Sanctus (Holy, Holy)

holy, holy
holy, holy
God of power and might

holy, holy
holy, holy
God of power and might

heaven and earth are full of your glory
hosanna in the highest
all heaven and earth are full of your glory
hosanna
hosanna
hosanna in the highest

blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord

Reviews

Damn I just listened and started to tear up…thank you. It is so beautiful. —Danny C.

Dang, my brother. Absolutely love it. Is the sheet music still available? I think I might have to pass it on to our choir director & organist —Ron B.-G.

Wonderful setting, Doug Howell Music!! —Randy C.

Doug, the recording is perfect. You have forever changed what the Sanctus should sound like for me. It’s deeply holy.  —Marion P. V.

when use your St B mass music, I always hear you in head! —Kathy G. O.

I love it! —Diane S.

Beautiful. Doug, your voice is amazing. —Ellen A. H.

Thank you for ever for this creation, Doug, your arrangement – this is in my head so often. Sometimes when I am out walking Rosie in my beautiful neighborhood, I’ve been know to sing it aloud, sometimes in the kitchen, sometimes while sewing! And definitely, in my head during infusions. What a gift! Thank you, thank you. —BJ L.

Thank you for sharing. Steve and I listened, and were transported. So sacred. —Carol L. S.

It is other-worldly, this Sanctus. —Marcia L.

Notes

I grew up in a Baptist church and had very little knowledge of any other kind until I went to college. There, as an itinerant musical representative of Youth for Christ, I visited more churches than I ever knew existed. And later, as I started traveling more widely, I came into contact with even more. I learned that you could tell next to nothing about a congregation by the name over the door.

And I also noticed more and more as time went on that it was the common parts of each service, the hymns, the readings, the creeds, the prayers (especially the Lord’s Prayer) that always brought me to a complete stop. Those were the words that always spoke the loudest.

The more I’ve learned about the history, traditions, symbolism and meaning of the liturgy, with all its parts and pieces, the more I have come to love it. And one of the parts I love best is the Sanctus. It’s an ancient hymn, first appearing in English in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer and first set to music in 1550. The wording has been modernized through the years, and the version we now sing was adopted as an ecumenical version by Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and others in 1973. The lyrics are taken from Isaiah’s vision of heaven in Isaiah 6, John’s vision of heaven in Revelation 4, and the Benedictus from the Palm Sunday Gospel (John 12, quoting Psalm 118).

The Eucharistic (communion) prayer in the Episcopal liturgy starts with a formal preface, a sort of back-and-forth prayer of thanksgiving and praise between the congregation and the celebrant; it includes a unique prayer that is special to the day; and it ends with the Sanctus, introduced by these words:

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and 
Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever
 sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name.

Every Sunday, when we get to that spot and I hear the word “Therefore,” my heart does a little somersault. I feel like I’ve just been put on alert and that the Holy One, the Divine One, is about to break in upon my world.

We are all assembled: me, you, all here present, all believers around the world, all those who’ve gone before us, all who will come after, and all the angels and archangels of heaven. We all gather around the table where past, present and future mingle, where we give and are given, where we receive and are received. It’s the joining of heaven and earth, the realization of the grandest heavenly vision conceivable, yet centered around a humble earthly table of bread and wine.

Thinking of all this always makes me want to sing! The trouble is, much of the service music from our 1982 hymnal does not seem very singable to me. Don’t get me wrong. Some of it is very good, and I especially love the Schubert setting of the Sanctus (p. S130). But other settings can seem a bit awkward at times, especially for us untrained singers.

When we settled in at St. Barnabas in Chelsea, Michigan, in 2005 and began singing these special hymns each and every week, I found myself always wishing I could enter in and open up a little more. So this is my attempt to do just that! I hope you’ll find it easy to sing. But most of all, I hope it will fill the eyes of your soul with a vision of all the company of heaven and bring you ever closer to God—who created all that is, yet seeks our wayward hearts to receive.

Music Notes

Sheet music is available via Hal Leonard Music, including both vocal/piano score and a vocal-only version suitable for inclusion in printed liturgies. Note: If you would like to order instrumental parts, please contact me directly via this website.

The solo line you hear me singing is what the congregation is to sing. You’ll also hear piano and organ (from a sample library featuring the Leeds Town Hall organ), SATB choir, brass and percussion. Would have loved to do it live this way, but the opportunity has never presented itself. Still, I had the pleasure of hearing it sung many Sundays at both St. Barnabas and the Church of the Holy Apostles here in Hilo, Hawai’i, playing the piano part with either Kathy West (St. B.) or Rick Mazurowski (CHA) on organ.

This recording is dedicated with many thanks to my dear, dear pianist-organist friend, Kathy West, who has played this with me many, many times, and who has always encouraged me in music— both composition and performance.