Lyr/Chords Req: Celtic Alleluia

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Celtic Alleluia
From: justice
Date: 16 Mar 13 - 01:12 PM

The Star Spangled Banner started life as an English drinking song, and no one has ever claimed that's an easy one to sing.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Celtic Alleluia
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Mar 13 - 12:05 PM

That's pretty hard to believe. If a religious piece that well-known had been a popular song of ANY kind, (never mind a drinking song) it would have been talked about the world over. Not to mention that O'Carroll's melody is too hard to sing to be a drinking song.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Celtic Alleluia
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Mar 13 - 12:56 PM

[e-mail]
Actually, I attended a workshop by Christopher Walker in St. Louis a few years ago. He told the audience that the Celtic Alleluia is based on a popular Irish drinking tune. I suspect that Fintan O'Carroll, who he credits, is the composer. I am trying to find the original lyrics as I was to play it at a local cafe for St. Patrick's Day.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: GUEST,Beccy
Date: 04 Mar 05 - 03:16 PM

Wowweeee... Thanks everyone. Mudcat to the rescue, as usual!
Beccy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: GUEST,ClaireBear
Date: 03 Mar 05 - 10:26 AM

So in one of those head-shakingly weird moments when the various aspects of one's life come together with a resounding thump, at choir practice last night our director decided to can the eerie, challenging setting of the 23rd psalm we'd been working on for Sunday -- and substitute "The King of Love My Shepherd is," set to St. Columba, which I found for this thread only yesterday.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Ple
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Mar 05 - 02:16 PM

Yeah, I'd say there might be a tie with St. Columba. The words I know to "St. Columba" are "The King of Love My Shepherd Is." Cyberhymnal also lists How Sweet and Awesome Is This Place and As Now the Sun's Declining Rays as lyrics for this tune. It's certainly not exactly the same tune as the O'Carroll/Walker "Celtic Alleluia," but there's a tie.

I like "Celtic Alleluia," although it's not particularly easy for a congregation to sing. Still, many congregations sing it with sloppy gusto. I like to hear it sung well on occasion - but sloppy and enthusiastic is OK with me. I like church singing that engages people, and I think that's often more important than musical quality.

It appears that O'Carroll and Walker and OCP have been quite successful with this hymn. My current OCP (Oregon Catholic Press) hymnal has two hymn settings of the "Celtic Alleluia," each with three verses. The verses are derived from scripture passages. There is also a setting for the Gospel Acclamation (sung before the reading of the Gospel), with a choice from a number of verses - choice to be made according to the liturgical season. I found one hymnal with 16 verses - and those aren't th eonly verses I've heard.

I suppose the most-used of the umpteen available verses is this one:

Give thanks to the Lord who is good,
The love of the Lord knows no ending.
All in Israel say:
"God's love has no end."

And then you sing "Alleluia" four times.

I think it sounds good on a good pipe organ with a good organist, and OK with guitar accompaniment. Can't say I like electronic organs for use in church. Sorry, I didn't find guitar chords.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: GUEST,ClaireBear
Date: 02 Mar 05 - 11:50 AM

"St. Columba" is hearable at the Cyberhymnal (www.cyberhymnal.org) on the page for the hymn, "As Now the Sun's Declining Rays."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Ple
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Mar 05 - 11:40 AM

Clearly there is more than one piece known at the Celtic Alleluia. There is a piece widespread among Catholics by that name. (We sing in in the U.S. and we sang it in Bantry, Ireland.) It is by Fintan O'Carroll and Christopher Walker and is copyright 1996 by OCP Publications. It doesn't sound anything like an O'Carolan piece.

If you go to this page

http://user.chollian.net/~johann/music/christian/christianm1/celtica.mid (click)

you can hear how it goes. I must say that the organ rendition of it is particularly lifeless.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: GUEST,ClaireBear
Date: 02 Mar 05 - 10:57 AM

I found one that I gather is a completely different piece. With luck, maybe it and not the "Carolan Air" one is what you're looking for -- at least the description for this one lists something that sounds like a real tune name (although it's one I don't know). Here's the description from the Hal Leonard Web site:

CELTIC ALLELUIA
Series: Fred Bock Publications
Publisher: Fred Bock Music Company
TAB
SATB

Arranger: Ruth Elaine Schram

Ruth Elaine Schram has established a strong reputation for solid choral writing. Utilizing the Irish folk hymn, "St. Columba", Ms. Schram has added a wonderful text of praise from Psalm 9. The optional flute obbligato adds the perfect finish to this delightful piece. Available: SATB.

$1.95 (US)
Inventory # HL 08739079
ISBN: N/A
UPC: 73999390797
Width: 6
Length: 10
15 pages

Both this version and the one Malcolm mentioned above are listed at Hal Leonard. Here is the search page that leads to both of them.

Claire

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: GUEST,Beccy
Date: 01 Mar 05 - 11:09 PM

Aw Malcom, you took the words out of my mouth. THAT's my problem. I can't find anything on it, but I really recognize the tune. The problem could lie in my extensive Irish Music collection that seems to be without program inserts (hubbie insisted on putting liner notes in storage box and putting cds in sleeves to save space... ARGH!)
Does anyone else know the tune?
Beccy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 01 Mar 05 - 10:06 PM

Some rather dull trawling reveals that this modern hymn is credited to several different people, or combinations of people, including Christopher Walker, Fintan O'Carroll and Tina English; whoever they might be. The tune, when it is even mentioned, is usually, and meaninglessly, described as "O'Carolan's Air" (sometimes spelled by romantic fantasists as "aire").

Evidently the words are recent and in copyright. The melody may be older; I did manage to find a snatch of a sound clip claiming to be "O'Carolan's Air", but it was so short and "cutesy" that it could have been any one of several tunes by, or wrongly attributed to, Carolan.

Why on earth couldn't these people have used the tune's usual name, whatever it is, rather than concealing it under a generic title?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: Peace
Date: 01 Mar 05 - 07:32 PM

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:biILt7KZGqAJ:www.musicdispatch.com/item_detail.jsp%3Fitemid%3D8742426%26order%3D264%26refer%3

Subject: Lyr Req: Celtic Alleluia Chords and Lyrics Please
From: GUEST,Beccy
Date: 01 Mar 05 - 07:22 PM

Hey Folks- Long time no forum! The politics gave me agita- so I backed out. But I'm back and asking for some help. I'm putting together our church's Easter programme and looking for marvy Celtic-ish (new word) hymns and choruses. I have some friends who say there's a really neat tune done occasionally at their mass called the Celtic Alleluia. When they hummed it I was familiar with the tune, so I'm assuming it's a traditional one whose name escapes me now, but they couldn't tell me the words nor could they give me the name of the tune from which it's drawn. Any help available???
Thanks a million!
Beccy