Listen & tracks
17 works · 47:17
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1 The Church's one foundation Jim Minchin 1:53
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2 How lovely is your dwelling place Jim Minchin 4:14
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3 Missa Viatorum Jim Minchin 6:16
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4 Alleluia! Sing to Jesus Jim Minchin 2:39
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5 The Royal Banners forward go Jim Minchin 2:23
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6 O what their Joy and their Glory must be Jim Minchin 2:43
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7 My song is love unknown Jim Minchin 1:49
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8 The head that once was crowned with thorns Jim Minchin 2:34
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9 Praise to the Lord the Almighty Jim Minchin 1:59
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10 The Crow on the cradle Jim Minchin 2:30
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11 The King of love Jim Minchin 2:29
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12 The Strife is O'er Jim Minchin 2:23
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13 Systems come and systems go Jim Minchin 2:09
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14 Feeling sad and lonely? Jim Minchin 2:36
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15 Peter's second chance Jim Minchin 2:57
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16 Standing in the rain Jim Minchin 3:08
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17 A hymne to God the Father Jim Minchin 2:35
The programme ranges from a concise Missa Viatorum to settings of Sydney Carter and well-known hymns, scored for voices with piano, guitar, flute, trumpet and rhythm section rather than organ alone.
Its companion on Move, Seven Whole Days, continues the same experiment in music for the contemporary church.
In the artist’s words
The 1960s were perfect for people with any kind of music in their soul, especially for those free spirits who wanted to blossom in personal faith and to explore quizzically prevailing mores as they saw their society – and themselves – grow more open, multi-cultural and plural in outlook: I was one such – a thoughtful if isolated middle-class lad in Melbourne. Somehow I, we, felt free to follow our own stars, in my case the God of Jesus Christ as I prepared to become a priest, while hoping to stay attuned to my evolving inner self. Musically this meant listening, dancing, playing, singing, composing, in my case only as a determined amateur: I was preoccupied by more pressing life concerns.
In 1962 I needed contemporary hymns and songs to accompany a weekly ‘mission’ service in College Chapel. Finding the cupboard bare I decided to take some old hymn words and put jazzy tunes to them, and to improvise with friends playing instruments other than the monarchical organ (which, by the way, I loved, and still do). Later I was moved by the example of Sydney Carter and others of his ilk to track down texts for hymns and songs, not only for worship but to give wing to wider more ‘secular’ personal and social-justice themes. To my surprise, I began to receive requests from all over Australia – most denominations, the ABC – and indeed the world – Inuit and Argentinians, Taiwanese and Germans – to take up, perform and record my music – which I had thought would only be a seven-day wonder. Perhaps it would stretch to seven years!
The 1960s found the Western-derived churches everywhere – Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant, Pentecostal – facing increased ‘secular’ confidence in science, commerce and popular culture in tandem with decreased trust in exclusive and monochrome patterns of worship and liturgy (including music), belief and ethics. Some church communities welcomed this shift: the Second Vatican Council opened windows to the world ‘outside’, many Christians examined the Bible more critically and articulated their beliefs with greater care and humanity, and got involved in the challenges of the day alongside people of goodwill. Others bemoaned the shift and either withdrew or hoped gimmickry might stave off the tide. I was delighted, knowing that music could give depth and energy to this process of sifting and renewal.
In 1968 I was assigned to Singapore and Malaysia, and, thereafter, unexpected and vibrant perspectives kept coming into view! As well as being overwhelmed by the social engineering of newly-independent Singapore, I found myself caught up in widening circles of music, art and literature: from West, East and every continent, ancient and modern, ‘religious’ and ‘secular’, popular or esoteric, recorded and ‘live’. Eventually I was invited to be text editor of Sound the Bamboo, a marvellous compendium of hymns from every kind of church in every part of ‘Asia’, published in 2000; for the first time my previously resented Latin and Greek verse composition came into its own, fitting English paraphrases to weird metres in the original music!
And now, more than fifty years after I began to get involved, I am overwhelmed by the wealth of good music for worship and devotion, to celebrate life in the light of eternity; music not only for individual enjoyment but also for community celebration. Of course, there’s also a lot of junk music. In either case, some lasts, some doesn’t! From my own ongoing if fitful journey of composition, mostly away from the public domain, it is a thrill – as I move into retirement and old age – to bring my music once again to light of day via concert and recording, to discover wonderfully talented artists and friendly audiences who are happy to join me on the way.
I am glad to commend Fr Jim Minchin’s music to clergy, organists and people. We ought to be experimenting in our worship with new tunes and hymns and harmonies – not to mention instruments – not just in order to be “with it” but because Christ Jesus is always the contemporary Lord who comes to every generation in terms that that generation can understand. I can testify that Fr Minchin has done a great deal in the diocese of Melbourne to make their faith live for many, young and old.
Artists
Jim Minchin
piano, organ
James Blundell “Jim” Minchin (b. 1942) is an Australian composer and Anglican priest whose jazz-inflected hymn settings helped renew church music in the 1960s, and who later wrote songs to contemporary texts for worship and beyond.
Sydney Carter
composer
Sydney Carter (1915–2004) was an English poet, folk singer and songwriter. He is often called a hymn-writer for Lord of the Dance, though his songs range across faith, protest, doubt and ordinary life.
Philip Andrews
composer
Henry William Baker
composer
Samuel Crossman
composer
Samuel Crossman's hymn texts from the 1660s still sound in churches and on record. My Song is Love Unknown is the best known: a spare Passion meditation whose plain diction has drawn composers from John Ireland to later arrangers.
William Chatterton Dix
composer
William Chatterton Dix wrote Anglican hymns and carols that remain in wide use, among them As with Gladness Men of Old, Alleluia! Sing to Jesus, and the Christmas carol What Child Is This?.
John Donne
composer
John Donne’s poems move between erotic wit and hard-won faith, built from paradox, abrupt openings and metaphysical conceit. On these recordings his words are set anew for singing, devotion and reflection.
Joseph Gelineau
composer
Joseph Gelineau shaped modern Christian liturgical song through his psalmody: chant-inflected tones that follow the uneven line lengths of the psalms rather than forcing them into regular hymn metres.
Peter Gerrand
composer
Roland Giese
composer
Roland Giese is a songwriter whose work appears on recordings of contemporary church music first issued in the late 1960s and later restored to the catalogue.
Thomas Kelly
composer
John Mason Neale
composer
John Mason Neale's hymn translations and carols remain staples of English-speaking worship and Christmas repertoire, from Good King Wenceslas to O come, O come, Emmanuel and other medieval texts he brought into common use.
Joachim Neander
composer
Francis Pott
composer
Francis Pott is credited as songwriter on Move collections of church music: contemporary religious songs that mix jazz, folk and traditional colour, and hymns that follow the Christian year from Advent through Easter to All Saints.
Samuel John Stone
composer
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Jim Minchin · piano, organ · tracks 1–6, 8, 11–13 and 17
- Liam Bradley · vibraphone · tracks 12 and 17
- Margaret Haggart · vocals · tracks 1–3, 7, 12 and 17
- John Usher · vocals · track 16
- The Martindale Four · vocals · tracks 9, 10, 14 and 15
- Paul Nisselle · guitar · track 7
- MTM Singers · choir · tracks 1, 3–6, 8, 11–13 and 16
- Nick Alexander · conductor
- Ray Elliott · drums
- Roger Sharr · trumpet
- Hamish Hughes · double bass
- Solway Love · flute
Technical credits
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Producer
Martin Wright
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Recording Engineer
Bill Armstrong
Roger Savage
Details
- List price
- $20.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 47 minutes 17 seconds
- Release date
- 1 Feb 1968
- Categories
- Australian, Choral, Vocal
- Musical work copyright
- © 1968 Move Records
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 1968 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3001
- EAN
- 9314574300123
More to explore
Bards of Faith and Passion
Jim Minchin sets poems by writers at play or at odds with eternity: soul-poet lyrics across the centuries, from anonymous Latin verse and the metaphysicals to Yeats, Shakespeare and living voices.
Words, Love, Music: Sydney Carter
Songs and poems by Sydney Carter from the 1950s to the 1970s, spanning social protest, faith and everyday life, performed by Carter and guest singers including Sheila Hancock, Franciscus Henri and Nadia Cattouse.
Seven Whole Days: Music for the Contemporary Church
Seven Whole Days is Jim Minchin’s second Move album of contemporary church song, recorded across Melbourne and Singapore in 1969 with singers and instrumentalists from both places.
Nordic Moods & Baroque Echoes
A collaboration between Duo Langborn/Wendel and The Marais Project, this album blends baroque repertoire, new compositions and arrangements, and folk music from Australia and Sweden.
Where have you been all these years?
Claire Patti (vocal and harp), Louise Godwin (cello) and Tony Gould (piano) join in a warm tribute to musical friendship, bringing fresh interpretive colour to traditional songs they love.
A Baroque Christmas
The music on this CD is a historical Christmas “pick of the pops”, from the late 1400s to the end of the Baroque period. Directed by Douglas Lawrence, the Australian Chamber Choir offers a programme recorded live in concert during their 2019 European tour. The 17 tracks are drawn from lesser-known seasonal works, championing a sublime repertoire that is all too often neglected.