Siehe, ich stehe vor der Tür
und klopfe an. So jemand meine Stimme hören wird und die Tür
auftun, zu dem werde ich eingehen und das Abendmahl mit ihm halten
und er mit mir.
Erdmann Neumeister, Geistliche Poesien (Eisenach, 1714) and Fünffache
Kirchenandachten (Leipzig, 1717); Facs: Neumann T, p. 293.
1. Martin Luther, verse 1 of the German adaptation of Veni redemptor
gentium, 1524 (Wackernagel, III, #16); 4. Rev. 3:20; 6. Philipp Nicolai,
conclusion (Abgesang) of the last verse of Wie schön leuchtet
der Morgenstern, 1599.
2 December 1714, Weimar.
BG 16; NBA I/1.
1. Ouverture [Chorale] (S, A, T, B)
Now come, the gentiles' Savior,
As the Virgin's child revealed,
At whom marvels all the world
That God him this birth ordained.
2. Recit. (T)
To us is come the Savior,
Who hath our feeble flesh and blood
Himself
now taken
And taketh us as kinsmen of his blood.
O treasure unexcelled,
What hast thou not for us then done?
What dost thou not
Yet daily for thy
people?
Thy coming makes thy light
Appear with richest blessing.
3. Aria (T)
Come, Jesus, come to this thy church now
And fill with blessing the
new year!
Advance thy name in rank and honor, Uphold thou ev'ry wholesome
doctrine, The pulpit and the altar bless!
See now, I stand before the door and on it knock. If anyone my voice
will render heed and make wide the door, I will come into his dwelling
and take with him the evening supper, and he with me.
5. Aria (S)
Open wide, my heart and spirit,
Jesus comes and draws within.
Though
I soon be earth and ashes, Me he will yet not disdain, That his joy he
find in me And that I become his dwelling. Oh, how blessed shall I be!
6. Chorale (S, A, T, B)
Amen, amen!
Come, thou lovely crown of gladness, do not tarry(2).
I just became aware of "Archives of Sound,"
a YouTube channel apparently completely dedicated to videos (which are
actually audio files along with still images) from the "Guildford
Cathedral Choir (1961-1974) during Barry Rose's tenure as Organist
& Master of the Choristers." I'm quite sure I'll be posting
from this collection fairly often; there's lots of Anglican Chant.
This is a lovely recording of an English-language version of the Gregorian chant Eucharistic hymn Ave Verum Corpus, recorded at Guildford Cathedral in May of 1967:
These are the words they are using here; I haven't been able to determine their provenance:
Hail, true body, born of Mary,
by a wondrous virgin birth.
Thou who on the cross wast offered
to redeem the sons of earth;
Thou whose side became a fountain
pouring forth thy precious blood,
give us now; and at our dying,
thine own self to be our food.
O sweetest Jesu,
O gracious Jesu,
O Jesu, blessed Mary's Son.
Wikipedia has the Latin words, along with a more literal English translation:
Ave verum corpus, natum
de Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine
cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie,
O Iesu, fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen.
Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
who having truly suffered, was sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side
flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death.
O sweet Jesus, O pious Jesus,
O Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.
Here's the score of the chant in Latin from the Liber Usualis:
More about this hymn, from the same Wikipedia link above:
"Ave verum corpus" is a short Eucharistichymn that has been set to music by various composers. It dates from the 14th century and has been attributed to Pope Innocent VI.[1]
The hymn's title means "Hail, true body", and is based on a poem deriving from a 14th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance.[citation needed] The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to the Catholic conception of the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.
Barry Rose has written choral music, too; I've sung some of his Responses, for Mattins or Evensong (I can't quite recall at the moment).
I
had actually never heard the Gregorian version of this song until today
- but I have heard many composed versions. Most famous, perhaps, is
the Mozart version, here sung by King's College, Cambridge:
William Byrd also set this hymn:
Another well-known polyphonic setting is Edward Elgar's:
This
is one I've just heard for the first time; interestingly, it seems only
to be available on Chinese video sites! And so, I'm not sure who the
composer is, but the singers are the Salisbury Cathedral Choristers:
Clearly a more contemporary setting; if I learn more about it, I'll come back to post again.
Sung by the Choir of St. Paul's, London. The text comes from the writings of Julian of Norwich (c. 1342-1416):
As truly as God is our Father, so just as truly is he our Mother.
In our Father, God Almighty, we have our being;
In our merciful Mother we are remade and restored.
Our fragmented lives are knit together.
And by giving and yielding ourselves, through grace,
To the Holy Spirit we are made whole.
It is I, the strength and goodness of Fatherhood.
It is I, the wisdom of Motherhood.
It is I, the light and grace of holy love.
It is I, the Trinity.
I am the sovereign goodness in all things.
It is I who teach you to love.
It is I who teach you to desire.
It is I who am the reward of all true desiring.
All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. Amen.
I am a poor pilgrim of sorrow
And I'm left in this whole wide world
I'm left in this world alone
I have no hope for tomorrow, Lord
But I'm trying to make heaven, Lord, my home, my home
Well, sometimes, I am gonna fall, Lord
And sometimes I'm driven, sometimes, I'm your child
I don't know which way I can run, yes I can run
But I've heard of a city called heaven
And I'm striving to make heaven my home
I've loved John Tavener's music ever since the first time I heard one of his pieces. This was Funeral Ikos, sung at a commemoration for 9/11.
Here it's sung by the Choir of St. John's College,
Cambridge; the words are taken from the Orthodox liturgy for "The Order for the Burial of the Dead (Priests)" - and they are stunningly
beautiful.
Funeral Ikos (1981)
Why these bitter words of the dying,
O brethren, which they utter
as they go hence?
I am parted from my brethren.
All my friends do I abandon,
and go hence.
But whither I go, that understand I not,
neither what shall become of me yonder;
only God who hath summoned me knoweth.
But make commemoration of me with the song:
Alleluia.
But whither now go the souls?
How dwell they now together there?
This mystery have I desired to learn,
but none can impart aright.
Do they call to mind their own people,
as we do them?
Or have they forgotten all those
who mourn them and make the song:
Alleluia.
We go forth on the path eternal,
and as condemned, with downcast faces,
present ouselves before the only God eternal.
Where then is comeliness?
Where then is wealth?
Where then is the glory of this world?
There shall none of these things aid us,
but only to say oft the psalm:
Alleluia.
If thou hast shown mercy
unto man, o man,
that same mercy
shall be shown thee there;
and if on an orphan
thou hast shown compassion,
that same shall there
deliver thee from want.
If in this life
the naked thou hast clothed,
the same shall give thee
shelter there,
and sing the psalm:
Alleluia.
Youth and the beauty of the body
fade at the hour of death,
and the tongue then burneth fiercely,
and the parched throat is inflamed.
The beauty of the eyes is quenched then,
the comeliness of the face all altered,
the shapeliness of the neck destroyed;
And the other parts have become numb,
nor often say:
Alleluia.
With ecstasy are we inflamed
if we but hear
that there is light eternal yonder;
That there is Paradise, wherein
every soul of Righteous Ones rejoiceth.
Let us all, also, enter into Christ,
that all we may cry aloud thus unto God:
Alleluia.
Later, I heard As One Who Has Slept,
and suggested using it to our choirmaster; to my delight, we sang it
one year for Easter. Again, this is a liturgical text, from the Liturgy
for Great and Holy Saturday:
"As one who has slept the Lord has risen
And rising he has saved us. Alleluia."
Again, just remarkably beautiful; the man was really a genius. The piece is sung here by the Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Tavener's
is an essentially spiritual music, but in a much more intellectually
fearless way than his detractors think. He wanted his music to tap into a
region beyond conventional understanding – "I wanted to produce music
that was the sound of God. That's what I have always tried to do" – but
increasingly, his music offered doubt and darkness in its evocation of
that unknowable vastness instead of a comforting musical palliative.
In
2007, Tavener suffered a heart attack in Switzerland that almost killed
him. When he recovered, he was living in a new world of constant pain
and shortness of breath. He found himself responding instinctively to
music of terse difficulty that had previously not attracted him – late
Beethoven, Karlheinz Stockhausen – and rediscovering the music that had
inspired him to become a composer as a child, Stravinsky and Mozart.
When
I last saw him, Tavener spoke of his recent music, such as his version
of Tolstoy's nihilistic The Death of Ivan Ilyich, which was premiered at this year's Manchester Festival, as epiphanies of pain transfigured into music.
"Suffering
is a kind of ecstasy, in a way. Having pain all the time makes me
terribly, terribly grateful for every moment I've got," he said. But
Tavener seemed to find a joy in that difficult truth.
At
its best, Tavener's music is a cathartic confrontation with the biggest
of all life's questions. Yet, like the man who wrote it, the music
invites you into its world with charm, gentleness, humility, and a
twinkle in the eye.
"Song of the Angel" is not liturgical, but is beautiful:
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei.
1 Let us now sing the praises of famous men,
our ancestors in their generations.
2 The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
3 There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
and made a name for themselves by their valour;
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
4 those who led the people by their counsels
and by their knowledge of the people’s lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
5 those who composed musical tunes,
or put verses in writing;
6 rich men endowed with resources,
living peacefully in their homes—
7 all these were honoured in their generations,
and were the pride of their times.
8 Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
9 But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
10 But these also were godly men,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
13 Their offspring will continue for ever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
14 Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.
As
far as I can tell, this was introduced for the first time in the 1979
Book of Common Prayer as the Old Testament reading on All Saints' Day.
It was one of the first readings I ever heard in the church, and I found
it exquisitely beautiful.
Instead of a Psalm - unusual
- we sang hymn #560, "Blessèd are the poor in spirit." It's a Richard
Proulx arrangement of a Russian Orthodox chant; in the Orthodox liturgy,
I'm learning, the Beatitudes are chanted as the Gospel Book is carried
in procession to the sanctuary for the Gospel reading. That's a
wonderful liturgical practice! (The Beatitudes are, of course, the
Gospel reading for All Saints' Day every year.)
Here's the hymn, here sung at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Jacksonville Florida:
[Antiphon:]
Remember your servants, Lord,
when you come in your kingly power.
1 Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
2 Blessed are those who mourn;
for they shall be comforted.
3 Blessed are the meek;
for they shall inherit the earth.
4 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness;
for they shall be satisfied.
5 Blessed are the merciful;
for they shall obtain mercy.
6 Blessed are the pure in heart;
for they shall see God.
7 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.
8 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake;
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
9 Blessed are you when the world reviles you and persecutes you;
and utters all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake:
Rejoice and be exceeding glad;
for great is your reward in heaven.
[Antiphon:]
Remember your servants, Lord,
when you come in your kingly power.
Source: Hymnal 1982: according to the use of the Episcopal Church #560
It's really a beautiful song, with terrific harmonies - and of course the text is superb.
This sounds like it may be the Russian version Proulx worked from, sung by a choir at Holy Trinity Church (OCA) in Yonkers, NY:
The YouTuber wrote there that:
The
Beatitudes were pronounced by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount and
were recorded by St. Matthew. ........In the Gospel writings, the
beatitudes introduce the teachings of Jesus and are traditionally
considered to contain the most concise summary of the spiritual life of
man. In the Orthodox Divine Liturgy, the beatitudes are chanted when
the Book of the Gospels is carried in solemn procession to the
sanctuary to be proclaimed as the Word of God to the faithful. Thus it
is the clear teaching of the Gospel and the Church that one enters into
the mysteries of Christ and the Kingdom of God only by way of
following the Lord's teachings in the beatitudes. And He opened His
mouth and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. "Blessed are the pure in
heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and
be exceedingly glad, for your reward is great in heaven (Matthew
5:2-12; Cf Luke 6:20-26)
Here, BTW, is Arvo Pärt's setting of the Beatitudes; gorgeous as usual:
The
preacher noted that All Saints' Day was the only feast of the year that
could be celebrated twice - once on November 1, and again on the Sunday
after November 1. Quite interesting, really, that this is so; to me,
this makes a powerful statement about the importance of this day - and
I've felt that since the first time I ever attended an All Saints' Day
service. All Saints' is one of the four days on which baptism is
"especially appropriate," too, according to the BCP; the first time I
attended a service on this day, there were four baptisms. All of that,
and the readings and music, makes All Saints' a uniquely resonant
experience; today, for the first time really, I truly got an
understanding of the church as the mystical Body of Christ, and of all Christians, everywhere and from every era, as disciples, all living a common life and under a common vision.
I
sort of like it that in Anglicanism, All Saints' and All Souls' Days
have been collapsed into one thing; I like that idea, again, of that complete statement about "discipleship," and the notion that the whole church
is celebrated. (I'm also quite happy that many parishes offer a
requiem mass on All Souls' Day, too, even though it's not an official
Holy Day. Nothing at all wrong with any of that.)
Here's the beautiful Collect for All Saints:
Almighty
God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to
follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we
may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who
truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the
Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
This
collect was composed for the 1549 Book. The 1662 revision substituted
"blessed" for "holy," and "in all virtuous and godly living" for "in all
virtues, and godly living." The present revision replaces
"unspeakable" with "ineffable" since "unspeakable" has so changed and
negative a connotation in modern English. The collect expresses in an
admirable way Saint Paul's conception of the church as the Body of
Christ.
I heard this song at my first All Saints' Day service, too, and again today:
Holy is the True Light,
and passing wonderful,
lending radiance to them that endured
in the heat of the conflict.
From Christ they inherit
a home of unfading splendour,
wherein they rejoice with gladness evermore.
Alleluia!
Words from the Salisbury Diurnal by G.H. Palmer
For
the last hymn, it was Ralph Vaughan Williams' "For All the Saints." I
used to cry when I sang this one; I don't really know why. (I have a
feeling it may partly be all that martial imagery, in combination with
this majestic melody!) I remember singing this one when I was a child,
and it always moved me then - and whenever I heard it later on in life.
I was watching people in the choir as they came down the aisle singing,
and saw some really blissful faces - so I know it still has that effect
on people. Not me, though; now I weep at other hymns, and not
at this one anymore.
Gaudeamus omnes in Domino diem festum celebrantes sub honore Sanctorum omnium: de quorum solemnitate gaudent angeli, et collaudant Filium Dei.
Exsultate iusti in Domino: rectos decet collaudatio. Gloria Patri...
Let us all rejoice in the Lord celebrating the feast
in honour of all the saints,
in which solemnity the angels rejoice, while the Archangels praise the Son of God.
Ring out your joy to the lord, O you just; for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Glory be to the Father ...
(Although, you know: I do believe that the singers, "Collana Diretta da
Bonafacio G Baroffia," have hit a wrong note there in that video; they
forgot to sing the flat. Here's how the Benedictines of Clear Creek
sing Gaudeamus for the Feast of St. Benedict:
And here's an mp3 from the Brazilian Benedictines for All Saints, which also contains the flat. Just to get things straightened out.)
Gaudeamus
is used as the Introit for a number of saints' days during the Great
Church Year (see note below); there are some variants included at that
link, so you can see how the text is adjusted for other feasts. It's
quite a beautiful text, especially this one, I think.
Here's the full chant score:
As I've noted before, the use of Gaudeamus as Introit for various saints' days apparently began with The Feast of St. Agatha
in the 3rd Century. It sounds to me as if, after the chant had been
used in that way for some time, it seemed natural to use it at All
Saints as the Introit, too, again tying the Church Year together via the
liturgy and its chant propers. Here's a quote discussing "Josquin's Mass for All Saints and the Book of Revelation" in a book titled Symbolic scores: Studies in the music of the Renaissance:
It
should be pointed out, however, that the Introit "Gaudemus" - as
ascertained already by Helmuth Ostoff - is also used for a large number
of saints' days as well as for the feast of All Saints (November 1).
The Introit sung in the Mass of Saint Agatha (February 5) is the oldest
version. Its text is the same as that of Example 1, except that it has
"Agathae martyres: de cujus passione" (Agatha martyr, at whose
passion) instead of "Mariae virginis: de cujus assumptionae" (the
Virgin Mary, for whose Assumption). From the eleventh century onwards,
the antiphon appears in at least seven other Masses. In the Introit
of All Saints the text passage quoted above reads "Sanctorum omnium de
quorum solemnitate" (of all the Saints, at whose solemnity).
Below is the "Example 1" referred to above:
The videos below are recordings of that Josquin mass - called Missa Gaudeamus -
referred to in the link above; wow, it's just completely gorgeous.
It's based on this Introit, and the motif runs throughout.
This video has the Kyrie and Gloria:
This one the Credo:
This the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei:
No
information about the musicians is given at the YouTube page, but I
believe - from the CD cover art included - that it may be "De Labyrintho
& Walter Testolin" - which would be this, I think.
There's some really interesting stuff at the link above, about this Mass specifically:
Although
the Mass combines the techniques of cantus firmus and ostinato, it is
generally the incipt of the Introit which, thematically, occupies the
foreground. In the Ms. Cambrai 18 the motif even appears several times
with the word "gaudeamus" instead of the litugical text. The ostinato
technique has its culmination in the final Angus dei, where, as Jeremy
Noble remarks, "the memorable opening phrase of the introit it put
through a vertiginous series of transpositions." It has never been
noticed that the arrangement of the total numbers of "Gaudeamus"
statements in the five sections of the Mass is anything but
proportional. The motif occurs 6, 14, 2, 5+7, and 4+23 times
respectively. If we take into account that it appears more often in
Agnus dei III, which is 58 bars long, than in the Kyrie and Gloria which
together make up 220 bars, and that it appears only twice in the Credo
which contains 274 bars, the conclusion seems inescapable that Josquin
deliberately determined the various numbers of statements. Evidence of
the justness of this conclusion can be found by comparing the present
Mass with Josquin's Missa Ave maris stella. Both works are based
on a Gregorian chant, the incipits of which are used in ever-changing
melodic and rhythmic shapes. Moreover, both present thd cantus prius factus
in the tenor. Contrary, however, to the irregular distribution of the
"Gaudeamus" motifs in the various Mass sections and the individual
voices, the employment of the "Ave maris stella" incipit is much more
balanced. Noble says: "....one senses that in Ave maris stella the exuberance of Gaudeamus has begun to be tamed, even spiritualized."
Now the interesting thing about all that, according to the author of Symbolic scores: Studies in the music of the Renaissance,
Willem Elders, is that it helps him make the case that this Mass was
written to celebrate All Saints' Day - and not, as had been previously
(and it seems universally) supposed, written for the Feast of the
Assumption - another of the feast days that used Gaudeamus as its Introit.Continuing on, the writer says:
The
"Gaudeamus" motif in Josquin's Mass of the same name has more than a
purely musical significance. It functions, as I shall now attempt to
show, as a sign which refers explicitly to the composer's profession of
faith. On the basis of the allegorical meaning of the numbers 6, 14, 2,
5, 7, 4 and 23 (see above), it can be said that the Mass in all
probability was intended as an All Saints' Day liturgy and that the
application of number symbolism may have been inspired by the Book of
Revelation.
!
I haven't finished reading his argument - it's a long one, and he believes van Eyck's "Adoration of the Lamb," from the Ghent Altarpiece,
is involved! - but it's certainly an interesting one so far. ("4"
stands for the Cross - and "23" for the 23 times the sign of the cross
is made during the liturgy of the mass.
"Why 23 times?"
you ask? "[The] number [is understood to be] a reference to the just
in the age of the law (10) and in the age of grace (13). The law is
valid for both ages (10+10), that is, the ages of the Old and New
Convenant, while faith in the threefold God (+3) is an added
characteristic for the New Testament.")
Now I ask you:
who doesn't like stuff like this? In any case, it's absolutely a
perfect tale for a blog like this one; the amazing part played by
Gregorian chant in the history of the West!
We praise thee, O God :
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee :
the Father everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud :
the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim :
continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy :
Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty :
of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world :
doth acknowledge thee;
The Father : of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true : and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man :
thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :
thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.
We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.
[added later, mainly from Psalm verses:]
O Lord, save thy people :
and bless thine heritage.
Govern them : and lift them up for ever.
Day by day : we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name : ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us :
as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted :
let me never be confounded.
The
Stanford Chamber Chorale and University Organist Robert Huw Morgan,
under the direction of Stephen M. Sano, perform the "Coronation Te Deum"
of William Walton (1902-1983), in the arrangement for double choir and
organ by Simon Preston and Mark Blatchly.
The audio is taken from a live concert recording in May 2009 in Stanford Memorial Church.
This piece was originally written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. You
can also listen to it - along with some other really tasty treats
(Langlais' Messe Solennelle, Parry's "I Was Glad," and Bruckner's "Locus Iste," for instance) - on the 10/6/2013 webcast of St. Thomas NYC's Feast of Dedication; it's the 100th Anniversary of the first worship service in its current (quite astounding) building.
At the March on Washington in 1963 Mahalia sang in front of 250,000 people "I've Been 'Buked, and I've Been Scorned", in which Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. She also sang "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at the funeral of her friend Martin Luther King, Jr. She was one of his favorite gospel singers. Indeed, her good friend Martin Luther King said "a voice like hers comes along once in a millennium". In addition to sharing her singing talent with the world, she mentored the extraordinarily gifted Aretha Franklin; she was a close friend of Aretha's father, C. L. Franklin, and a frequent guest in the Franklin home.
Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish;
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.
Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure.”
Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above.
Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove.
And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away
and there was no more sea, And I John saw the holy city,
Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great? voice out of heaven, saying,
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men
and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God
And God shall wipe away all tears? from their eyes
And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying
neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away.
O sacrum convivium is the Antiphon upon Magnificat at Second
Vespers of Corpus Christi; it's a beautiful, mystical hymn in praise of
the Blessed Sacrament. St. Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274) wrote the text, which has been set by many composers. The
Gregorian melody is particularly lovely; listen to it in the 2nd video below.
Here's a wonderful O Sacrum Convivium for 6 voices, by Tomás Luis de Victoria:
O sacrum convivium!
in quo Christus sumitur:
recolitur memoria passionis ejus:
mens impletur gratia:
et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.
Alleluia.
O sacred banquet!
in which Christ is received,
the memory of his Passion is renewed,
the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory to us is given.
Alleluia.
Here,
the Belgian chant group Psallentes sings the splendid Gregorian antiphon - no less beautiful than any polyphonic setting! They include this note: "The antiphon O sacrum convivium, from a
sixteenth century Turnhout processionale (Flanders, ca. 1550)."
NYP sings Thomas Tallis in Länna kyrka in Bergshamra, Sweden; gorgeous.
"New York Polyphony will release 'Times go by Turns' Summer 2013, the
highly anticipated follow-up to their acclaimed BIS Records debut
'endBeginning'."
If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another comforter, that he may 'bide with you forever; E'en the spirit of truth. (John 14:15-17)
Today, hundreds of concerts will take place around the world to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the founding of the Paris Cathedral. This one in Boston is among them.
Members of the choir sing during the annual Christmas concert at St. Malachy's Church -- The Actors' Chapel in New York Dec. 13, 2010. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
The publication of the new English translation of the Roman Missal has helped revive interest in the use of chant in the ordinary form of Holy Mass. The Roman Missal includes many more chanted texts than did the previous edition, allowing clergy and people alike to “sing the Mass, rather than merely to sing at Mass,” as Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, executive director of the ICEL (International Committee on English in the Liturgy) Secretariat, said in a 2010 address.
The new Roman Missal includes a new translation of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), which also has fostered greater interest in chant. Citing Sacrosanctum Concilium (the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) and subsequent curial documents, the GIRM states that “the main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy.… Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings” (nos. 41-42).
When Catholics think of Gregorian chant at Mass, many tend first to think of chants associated with the Ordinary of the Mass—that is, the parts of the Mass that tend not to vary from day to day—for example, the Kyrie, Gloria, Profession of Faith (Credo), Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.
But there is also another set of chanted prayers at Mass: the propers, that is, five chants that are proper, or specific, to each Mass. The past two years have witnessed a revival of interest in the propers in parishes in the English-speaking world.
“I would contend that there are two primary reasons for the increased popularity of chanting the propers at Mass,” Father Dan Merz, associate director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told CWR. “First, there is a renewed interest in the texts proposed by the Church herself for the Mass, as opposed to individual choices that may not coincide with the rest of the Mass as well. This goes together with the desire for more accurate translations of texts used at the Eucharist and the other liturgies of the Church. The entrance and Communion antiphons are often scriptural and serve as an official commentary or meditation of sorts on the Mass of the day, as opposed to hymns or songs chosen on the local level.”
“Second, there is a renewed interest in chant itself, including Gregorian chant,” he added. “Many Catholics grew up without any experience or knowledge of chant, and so there is a natural desire to uncover a part of the tradition that was lost—at least to them.”
In the Roman Missal (the liturgical book used by the priest at the chair and at the altar), there are proper antiphons and prayers for Masses on different days of the liturgical year: the Entrance Antiphon, Collect, Prayer over the Offerings, Communion Antiphon, and Prayer after Communion. The texts of the five chanted propers, however, are found not in the Roman Missal, but in another liturgical book, the Graduale Romanum (used by the schola cantorum, or choir), which, like the Roman Missal, was revised after the Second Vatican Council.
In his work The Reform of the Liturgy 1948–1975, published posthumously in Italian in 1983, Archbishop Annibale Bunigni, who served as secretary of the Consilium for the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (1964-69) and secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship (1969-75), recounted that the Consilium entrusted the revision of the books of Gregorian chant to the Abbey of St. Peter of Solesmes, the French Benedictine monastery that has been a center for chant studies since its re-founding by Dom Prosper Guéranger in the 1830s. A revised Graduale Romanum was issued in 1974, and its introduction discusses the differences between the preconciliar and postconciliar editions.
The abbey of Solesmes has also published the Gregorian Missal, which contains the Order of the Mass in Latin and English, as well as the five proper chants of the Mass (from the Graduale Romanum) and the proper prayers for the Mass (from the Roman Missal) for Sundays, solemnities, and feasts of the Lord.
The five chanted propers in the Graduale Romanum are the introit (entrance chant), gradual, Alleluia, offertory, and Communion chant. The gradual holds the same place in the Graduale Romanum as the responsorial psalm does in the Lectionary. During Lent, the tract replaces the Alleluia chant, and during Eastertide, there are two Alleluia chants, the first replacing the gradual.
At times, the texts of the introit and Communion chant for a particular day in the Graduale Romanum differ from the texts of the Entrance Antiphon and Communion Antiphon on that same day in the Roman Missal, and the text of the Alleluia for a particular day in the Graduale Romanum at times differs from the text in the same day in the Lectionary.
The Graduale Romanum is not the only official liturgical book containing chants for use at Mass. Following the Second Vatican Council, the Graduale Simplex was developed by the Consilium in collaboration with the monks of Solesmes. The Graduale Simplex, issued in 1967 and revised in 1974, is the result of Sacrosanctum Concilium’s call for “an edition [to] be prepared containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches” (no. 117).
In addition, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops requested in 2001—and received from Rome in 2002—the permission to allow for the singing of the Entrance Antiphon and Communion Antiphon from the Roman Missal. In the Church’s liturgical discipline, these two antiphons are typically intended for recitation when there is no singing (GIRM, nos. 48, 87).
Thus, in the dioceses in the United States, the GIRM lists several legitimate options for singing at the entrance and at Communion:
(1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum, as set to music there or in another setting; (2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduale Simplex for the liturgical time; (3) a chant from another collection of Psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including Psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) another liturgical chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year, similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop (no. 48, cf. no. 87).
Cantus, the Latin word translated as “chant” in the fourth option, means “that which is sung,” Father Richard Hilgartner, executive director of the USCCB’s Secretariat for Divine Worship, told Catholic News Service in 2011, thus allowing for the singing of hymns—an option permitted in Musicam Sacram, the 1967 curial instruction on sacred music, which described hymns as a “custom legitimately in use in certain places and widely confirmed by indults” (no. 32).
In many parishes, this last option from the GIRM—the singing of a hymn—is the sole option at the entrance and at Communion that parishioners have experienced for several decades.
Likewise, at the offertory, few Catholics have heard the option of an offertory chant from the Graduale Romanum, with most parishes legitimately singing a hymn instead (GIRM, no. 74).
After the first reading and before the Gospel, most parishes use the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel acclamation from the Lectionary, rather than the chants from the Graduale Romanum or Graduale Simplex, which are also legitimate options (nos. 61-62).
Most parishes in the English-speaking world, then, find themselves in a curious position at this juncture in liturgical history. On the one hand, the Church teaches that within the context of the ordinary form of the Mass, “the main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy” (GIRM, no. 41). On the other hand, another option, also legitimate, has become ingrained in the practice of most parishes.
Practical aids to chanting the propers
“A desire to sing the proper texts of the Mass as encouraged in Sacrosanctum Concilium (nos. 116-117) and prioritized in the General Instruction on the Roman Missal (no. 48) has become increasingly evident since the recent implementation of the new English translation of the Roman Missal,” ICEL’s Msgr. Wadsworth told CWR. “One of the obstacles to the practical realization of this desire is the relative scarcity of chant resources in English.”
“My first piece of advice to priests and their liturgical musicians is to consider that the advent of the Internet has revolutionized the manner in which music is published,” Msgr. Wadsworth added. “Publishers of liturgical music are no longer the sole source of materials for music in the Mass. Much music is available, and generally free of charge, through a number of important websites that enable composers and musicians to share the fruits of their labors with an immediacy that was previously unimaginable.”
“The new edition of the Roman Missal contains more music than any of its predecessors and that includes a certain amount of music for the singing of proper texts, particularly in Holy Week and certain other feasts,” notes Msgr. Wadsworth. “All of this music (including accompaniments) is to be found at the ICEL music page.”
Msgr. Wadsworth paid tribute to the Church Music Association of America for its work in making the Mass propers more accessible.
“One organization, above all others, has made this quest its particular project in recent years – the Church Music Association of America (CMAA),” said Msgr. Wadsworth, who described its website as “a splendid resource at the service of all who wish to sing the proper texts either in Latin or in English. Within this site there is access to a vast array of musical resources, all free for download and immediate use.”
Jeffrey Tucker, the managing editor of the CMAA’s quarterly journal, Sacred Music, told CWR that “the realization of the role of propers came only in the last few years” and helped overcome debates between proponents of different hymns.
“All of us came to realize that the debate over hymns was rather pointless,” he said. “The point of the Vatican II instructions was to proclaim the word. The word is already given to us [in the propers]. That was an incredible revelation. It changed everything.”
Msgr. Wadsworth says that several resources offered by the CMAA are “highly useful” for a parish “that might be making its first foray into the territory of sung propers” or that otherwise wish to foster Gregorian chant: Adam Bartlett’s Simple English Propers, Arlene Oost-Zinner’s Parish Book of Psalms, the Simple Choral Gradual of Richard Rice, and Father Samuel F. Weber’s “extensive range of settings.”
“We are certainly experiencing a Gregorian chant renaissance in our day, and we are very blessed to see a flowering of new musical resources that find their inspiration in the inestimable treasures of sacred music which the Second Vatican Council spoke of and exalted,” says Bartlett, director of sacred music at Saints Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix.
many parishes are not yet ready to take on the full singing of these chants in their Latin settings, and it is for this reason that both the Simple English Propers (SEP, 2011) and the Lumen Christi Missal (LCM, 2012) were developed and published. The SEP sets the text of the Graduale Romanum, in English translation, for the entrance, offertory, and Communion for Sundays and feasts and is intended for beginning and average parish choirs to undertake the singing of the full proper of the Mass in simple musical settings that can be sung effectively each week. The LCM, however, is a book for Catholics in the pew, and it provides for them (among many other things) a repertoire of sung propers in English that can be sung by ordinary parish congregations with a sensitive and gradual introduction and with good catechesis.
Oost-Zinner told CWR that her intention in developing the Parish Book of Psalms was “to write original, modal melodies for the short antiphons and use Gregorian psalm tones for the verses. The melodies are based on the flow and sound of the English text, similar to the way in which traditional Gregorian chant melodies arose from the Latin text.” Msgr. Wadsworth describes them as “attractive settings of responsorial psalms for use through the year.”
Father Weber, a Benedictine who is currently stationed at St. Eugene’s Cathedral in Santa Rosa, California and whose works are available online, told CWR that he is working on three books that will be published by Ignatius Press: The Propers of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, The Sunday Vesper Book for Parishes, and The Book of Responsorial Psalms, Gospel Acclamations, and Sequences for Sundays and Solemnities.
“The English antiphons [are] written in a chant style that grows out of the natural pattern and flow of the English text—and the polyphonic settings draw their musical ‘grammar and vocabulary’ from traditional Catholic Church music,” says Father Weber. “All the settings are for the approved English texts, however. The ‘atmosphere,’ if you will, that this music creates, is the same as that of the tradition of the Roman Rite, only using English words.”
Msgr. Wadsworth also recommends several other resources for introducing the propers in parishes. Referring to the archabbey in Indiana, he says that the “St. Meinrad monk and prolific composer and arranger of chant, Father Columba Kelly, OSB, has a number of useful resources on the monastery’s site.” He also notes that “Corpus Christi Watershed has a wide variety of resources that could be immediately helpful in a parish context.”
The Vatican II Hymnal, published in 2011, “might be an excellent way to help congregations follow the wishes of the Council and ‘pray the Mass,’” says Jeffrey Ostrowski, president of Corpus Christi Watershed. “This book contains simple Mass settings approved by the USCCB, the complete readings…and 100 percent of the Mass proper texts. With the Vatican II Hymnal, no matter how the choir sings the propers (in English, in Latin, using psalm tones, etc.), the congregation can always follow the prayers as the Council desired.”
“More than 200 beautiful hymns for the congregation were also included, since it is not always possible for choirs to be present at every single Mass,” adds Ostrowski, who told CWRthat “a huge portion of the music provided by Corpus Christi Watershed comes from contemporary composers.”
Referring to The Anglican Use Gradual, published by C. David Burt in 2004, Msgr. Wadsworth said that “the musical experience of Catholics who worship in accordance with the Anglican Use is put at the service of the wider Church in [this] very interesting collection of chant.”
“Gregorian chant both in English and in Latin in the Catholic Church is on the upswing,” says Burt. “The Anglicans have a tradition of chant and hymns which has been successful for many years.”
Burt told CWR that “except for special occasions, the preparation of the traditional Latin chants from the Graduale Romanum is beyond the scope of most parish choirs. But the simpler chants in The Anglican Use Gradual and in Bartlett's Simple English Propers are quite within their reach. Combining these chants with congregational hymns is also extremely effective.”
“There are two further possibilities that offer the possibility of immediate implementation with minimum preparation and even the most modest musical resources,” added Msgr. Wadsworth. “There are a number of publishers that offer settings of proper antiphons using simple Gregorian psalm tones; the work of Lawrence M. Rutherford in his English Psalm Tone Propers would be an example of such an approach. The hymn-writer Kathleen Pluth has produced a collection of Hymns for the Liturgical Year which are often verse settings of introits or other proper texts that may be sung to well-known hymn tunes.”
“Since most choirs are unfamiliar with singing the totality of antiphons of the Mass, the beginning selection for this chant should be as familiar and simple as possible, that is, in the vernacular and using plain chant or psalm tones,” says Rutherford, whose English Psalm Tone Propers “fulfills both of these requirements, as they are an uncomplicated method of introducing chant to the Mass.” He said that his forthcoming work “is currently at ICEL and the USCCB for their permissions.”
“My interest in the proper texts lies in their ability to take evangelization to an even deeper level,” says Pluth. “Pastors are undoubtedly aware that some members of their congregations pray contemplatively. I believe that every Catholic is called to a profound life of prayer, to the contemplative life…God has wisdom to share with us, and the proper texts allow us to find that wisdom.”
Pluth and some of the other musicians and liturgists contacted by CWR recommend that any parishes that wish to implement the propers do so over time.
“The introduction of chant propers should be accompanied by education—not only of the musicians, but also of the congregation so that the people can appreciate the scriptural roots, historical tradition, theological significance, liturgical purpose, and pastoral value of these chant pieces,” says Dr. Paul Taylor, executive secretary of the National Liturgical Council, an advisory body established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. “From a musical point of view, proper chants (and ordinary chants) require proper training! Otherwise, poorly prepared and sung liturgical music can have a negative effect on the congregation it is meant to serve.”
“Whatever one’s preferences among these options might be, any decision should not be made based on one’s personal preferences, but on the common good of the whole parish and in dialogue with the appropriate members of the parish—for example, the music director, members of the choir, members of the liturgical committee,” adds the USCCB’s Father Merz.
“I think [implementing propers] is relatively straightforward: I always wonder why so little has been done to establish it in the 50 years since Vatican II,” says Msgr. Wadsworth. “We have an opportunity to do something about that now, and I believe that the effects would be immediately evident and the improvement to the quality of our celebration of the Mass very considerable.”
Mostly Evensong, there are some Communion and Carol services here, too; check the archives page as well. Listening just now to February 17; the canticles are Howells' Collegium Regale - and both the choir and the sound quality are really very, very good.
Salisbury Cathedral Choir sing Charles Villiers Stanford's wonderful Magnificat in G. Apologies for the start and for the proud Mum of the soloist during the Gloria at the end. The clip was taken from a documentary.
And here's the wonderful text of the Evening Canticle:
My soul doth magnify the Lord : and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded : the lowliness of his handmaiden. For behold, from henceforth : all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath magnified me : and holy is his Name. And his mercy is on them that fear him : throughout all generations. He hath showed strength with his arm : he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seat : and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things : and the rich he hath sent empty away. He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel : as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, for ever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen.
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