Hi, Peter and Carol-
Can you tell us more about Ernest Sands? Was he a priest? A parish or diocesan music director?

The GIA Publicatins Gather hymnal says Ernest was born in 1949, and his "Sing of the Lord's Goodness" was published in 1981 by OCP of Oregon. OCP's Choral Praise hymnal says his wonderful "Song of Farewell" was published by OCP in 1990. "Song of Farewell" is a version of the traditional "In Paradisum" sung at funeral Masses.


Since it's in 5/4 time, "Sing of the Lord's Goodness" can be a very difficult song to since well. We have a gifted pianist, and she makes it easy for us to do a decent job of the song if we're halfway awake - but you can find a number of YouTube videos of groups that totally destroy the song. This choir in Limerick and this one in Belfast do a wonderful job of it. I particularly like the instrumentation on the Belfast recording. One could have wished for better recording technicians for the Limerick and Belfast videos. This BBC video is a better recording, but interrupted by too many talking heads. Whatever the case, it's a terrific song.

This (click) is a very good performance of Sands' "Song of Farewell" (but not a very good recording).


These two are the only Ernest Sands songs I know, and I love them both.

-Joe-