To me, 'flow' is a very important part of an engaging liturgy.
So, I'm not one for singing EVERY verse of a song just because it's there.
I, for one, don't insist that people sing every verse of one of my songs just because I wrote them!
Maybe it's different when you are singing something like the Beatitudes, or a setting of the Prayer of St. Francis. The text would be incomplete without the whole thing. Most songs aren't like that, though. For example, I know when I've written songs for Communion, my publisher has sometimes asked me to simply "add some more verses so it can be longer."
For those of you who might be thinking, "Ed, the text is very important!" I do, of course, agree. It most certainly is. No argument there. The gathering song, for example, isn't 'filler' until the presider reaches his chair, but it doesn't need to go to the other extreme either.
Again, to me, 'flow' is a big part of the liturgy.
For example, today I played for a funeral and the family had chosen "Here I Am, Lord," by Dan Schutte for the Entrance Procession. Well, it was a pretty small gathering and the family didn't process in. By the time we had finished verse 1 and the refrain, it already seemed like it needed to end. It didn't feel right to sing ANOTHER verse followed by another refrain. I think what might have been a better plan would've been to sing the refrain first, then verse 1, then the refrain again. Or, I could've just sung another refrain. The point is, creating the right 'flow' with the right amount of 'pacing' is vital, I think, to the liturgy. When something feels forcibly lengthened, or seems to drag on, it ceases to engage the assembly.
Interesting, as a student and musician studying liturgy, I've always been under the impression that we sing all the verses to the song/hymn as to not to, would "harm" the text and its message. I believe David Haas states that in his notes for "Blest Are They". Granted, that's one song, and you mentioned that the Beatitudes would be a good example of where not to "cut it" short. I am a parishioner at a church where we have had two known composers as our directors and we have always sung all the verses. I've been to some churches now we they use the same songs, and they don't sing all the verses, and honestly, it doesn't feel right. Maybe being a creature of habit here I am used to singing all the verses. It's one of those pastoral decisions to make - what feels right? We have a congregation that sings the roof off - I wonder what would happen if we didn't sing all the verses to some of the hymns/songs?
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