"Share the Light"

I was introduced to this set of 14 songs by Neville as we met together to plan the first Parish/Schools Day in Guildford Deanery. He put in the CD and we listened to a choir of young Americans singing sweetly with excellent ennunciation and breath control. To be honest I had my doubts about the whole lot. The tunes were pleasant enough and the words made a lot of sense but it all seemed a bit twee. I could not have been more wrong.

The planning group agreed on 6 of the songs which could be easily fitted into a standard Mass format and off we went; I to prepare for the instrumentalists (a selection of parts is included in the back), John to look at the potential for an adult choir to be "superimposed" over the songs (most of the songs come with descant lines already) and Neville went off to work with the school teachers, armed with a copy of the book (about £9 at the time and the CD & CD-ROM pack which cost about £13.50).

The end result was terrific - when you take the music off the page and put it into a "live" situation it is wonderful and uplifting - all credit to Neville for seeing the potential in the music.

So what is so good about this collection?

1. The songs are quick to learn by adults and children alike and speak directly to the heart.

2. They work well within a standard Mass format but there is scope for them to be used in other acts of worship or Liturgy either individually or as a selection. [Some have already been "tried & tested" within a British First Holy Communion programme; others can be found in a simpler format in Music for the Mass 2.]

3.   Less than £10 buys you a music book which contains:

piano parts which even I can struggle through with a sense of success;

guitar parts with chords in sensible keys (with capo as needed);

Assembly editions of words and melody lines so that you can print them out for those special occasions (have you got your Calamus Licence?);

Descant lines for your School (or Parish) Choir to add extra colour;   some lovely instrumental lines to add even more;

illustrations of how to support the singing of 9 of the songs with British (or American) Sign Language - which adds a whole new dimension to performance of the songs;

For less than the price of a double CD you get what, in my opinion, is the icing on the cake:

a CD which contains all of the songs sung by children

plus all of the accompaniments without the voices so that you can go "Karaoke" if you need to

plus a CD-ROM which shows you how to perform the British (or American) SIgn Language support to all the songs for total physical involvement and adding impact to the message being sung.   Schools with interactive whiteboard setups will really benefit as the composer herself leads you through the songs with signing, beside the highlighted verses.

The whole way that this has been laid out, both in the songbook and in the CD/CD-ROM Package, speaks volumes about Bernadette Farrell's commitment to our children - the Church of Tomorrow - and those who work with them; be they Parents, Teachers or Catechists. I am really looking forward to the next time that I can use these songs and you can guarantee that I will be speaking to the Teachers, Catechists and Musicians in my Deanery to see if we can't introduce this in our area.

Try it out and see - or, even better, contact us to see if you can get along to a Deanery Music Day and see it in action.