Love Alone Unites Us
More Hymn Tunes by Patrick Michaels

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Description
Patrick Michaels has composed many hymn tunes over the decades, and this collection includes more of his hymns composed for the church. All are written for contemporary texts, and he has a good eye for selecting meaningful texts, from authors such as Mary Louise Bringle, Ruth Duck, Shirley Erena Murray, Adam Tice, Carl P. Daw, Jr., and John Bell, among many others.

The PDF version of the collection includes images for all of the hymns and melodies for unison hymns for reprinting in bulletins in PDF, JPG, PNG, and TIF formats, and also includes copies of the hymns with descants above the melody and accompaniment.

Preface by the author
One of the the greatest challenges for church musicians in this time of global communication and connection is the challenge of determining the repertoire of the congregation. There is so much to choose from. Even within a single hymnal, no congregation can learn, sing and inwardly digest all of the pieces available to it. But with the internet, we have vast resources from distant communities at our fingertips. And, too, when we consider the creativity of our own church members, we expand and multiply the possibilities.

Since our choices are nearly unlimited, we need to discern our own community's strengths and needs as we make those weekly musical selections. And we find at times, even with all the available repertoire, that the right musical piece doesn't yet exist. This presents the perfect opportunity to create a new one, finely tuned to the needs of our congregations and, it is hoped, of the wider church.

I am happy to add more of my own contributions to this project, making more of my tunes available to the wider church. Some of them have been around for a long time and have made a significant impact on the worship life of my communities--St. James's Episcopal Church, Cambridge, Mass.; and the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. Some have yet to be sung and incorporated into worshiping communities.

Some of these tunes may require the assistance of a choir or strong cantor: I have found both to be essential. Introducing a new hymn can be a challenge, but even challenging texts and tunes can become popular and beloved if they are introduced well and repeated often.

I am confident that people will find differing preferences and resonances in these pages; if these tunes and texts can bring healing, or understanding, or passion or just plain moments of recognition, I will be blessed and pleased.

The tunes are written to magnify the wonderful texts included here. My deepest thanks go to the poets who have inspired these tunes. Some I count as friends and all are colleagues in ministry. Their words live in me as few others. They have made my composing work a joy.

As always, I give special thanks to Al Fedak for his unfailing expertise in critiquing my tunes—and his ability to suggest better possibilities. He encourages my risks and inspires my confidence. And again, as always, my profound thanks to Anne Read for her artistic eyes and her knack for finding the right cover art and making it so engaging. I continue to be in both of their debts.

I thank all those who have lent their names to the tunes. They are my daily support and encouragement—as well as the first people to sing many of these tunes. And, as always, my family--Laurie Rofinot and Marian Michaels--have supported and encouraged this musical project. My fullest thanks go to them.

--Pat Michaels