Kfmiller's blog

Hannah

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, viola, bass, percussion
Duration: 4’


Gmaj9           Dm7 Am7
Hannah was a strange girl,
Em  Cmaj7      Am
prone to staring at the sky
            Dm9
and saying things
Am                                           G

City

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: SATB chorus with brass quintet
Duration: 1’30”


Am7                    Em7
When I first saw the city
Am7                Em7
It was covered in haze

Weight

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, bass
Duration: 1’


Cmaj7          Gmaj7               D7                     Am          Cmaj7  Em  F  G13
If I could, I’d gladly carry the weight I helped create for them.

Blandine

MP3 Music Playlist: 
St. Blandine (162-177) was a fifteen-year-old slave who was arrested by Roman authorities for following Christ. When she refused to give up her faith, she was sentenced to death in an arena. When lions refused to attack her, the soldiers inflicted burns on her then allowed her to be trampled to death by bulls. Blandine’s place of martyrdom, the Amphithéâtre des Trois Gaules, still stands in Lyon, France – the spot where she died is marked by a simple pillar. Her feast day is June 2.

Instrumentation: Voice, accordion, mandolin
Duration: 2’30”



(NOW)

Like Him

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Matthew 26:23

Instrumentation: Voice, cello
Duration: 2’


F#m7
Too many times
Bm                                                   A          F#m
I find myself standing by where the poison shines
C#m
Too many times

Rationale

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: SATB chorus with percussion section
Duration: 1’30”


Because of You it’s there to start
The unseen order in its place
The elements all aligning
And running with Your energy


Because of You, there’s light and dark
There’s sound and silence, air and space
The water that sustains us all
And the land that rises from it

Only You (x4)
Make it real


Because of You there’s hope for more
The Truth just behind the curtain
From where You shape each piece of it
Help us to see it right again

The Destruction of the Indies, Etc.

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566) was a Spanish Dominican friar who, shocked by human rights violations he saw in Central and South America, spent most of his life in an unpopular fight for better conditions for indigenous and enslaved people in the New World. One of his major works, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, helped lead to reform in how these people were treated. His life still provides an example of Catholic social teaching in action, and shows the need for us to stand up today for defenseless victims at all stages of life.

Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, bass
Duration: 1’

Birthday (Christmas)

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: SATB chorus, brass quintet
Duration: 2’30”


G                                               Cm13
You might see Him through the window
G                               Cm13
Wandering around in the cold

Chasm

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Luke 16:26

Instrumentation: Voice, string quartet
Duration: 1’


Em6       Am
There’s a chasm
Em6                          Am
Between heaven and hell
Emaj13        Bmaj7
No one can cover the distance

Ransom

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Instrumentation: Voice, ukulele, cello
Duration: 1’


A capella
I’m a starving mess
Lying in the dirt
I’m eyeing the husks
Ransom me


Dm                    A7
I’m a splintered wreck
G                    Dm
Sinking in the depths
Em                    Dm

Compiègne

MP3 Music Playlist: 
The Martyrs of Compiègne were sixteen French Catholic women who refused to give up the faith despite being imprisoned by the anti-Christian government in 1794 France. Sentenced to death by the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror, they sang hymns on their way to the guillotine. The remaining women continued to sing as they were executed one by one, until the last sang by herself before dying. Their feast day is July 17, the date they were martyred.

Instrumentation: SSAA chorus, harpsichord, bass
Duration: 1’30”

30 Years

MP3 Music Playlist: 
St. Mark Ji Tianxang (1834-1900) was a lay Catholic doctor in China. Becoming addicted to opium after an injury, he was denied communion for 30 years but persevered in going to church, finally being allowed to resume receiving the Eucharist. During the Boxer Rebellion, he chose martyrdom rather than renounce his faith. His feast day is July 7.

Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, percussion
Duration: 1’


Dm     Am    Em7     Dm  Dm(maj7) Dm7 Dm6 Dm
Thirty years lost in a haze
Dm      Am   Em7          Dm6       Dm  Dm6 Dsus4 D Dm
All that time caught in a powerful trap


Dm     Am  Em7              Dm(maj7) Dm6
Kept apart from the Table
Dm        Am Em7               Dm(maj7)      Dm6   Dsus4 D Dm
For wanting more than wanting what you should.


       Cmaj7                      F
But brother, we’re not so different
           Cmaj7                   Asus4
We’re all in snares of our own

Communication (for St. Catherine of Siena)

MP3 Music Playlist: 

Instrumentation: Voice, Piano
Duration: 1’


C                                  Fmaj7
All of those years and a world away -
C          Fmaj7
can you hear me

Litany of the Popes

MP3 Music Playlist: 
In honor of Pope Leo’s birthday, “Litany of the Popes” lists all the names used by the popes since the foundation of the Church. Each bracketed note is meant to be determined by the syllables in each pope’s name. For example, Julius would be two C notes as a duplet followed by a D; Anacletus would be three C notes as a triplet followed by a D, etc. It’s a great way for CCD students to learn the history of the Church.

Instrumentation: voice only
Duration: 3’


(sheet music attached)
 

Arrival

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-95) was a Mexican nun, poet, dramatist and scholar. Her “Villancico VI” was a 1676 poem celebrating the Assumption and is used as the lyrical basis for “Arrival.”

Instrumentation: SATB chorus with concert band.
Duration: 2’


(sheet music attached)
 

Bright

MP3 Music Playlist: 
Bright

Instrumentation: Voice, piano, percussion
Duration: 1’



The Fall has arrived
It’s tougher to see where you’re going
But I am with you, and you make it bright
You make it bright


The fog’s rolling in
Mist blankets the roads and the highways
But I am with you, and you make it bright
You make it bright


The days are short now
Darkness claims more and more of the hours
But I am with you, and you make it bright
You make it bright


(sheet music attached)

Recusant (for St. Margaret Clitherow)

MP3 Music Playlist: 

St. Margaret Clitherow (1556-1586) was an English layperson and recusant – one who refused to give up the Catholic faith during the Reformation. She was martyred by government officials who placed a sharpened stone at the base of her spine before gradually adding crushing weight to a door placed on top of her. Her feast day is March 26.

Recusant

Instrumentation: Voice, guitar, mandolin, percussion
Length: 1’


Secret words
Hidden ways
Survival when darkness has taken control

How Can You Not?

MP3 Music Playlist: 

How Can You Not?

Instrumentation: SATB chorus with piano
Duration: 1'30"
 

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