Clear Creek Monastery, 2013

This is a 52-minute version of a shorter video that's been around for a number of years now, I believe.   Clear Creek is a Benedictine Monastery in Oklahoma; the video addresses the topics of the order in general, and of Clear Creek in particular.  There are short segments about the Offices, as well.

"New York Polyphony: Early music. Modern sensibility"

Here's a new NYP video - nice! It includes one of the entries from their recent Remix project. That's the Church of St. Mary the Virgin there, at the end.



From the YouTube page:

Praised for a "rich, natural sound that's larger and more complex than the sum of its parts," (National Public Radio) NEW YORK POLYPHONY is regarded as one of the finest vocal chamber ensembles in the world. The four men "sing with intelligence, subtlety and consummate artistry," (Richmond Times-Dispatch) applying a distinctly modern touch to repertoire that ranges from austere medieval melodies to cutting-edge contemporary compositions.

http://www.newyorkpolyphony.com
http://www.facebook.com/newyorkpolyphony

Video produced by Marchmen Media
http://www.marchmenmedia.com

Song credit:
Victimae paschali laudes (VPL Cubist Remix)
New York Polyphony/ David Minnick
Devices & Desires
© 2013 Polyphonic Productions

Choir Books, at the Biblioteca Nacional de España

Here's something interesting from a page at the National Library of Spain (Spanish language page here); a Chantblog reader just pointed it out to me:

Choir books

The collection of choir books belonging to the Biblioteca Nacional de España, which originated in large from the ecclesiastical confiscations of the 19th century, comprises almost one hundred liturgical books which came from a number of ecclesiastical centres and are now held in our library.

These lectern books provide key testimony to the tradition of Gregorian chant in Spain. It is very different from any other cathedral or monasterial a collection as its features are heterogeneous, both in terms of origin and format. This collection contains a wide codicological and melodic representation of the copious production of choir books over the centuries, which is of great interest both to musicologists and Gregorian experts and for philologists and scholars of ancient Spanish books.

All of this reveals the need to develop the current database to provide a solution and service to the various essential issues regarding cataloguing and research. On the one hand, it will enable the Library to achieve a more detailed level of bibliographic description, in accordance with the peculiarities of this repertoire. And on the other, this systematisation and standardisation of all the aspects of the lectern books (missals, graduals, antiphonal books, etc.) should become a benchmark for the Spanish-speaking world and any institution with this singular kind of bibliographic collection.

There are two links on the page:  one that gives Access to the database; the other links to The music and musicology collection.  I believe that "the ecclesiastical confiscations of the 19th century" is a reference to this event described at Wikipedia:

The Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal, Spanish: Desamortización Eclesiástica de Mendizábal, more often referred to simply as La Desamortización, encompasses a set of decrees from 1835–1837 that resulted in the expropriation, and privatisation, of monastic properties in Spain.

The legislation was promulgated by Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, who was briefly prime minister under Queen Isabel II of Spain. The aims of the legislation were varied. Some of its impulses were fostered by the anticlerical liberal factions engaged in a civil war with Carlist and other reactionary forces. The government wished to use the land to encourage the enterprises of small-land owning bourgeoisie, since much of the land was underused by languishing monastic orders. The government, which did not compensate the church for the properties, saw this as a source of income. Finally, wealthy noble and other families took advantage of the legislation to increase their holdings.

Ultimately, the desamortización led to the vacating of most of the ancient monasteries in Spain, which had been occupied by the various convent orders for centuries. Some of the expropriations were reversed in subsequent decades, as happened at Santo Domingo de Silos, but these re-establishments were relatively few. Some of the secularised monasteries are in a reasonably good state of preservation, for example theValldemossa Charterhouse, others are ruined, such as San Pedro de Arlanza.

Shades of Henry VIII; I didn't know about this.

The database, though, is very interesting.  Things are happening!

O ignis Spiritus Paracliti (Hildegard von Bingen)

For Pentecost, "O fire of the Spirit, the Comforter," by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179); this is among my favorite texts.   The original Latin, with an English translation, is below the video.  

O ignis spiritus paracliti,
vita vite omnis creature,
sanctus es vivificando formas.

Sanctus es unguendo
periculose fractos,
sanctus es tergendo
fetida vulnera.

O spiraculum sanctitatis,
o ignis caritatis,
o dulcis gustus in pectoribus
et infusio cordium
in bono odore virtutum.

O fons purissime,
in quo consideratur
quod Deus alienos colligit
et perditos requirit.

O lorica vite
et spes compaginis membrorum omnium
et o cingulum honestatis:
salva beatos.

Custodi eos qui carcerati sunt
ab inimico,
et solve ligatos
quos divina vis salvare vult.

O iter fortissimum
quo penetravit omnia
in altissimis et in terrenis
et in omnibus abyssis
tu omnes componis et colligis.

De te nubes fluunt, ether volat,
lapides humorem habent,
aque rivulos educunt,
et terra viriditatem sudat.

Tu etiam semper educis doctos
per inspirationem sapiente
letificos.

Unde laus tibi sit,
qui es sonus laudis
et gaudium vite,
spes et honor fortissimus
dans premia lucis.


O fire of the Spirit, the Comforter,
Life of the life of all creation,
Holy are you, giving life to the Forms.

Holy are you, anointing
The dangerously broken;
Holy are you, cleansing
The fetid wounds.

O breath of sanctity,
O fire of charity,
O sweet savor in the breast
And balm flooding hearts
With the fragrance of virtues.

O limpid fountain,
In which it is seen
How God gathers the strays
And seeks out the lost:

O breastplate of life
And hope of the bodily frame,
O sword-belt of honor:
Save the blessed!

Guard those imprisoned
By the foe,
Free those in fetters
Whom divine force wishes to save.

O mighty course
That penetrated all,
In the heights, upon the earth,
And in all abysses:
You bind and gather all people together.

From you clouds overflow, winds take wing,
Stones store up moisture,
Waters well forth in streams --
And earth swells with living green.

You are ever teaching the learned,
Made joyful by the breath
Of Wisdom.

Praise then be yours!
You are the song of praise,
The delight of life,
A hope and a potent of honor,
Granting rewards of light.

 Note: The English version is adapted from Barbara Newman's literal English translation, in Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, 2nd ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), 151.

Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae (The Holy Week Office): Tomás Luis de Victoria

This is quite amazing; a complete - I think so, anyway; it's 3+ hours of music - recording of this work by Victoria. 



Victoria wrote this in 1585.  The YouTube page includes a link labeled as "source and information": http://www.amazon.com/Victoria-Officium-Hebdomad%C3%A6-La-Colombina/dp/tracks/B0009IW8ZS/ref=dp_tracks_all_1#disc_1

I'm not sure if the music here comes from that recording;  it would make sense that it's the same, though - otherwise why link to this page?  The musicians listed there are these:  La Colombina (Artist), Schola Antiqua (Artist), Josep Cabré (Performer), Juan Carlos Asensio (Performer).   The recording is, it looks like, out of print now; it sure is beautiful.

Below is the track list from the above page; the first 5 pieces are from Palm Sunday - and most of the rest come from Matins of Maundy Thurday (In Coena Domini), Good Friday (In Passione Domini), and Holy Saturday (Sabbato Sancto).

In other words, the greatest part of this music was written for the Office of Tenebrae - Matins and Lauds of the great Three Days.   The pieces include readings (including some from the Lamentations of Jeremiah), antiphons, responsories, hymns, and pieces from John's Passion and the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday.

To follow along with the Matins sections, use Divinum Officium; enter the date at the top of the page, then click "Matutinum" at the bottom.  You can listen to St. Thomas' Tenebrae sung in plainsong here.

Disc: 1

1. Dominica in Ramis Palmarum. Vexilla regis, more hispano
2. Dominica in Ramis Palmarum. Antiphona: Hosanna filio David
3. Dominica in Ramis Palmarum. Pueri Hebraeorum
4. Dominica in Ramis Palmarum. Passio secundum Mattheum
5. Dominica in Ramis Palmarum. Elevatio: O Domine Jesu Christe
6. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Antiphona: Zelus domus tuae (begins about 32:20)
7. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Versiculum: Avertantur retrorsum et erubescant
8. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio prima: Incipit lamentatio Jeremiae
9. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio secunda: Vau. Et egressus est
10. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio tertia: Jod. Manum suam
11. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Antiphona: Liberavit Dominus
12. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Versiculum: Deus meus eripe me
13. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Quartum responsorium: Amicus meus
14. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Quintum responsorium:  Judas mercator
15. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Sextum responsorium: Unus ex discipulis
16. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Antiphona: Dixi iniquis
17. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Versiculum:  Exsurge Domine
18. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Septimum responsorium:  Eram quasi agnus
19. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Octavum responsorium: Una hora
20. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Nonum responsorium: Seniores populi
21. Feria Quinta. In Coena Domini. Ad Missam. In Missa. Tantum ergo (Pange Lingua; 5 v.)

Disc: 2

1. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Antiphona: Astiterunt reges terrae  (begins about 1:14:25)
2. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Versiculum: Diviserunt sibi vestimenti mea  
3. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio prima: Heth. Cogitavit Dominus  
4. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio secunda: Lamed. Matribus suis dixerunt
5. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio tertia: Aleph.  Ego vir videns
6. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Antiphona: Vim faciebant  
7. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Versiculum: Insurrexerunt in me testes iniqui  
8. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Quartum responsorium: Tamquam ad latronem  
9. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Quintum responsorium:  Tenebrae factae sunt  
10. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Sextum responsorium:  Animam meam dilectam  
11. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Antiphona: Ab insurgentibus in me  
12. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Versiculum: Locuti sunt adversaum me lingua dolosa  
13. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Septimum responsorium:  Tradiderunt me  
14. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Octavum responsorium:  Jesum tradidit impius  
15. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Nonum responsorium:  Caligaverunt oculi mei  
16. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Laudes. Antiphona: Posuerunt super caput eius - Benedictus Deus Dominus Israel  
17. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Solemni Actione Liturgica. Passio secundum Ioannem (begins about 2:03:00)
18. Feria Sexta. In Passione Domini. Ad Solemni Actione Liturgica. In Adoratione Crucis.


Disc: 3

1. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Antiphona: In pace in idipsum
2. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Versiculum: In pace in idipsum
3. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio prima: Heth. Misericordiae Domini  
4. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio secunda: Aleph. Quomodo obscuratum  
5. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Primo Nocturno. Lectio tertia: Incipit oratio Jeremiae  
6. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Antiphona: Elevamini portae aeternalis
7. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Versiculum: Tu autem Domini Miserere mei
8. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Quartum responsorium: Recessit pastor noster
9. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Quintum responsorium: O vos omnes, qui transitis per viam  
10. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Secondo Nocturno. Sextum responsorium: Ecce quomodo moritur  
11. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Antiphona: Deus adiuvat me
12. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Versiculum: In pace factus est locus e
13. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Septimum responsorium: Astiterunt reges
14. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Octavum responsorium: Aestimatus sum
15. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Matutinum. In Tertio Nocturno. Nonum responsorium: Sepulto Domino
16. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Laudes. Antiphona: O mors, ero mors tua. Psalmus 50: Miserere mei Deus
17. Sabbato Sancto. Ad Laudes. Antiphona: Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem

"The Renaissance of the Mass Propers"

A good article today by J. J. Ziegler in Catholic World Report:

March 05, 2013

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.

Bartlett, who has also developed the Lumen Christi Missal, told CWR that

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 CWR that “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.”

"New Gregorian Chants Group Blends Modern and Ancient"

From the Swarthmore College Daily Gazette:

New Gregorian Chants Group Blends Modern and Ancient

By Veda Khadka
February 5, 2013

“Ars’ an gobha fuiricheamaid
Ars’ an gobha falbheamaid
Ars’ an gobha ris an ogha
Na sheasamh aig doras an t-sabhail
Gu rachadh e a shuirghe”

(The blacksmith said, “I’ll wait”
The blacksmith said, “I’ll go”
The blacksmith said, in his confusion
Standing at the door of the barn
That he was going to go courting)

- Fionnghuala, by Anúna, early Gaelic

Interested? Confused? Both? With the new Gregorian chants group starting up, get ready to hear a whole lot more of ‘Fionnghuala’ on campus. The group had its first interest meeting last Friday evening and intends to have more rehearsals and performances throughout the semester.

The ensemble, initiated by Aaron Kroeber’16 and Canaan Breiss’16, centers on a form of vocal performance they both enjoy. “Sitting around procrastinating on a lazy sunday afternoon, we discovered we each liked chant; not many others do,” Kroeber said. “We figured it would be a crazy, cool idea if we got other people to come do this.”

The pieces are a form of a cappella performance where the words don’t overlap: “they’re all sung at once with certain characteristic harmonies, octaves and fifths” Kroeber said. Breiss pointed out that the group was “looking more at polyphonic chants that have different harmonies and drones,” and a more modern sound.

Traditional chant is performed in unison, without overlapping harmonies, leading to a monophonic sound very reminiscent of a liturgical atmosphere. Drones play a large part in creating the sound most people associate with traditional Gregorian chants: the sustained repetition of single notes throughout a melody was a common technique used in this form of chant. Polyphonic chants, however, consist of two or more melodic voices singing at once, creating a more contemporary melody.

This modern sound allows them to include female parts in a traditionally male performance. The group certainly does not lack aspiring female performers, like Phoebe Cook ‘15, who was pleasantly surprised to find a group on campus who shared her interest. “I’ve always liked chant and never known anyone else who did [...] I was curious and surprised and just hope to chant!” she said.

The duo are looking at cobbling their own music together from various recordings. Due to the common lack of awareness and appreciation for chant, Breiss and Kroeber are using their past vocal training and many years of choir experience (both have been performing in choirs since their early teens) to lead the group, transcribing certain pieces and working out a form of musical notation that integrates traditional forms with modern ones.

Traditional chant notation used symbols called “neumes”: simple squarish figures that indicated with great precision tonal movements and the duration of a note. Most Gregorian chants, however, were performed from memory. Drawing on his musical experience with the cello, Breiss aims to complicate existing notation by transcribing available chant into a notation that combines the modern five-line staff and a cellist’s fingering chart.

Although most available music is liturgical, “we’re a secular performance group” Breiss says, “though robes may or may not be optional.”

Though the group is in its infancy and still hoping to attract new members, Swatties can look forward to performances that are energetic, entertaining and, (no pun intended) enchanting.

Photo by Ellen Sanchez-Huerta/The Daily Gazette

Hildegard of Bingen: Spiritus Sanctus

Hildegard's feast day was two days ago, September 17. This is from the YouTube video description:

"Spiritus Sanctus, the second Antiphone and Psalm 110/111 from the vesper of Hildegard von Bingen. Admiring the height of God´s Creation, praising him, thanking him."

The antiphon sung at the start is one of Hildegard's own compositions, and one of my favorites:

Spiritus Sanctus vivificans vita,
movens omnia,
et radix est in omni creatura,
ac omnia de immunditia abluit,
tergens crimina,
ac ungit vulnera,
et sic est fulgens ac laudabilis vita,
suscitans et resuscitans omnia.

And here's my favorite translation of this bit of verse:

Holy Spirit,
Giving life to all life,
Moving all creatures,
Root of all things,
Washing them clean,
Wiping out their mistakes,
Healing their wounds,
You are our true life,
Luminous, wonderful,
Awakening the heart from its ancient sleep.

The Psalm sung here is #111 (#110 in the Roman numbering system. The following comes from this Parallel Latin/English Psalter:

______________________________	______________________________
Psalmus 110 (111)	Psalm 110 (111)
1 Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo in consilio iustorum et congregatione	1 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; in the council of the just: and in the congregation.
2 Magna opera Domini exquisita in omnes voluntates eius	2 Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all his wills
3 Confessio et magnificentia opus eius et iustitia eius manet in saeculum saeculi	3 His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever.
4 Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum misericors et miserator Dominus	4 He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord:
5 Escam dedit timentibus se memor erit in saeculum testamenti sui	5 he hath given food to them that fear him. He will be mindful for ever of his covenant:
6 Virtutem operum suorum adnuntiabit populo suo	6 he will shew forth to his people the power of his works.
7 Ut det illis hereditatem gentium opera manuum eius veritas et iudicium	7 That he may give them the inheritance of the Gentiles: the works of his hands are truth and judgment.
8 Fidelia omnia mandata eius confirmata in saeculum saeculi facta in veritate et aequitate	8 All his commandments are faithful: confirmed for ever and ever, made in truth and equity.
9 Redemptionem misit populo suo mandavit in aeternum testamentum suum sanctum et terribile nomen eius	9 He hath sent redemption to his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name:
10 Initium sapientiae timor Domini intellectus bonus omnibus facientibus eum laudatio eius manet in saeculum saeculi	10 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding to all that do it: his praise continueth for ever and ever.