As we in the United States look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, we in the Church are celebrating “Mother’s Month.” The custom of honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May dates back as early as the Thirteenth Century, with special prayers, devotions, celebrations, and – of course – special music.
Today, in place of our customary interview, we are bringing you an audio program from the Open Your Hymnal podcast. Open Your Hymnal, cohosted by Zack Stachowski and Matt Reichert, is a special project aimed at breaking open the best-loved and most-common liturgical music in the Catholic repertoire. Each episode explores one song and features conversation with the composer and, sometimes, special guests.
To commemorate this Marian month, we are pleased to present today our interview with composer Carey Landry about his song “Hail Mary: Gentle Woman.” Originally released in the 1970s, this song has been a staple of parishes around the world. Yet, though you may know the song well, there are new corners to explore and messages to consider.
SHOW NOTES
For more information about Carey Landry and his other compositions, visit his composer page at OCP.
You can purchase a copy of the score and a copy of the original song recording from OCP. Here you can also purchase the other Carey Landry songs you heard in this episode: "Only a Shadow," "Peace is Flowing Like a River," and "Bloom Where You're Planted."
You can purchase a copy of the instrumental piano recording (arranged and performed by Paul Tate) from GIA Publications. You can also purchase a copy of the choral recording (arranged by Richard Proulx and performed by the Cathedral Singers) and a copy of Dan Kantor's "Ave Maria" from GIA Publications.
You can watch the video recording of Bobby McFerrin's live concert performance of the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria", with the audience singing along, on YouTube.
You can listen to more episodes of the Open Your Hymnal podcast at www.openyourhymnal.com.
The recording of "Resucito" was produced by OCP.
Visit NPM's digital resource library, referenced at the end of the episode.
To join us this summer at the national convention in Baltimore, Maryland, visit the 2018 NPM convention website.
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