is more overwhelming than a lack of faith in oneself. But then, I looked at clear-eyed Mano and made the decision to rest on his faith in me. He explained to me the song, almost fervently, and pointed the Psalm we would be basing the song on (Psalm 136).

I knew that Mano constantly troubled over the travails of the country. His work kept him constantly in touch with all kinds of Filipinos so he has intimate knowledge of the common man’s desire to have faith in the Kingdom of God. When faced with poverty, hunger, and that great big word that underlines everything INJUSTICE, it becomes difficult to find the hand of God. This song was a promise, a constant reminder that the love of God is stronger, the love of God is constant, the love of God has steered humankind and continues to steer us to goodness, the love of God endures forevermore.

The song is plaintive, historical even, of the paths we have taken as a people. Underneath its chords a tension is revealed. This tension lies in the humanness of people in the face of God’s infinite wisdom. We cannot see as far as God sees and this fact is troubling. The challenge to see it as sacramental almost seems impossible. I thought of the psalmist’s world of a thousand years ago and felt one with his world. He too struggled and yet he still chose to proclaim: “Praise to the God of Gods, Praise to the Lord of Lords.”

But the song is also joyful. It is a reminder of God’s love and Grace. It speaks of God’s qualities as a creator who loves and that ironically enough, that which troubles us (his infiniteness) is also what comforts us. The chorus replies to each refrain: the love of God endures forevermore-An acknowledgment of this greatness.

To write a song is to be in touch with one’s stand in life. Although I was, in essence, only rewording what had already been written, I could not create a new version of something I did not understand. In one refrain, the psalmist says: “Out of great love Yahweh heard their pleas and freed them from their captivity. Fed them manna and water from springs.” Manna and water no longer appear in our modern times. But they do appear in other forms, and I have witnessed that and so now I too am Psalmist.

This is my anthem now as I walk my gift of life. In times of confusion, in times of great despair, in times of dryness, in times of plenty, in times of loss, in times of darkness, my feet walk the walk of truth. I pound the steps with certainty and peace. I say it like a mantra: the love of God endures forevermore.

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The Love of God Endures Forevermore
Palan Reyes

Arranging this song was a challenge. First, its refrain sounded too much like Humayo't Ihayag. Second, its verses had three different melodic lineunrelated in synchopation to each other. And third, it had to sound joyous yet be solemn enough to be used in liturgical functions.

Since the task of arranging was given to me, I decided to use as my peg the theme song of the BBC show, Talking Movies, which features a piano-bass-percussion trio. In this song, I used a 4-part chorus with 2
soloists accompanied by grand piano.

When I recorded the accompaniment, I also wanted to get a gritty, spontaneous feel of a live performance. That's why we also invested in renting a parlor grand from Lyric Pianos one weekend. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first song I recorded that day. One problem I encountered was how to deal with a noisy sustain pedal. This was solved by propping the bottom with cloth and playing barefoot. The other problem was how to play it without mistakes, which is the base of a pianist who was arranging the song practically as it was being played. Nevertheless, I was satisfied with the results.

Towards the end of the song you may hear some murmurs and handclaps intended to highlight a "party-like" atmosphere. A praise song such as this works well in the spirit of fellowship and in the context of a celbration of God's love for His people. I wish to stress not just the devotional aspect of this liturgical song, but also its social dimension. We worship WITH other people as a community of believers.

THE LOVE OF GOD ENDURES FOREVERMORE
Disc: Liturgical
Music: Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ
Lyrics: Rica Bolipata Santos, based on Psalm 136
Vocals: Icar Castro, Lou Grant Tan, and The Bukas Palad Music Ministry
Instrumental and vocal arrangement: Palan Reyes