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Steve Angrisano, composer, vocalist, guitarist and Catholic Speaker gave a concert at Our Lady of the Lake Concert on Sunday, February 9, 2020. The concert had approximately 300 attendees Steve travels all over the country and has sung for Pope Francis as well. He is one of the many artists who are represented by Oregon Catholic Press located in Portland Oregon. Oregon Catholic Press is one of the main publishers for liturgical books and music for the Catholic Church.

One of the songs on the program was “Come, Come Emmanuel”. The text of this song is based on the “O” antiphons which we hear during the season of Advent. We first hear these after the 3 rd weekend of Advent. A more familiar song we sing based on the “O” Antiphons Is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” or the VENI EMANNUEL Chant. Steve’s setting of this text is in a 6/8 time signature with gives the music a lilt and invites”Emmanuel” to be among us. The refrain is a moderate tempo that is not too fast. This tempo has energy at a moderate tempo which give us joy in the anticipation of Jesus’ birth but not the full joy of Christmas. Since we are awaiting his birth, we experience joyful anticipation.

These 7 antiphons appear between December 17 through December 23. Steve uses the verses to present most of the antiphons. The refrain is an invitation to Emmanuel, beckoning and pleading to Him to appear to us, a proclamation of God’s love through the Savior given to us.

Here is a recording of Steve singing “Come, Come Emmanuel.”

Another selection Steve performed at the concert was “Let Us Go Rejoicing”
This song is based on the text of Psalm 122. Here is a audio recording
of “Let Us Go Rejoicing.”

There are 150 Psalms in the Psalter. The psalms are divided into many categories. The categories are as follows: Psalms of Wisdom, Royal Psalms, Psalms of Lament, Imprecatory Psalms, Thanksgiving Psalms, Pilgrimage Psalms and Enthronement Psalms. Psalm 122 is a psalm of praise which we hear on Christ the King and various times during the Liturgy of the Hours. Steve’s setting of this is very melodic and soothing as you can hear in the
recording.

If you would like to hear other selections by Steve Angrisano, you may hear clips on Oregon Catholic Press or on You Tube. For those of you who were not able to attend the concert, we have some of Steve’s CDs available for purchase. If you would like to purchase a CD, please call the Music Office at (573)-365-2241 ext 113.