1979 BCP Eucharist Prayer C - Simmons Through Sung

Описание: From A Julian Parish Missal - http://julianparishmissal.org. Includes the Mass Settings from Proulx's Missa Oecumenica and the Kedrov Lord's Prayer.
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“The vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.”

With these words, Capt. Howard Galley steered his new eucharistic prayer for the 1979 Prayer Book into the maelstrom of liturgical opinion. Often derisively referred to as “The Star Wars Prayer,” Eucharistic Prayer C has a lot to commend it. It combines many elements both ancient and new. The most obvious thing that sets C apart are the multiple scriptural congregational responses - a characteristic of liturgies from the Eastern churches. Of the four Rite II prayers, C alone places the Epiclesis before the Institution Narrative which is the order found in the English Prayer Book forms and the traditional Roman prayer. For those who were raised in the 1928 BCP or in the Rite I tradition, prayer C provides the only Rite II echo of the Prayer of Humble Access, “Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal.” Other portions of this prayer echo various scriptural verses as well the Apostolic Tradition.

I was originally not a huge fan of Prayer C, as I could never get past the John Williams playing in my head during the infamous words. That all changed when I first heard it sung. Galley had intended for it to be prayed this way - providing a full-sung version (S369) set to the simple preface tone. Richard Proulx provided an additional newly-composed version (S370). Singing adds a gravitas that lifts this excellent prayer up and smooths over any personal quibbles I might have.

But I still wanted something different. The passage from Hatchett’s Commentary on the American Prayer Book likening Prayer C to an Eastern prayer kept going through my head. Why not arrange a setting using Eastern music? The following pages are the result of that work. The base for the setting is Richard Proulx’s Missa Oecumenica, which uses the music of Alexander Archangelsky. Archangelsky’s music is based on the Russian Orthodox Chant “God Preserve Thy People” which was a major theme used in Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. This setting is available in Enriching Our Music 1, #54-57, and is the suggested music to be used with this version. Using the Kedrov setting of the Lord’s Prayer also goes nicely with this prayer. A version of that can be found on the resources page at julianparishmissal.org.

In Eastern chant, the Celebrant’s part is improvisatory and uses multiple reciting tones. This setting echoes that and follows the lines of the Missa Oecumenica Sanctus.