Songs We Sing — “The Lord Is My Light” Taize Chant

Hello Song Leaders!

Here is a chant from the Taizé Community, a monastic order in Burgundy, France.  We’ll use it as a lamp-lighting hymn, though there may be other uses for it too.

Here’s a YouTube recording of it.  (We’ve reworked the words slightly to remove the male pronouns.)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r64gcGMNhDE

You’ll notice . . . .

1) It has two parts, high and low.  Try teaching the lower part first and then adding the higher part.

2) It sounds lovely in a round.  After teaching the harmonies, you can break people up into groups for purposes of singing the round.  You’ll want to study the entrance parts so you can cue folks at the right points.

3)  Will perform it in C minor, one step lower than written so that the shruti can accompany (on the silver setting).

It may help you to look at the sheet music, which is linked here (with the tweaked lyrics we’ll be using). The Lord is My Light, Taize

Enjoy!