Moving Chant

I've located another possible source for helping with organizing our Vespers project: the Mundelein Psalter. The Introduction & Pastoral Guide is a very informative read. It includes this very useful & compelling statement...

"The singing of chant must be characterized by the three virtues of sobriety, simplicity, & restraint. This requires on the part of the singer a mind disciplined in the art of prayer as well as in the art of music. There must never be a sensation of dragging in the rendition of the chant. It must be sung lightly & it must move."

Stations of the Cross

Our group has been asked to assist with sacred song at Stations of the Cross this year, which will to some degree be tri-lingual (English, Spanish, & the Mother Tongue)! The Youth Group will have Living Stations on the Friday before Palm Sunday (Apr 15).

I propose to open each Stations gathering with the Introit from that coming Sunday's Mass. I have posted at right the link to the music for the Sundays of Lent & the practice recordings.

I haven't yet seen the music for the actual Stations service, but apparently it is bi-lingual set to the tune of O Sacred Head Surrounded.

We will close with the seasonal Marian antiphon, which for Lent is Ave Regina Caelorum.

Please practice these on your own & we can just meet early on Fri, Mar 11 to warm-up (maybe 5:30pm?) & the program starts at 7:00pm, as I recall. Remember that the soup supper is just before Stations.

After this first time, we can just pick up with our regularly scheduled practice on Wed, Mar 16. Perhaps later in the season we can offer other hymns or perhaps one of the motets.

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Thanks!

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P.S.: I took the photo at top in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Hangzhou, China last year.

Thanks! & More Opportunities

Thank you all for your participation at Vespers; it went very well & all the WC? facilitators were extremely complimentary.

Fr. Christian had a couple of ideas of how we could contribute more to parish litugical life, both short-term & long-term:

Short-term - Assist with music at Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings during Lent. I need to find out more & get back to you all.

Longer-term - Assist with Vespers on an on-going basis. Father was thinking maybe at 5:30pm before Tuesday Confessions (which might be good if people are coming to the church anyway). I was thinking maybe Tuesdays & Thursdays at 5:30pm.

What we need is a fairly fixed routine that's easy to follow so that whoever can make it can sing, whether all or just one. I can be there almost everytime (except for traveling) since I am coming by the church at that time anyway.

Next practices - March 16, 23, & 30 @ 6:00p.m..

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BTW: For those interested, a link to the schedule for the June 13-19 Sacred Music Colloquium at Dusquesne University is posted on the right. more info at MusicaSacra.com. God bless.

Vespers - Feb 23

Fratres - We will sing at Vespers on Feb 23 at 6:00pm [corrected!], though we should meet at 5:30pm to run through the program. Should last no longer than 30 minutes.

If you search for "Magnificat chant" & "Ave Regina Caelorum" on YouTube, you can find some decent recordings of those, but beware that there is a simpler version of the Magnificat - we are singing the "solemn tone."

This is a great opportunity to apply our trade to its intended purpose - praising God in the liturgy! It also gets our group a little exposure, which can't hurt.

It is my hope that our group could sing Vespers at least once a month - maybe on 3rd Wednesdays - & also at the close of Eucharistic Exposition on 1st Wednesdays, but we have yet to arrange this with Father.

Also, I really enjoyed working on the Motets! They are going to sound great! Thanks!

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P.S.: Photo of the Annunciation taken at the Nashville cathedral.

8 parts - 1 voice

When you go to the practice files for the Motets, you probably noticed that all the parts are sung by the same guy, Matthew Curtis. So, who is this guy?

Actually, I don't know, but he seems to be coming on strong on the Catholic music scene. I was actually a little critical of his "R"'s, but after hearing THIS I have no more criticisms!

He has started a little project of sacred music in both Latin or English from the great composers of that era - 1,500 to 1,600 - like Palestrina, Victoria, Byrd, & so many more. The project is called Choral Tracks.

All of these recordings are with Matthews voice alone! Perhaps we'll try some of this stuff some time.

Remember: Practice on Wed, Feb 16 at 6:00pm. God Bless.

Motecta Trium Vocum

Fratres - last night at Latin Mass choir practice, we sang the Domine Non Sum Dignus & Panis Angelicus from Allen's Motets for 3 Voices.

With only 4 voices (2 voices on part 1), we were able to sight-read through them passably, & by the third reading they were ready for singing at Mass. We will likely sing them after the Communion verse is sung, but they would be suitable for the Offertory, as well.

Just wanted to let you know that these pieces are beautiful, simple, & well within our reach. Just go to the link at right & practice!

God Bless!

[UPDATE!] The Latin Mass choir sang Domine Non Sum Dignus as a Communion hymn yesterday & it sounded great, even though we only had 5 voices, 2 of which had never seen this music before!

Can't wait till Next Practice - Wed, Feb 16 at 6:00pm.

New Plan

Here is the new schedule for practice:

3rd, 4th, & if occurant, 5th Wednesdays of each month at 6:00pm. Thus, our next practice is Wednesday, February 16.

We may need an occassional extra practice, but it is key that you use the online resources to keep things ticking along on the weeks we don't meet.

In Maiorem Gloriam Dei!

Sacred Music Colloquim XXI

If any of you are interested in really taking a bite out of sacred music, here is an amazing opportunity: the 2010 Sacred Music Colloquium XXI in Pittsburg, PA.

Click on the pic at left for the webpage with the details.

I've only been to the weekend workshop in D.C. & was absolutely blown away, by both the amount of musical knowledge I absorbed & by the spirituality of the gathering.

The webpage includes a pretty good video about Colloquium XIX, which even has a guest appearance by East Tennessee Catholic editor & director of the Benedict XVI Schola, Mary Weaver.

I think a few of the Latin Mass choristers are hoping to attend, as do I. I think once we begin to practice our 3-voice motets (see list at right), you will be hooked & will want to learn & experience as much as possible.

BTW: I've ordered several copies of the Parish Book of Chant for our group, but it seems they are back-ordered until April! Until then, we'll just work off copies from the PDF file.

Gratias Tibi!

Gents - Great job singing at the Neighborhood yesterday! A lot of folks there voiced their appreciation to me, including Cynthia who invited us.

This was also a good opportunity to practice singing together in parts, which we will need for the polyphonic music on which we're going to work next.

Thanks for giving up the time to practice & for sharing the gift of song with others in the name of Jesus.

Happy (belated) Birthday to Don! Multi Annos!

Encouragement

Everybody likes a little positive feedback & I have some regarding our Christmas Eve musical offering.

Deacon Sean came up to me after Mass this morning to tell me how wonderful the chant was & that he'd like to hear more of it sometime. I said, perhaps we can. He agreed, perhaps we can...

I also had a few catechists & sponsors from RCIA tell me that they really appreciated it, because, being converts, they had not experienced this tradition of sacred music before & found it very profound & prayerful.

I don't think any of us realize exactly how important this little project may be!

We are having practice this Wednesday at 6:00pm. Stay warm & safe till then. God bless.

The Neighborhood Update

Gents, the "gig" at the Neighborhood has been moved to Friday, January 14 at 5:00pm. Apparently, we were bumped from this Friday by an Elvis Impersonator! No matter - we sing for the real King.

We were also invited back for Italy Days at the end of February to sing selections from our repertoire of chant & polyphony. Perhaps we should get a repertoire first before we commit!

Continue to practice the Allen Kyrie. Below are the YouTube links to the different parts (click your browser's Back button to return here, if you want). This way you really can practice anytime, so you have no excuse.

I propose Don, Jeremy, & Clayton take the bass line, Vince take the tenor line, & I will tackle the soprano (!). If John ever returns from his sabbatical in Florida - to go on a cruise, no less! - we'll stick him on alto. Until then, we'll do without that part.

Kyrie Paenitentialis - All Voices
- Soprano
- Alto
- Tenor
- Bass

Also, if you want a preview of our next project, take a look at the Corpus Christi Watershed sacred music site where you will find information on 12 motets for 3 equal voices.

I have the score book & feel these are easily in our reach. I especially want to look at Domine Non Sum Dignus, Panis Angelicus, & O Salutaris Hostia, which are all Eucharistic hymns.

Please spend a little time reviewing the practice videos at the bottom of that page. Thanks.