Chant totorial for the New translation
http://vimeo.com/channels/cmaa
Simple Propers
http://musicasacra.com/simple-propers-of-the-mass-ordinary-form/
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Bishop Slattery and the Sung Introit
Posted by Jeffrey Tucker
http://www.chantcafe.com/2010/11/bishop-slattery-and-sung-introit.html
Bishop Slattery of Tulsas has offered a wonderful case for bringing back the sung introit. What he calls for here is PRECISELY what the Chant Cafe has been pushing with the Simple English Propers Project. We are making progress in this campaign but we need your help. Please make a donation today.
But today I would like to suggest one simple change by which we might begin to recover the sense that the liturgy is something we receive, rather than something we create. I do not propose this as the most important or essential change towards this end, but merely as one change, one step, one movement away from the chaos of created liturgies towards the proper vision of the Council.
What I would like to propose is that we recover the sung introit at Mass.
I know that for two generations now, Catholics have been expected to sing an opening hymn at Mass and in many parishes the faithful are regularly browbeaten to “stand up and greet this morning’s celebrant with hymn #so-and-so” which, depending upon the parish, might be taken from the red hymnbook, or the blue hymnbook, or the nicely disposable paperback missalette. So deeply has this ‘opening hymn mentality’ shaped our consciousness that most Catholics would be astounded to hear me say that hymns have no real place in Mass.
Hymns belong in the Liturgy of the Hours and in the common devotions of the faithful, but the idea that the parish liturgy committee should sit down sometime early in the month and look through a hymn book, trying to find pretty hymns which haven’t been overdone in the past three or four months, which explore the themes of the Sunday Masses and which brings the people together as a singing community is an idea completely alien to the spirit of the Catholic liturgy.
It is alien first of all because the singing of hymns as Sunday worship was a Protestant innovation, better suited to their non-Sacramental worship than to the Mass, and alien secondly because an opening hymn introduces - at the very inception of the sacred action - that element of creative busy-ness, which is, as we have seen, antithetical to the nature of salvation as a gift we receive from God.
What belongs at the beginning of Mass is the sung introit, that is a sung antiphon and psalm. In the Catholic liturgical tradition, these are unique compositions in which a scriptural cento is set to a singular piece of music. The melody explores and interprets the text of the cento, while the composition as a whole illuminates the meaning to be discovered later in the readings of the day.
The Sung Introit
These sung introits have been an integral part of the Latin Rite, and remain so in the Extraordinary Form, where the schola or choir chants the more difficult antiphon, and the congregation sings the psalm. This gives the faithful both the chance to listen and respond, practicing, in effect, the basic elements of the Mass, listening and responding, listening, for example to the Word of God as it comes to us in the readings, and then responding to the Father’s initiative by offering to Him the obedience of Jesus.
Unfortunately these antiphons have never been set to music in the Novus Ordo. For forty years they have sat, lonely of notation, at the top of each page in the Sacramentary unable to be sung, until even the memory of the sung introit has passed away.
Yet there are changes afoot and reason to hope. The introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal, now definitely set for the First Sunday of Advent of next year, gives me reason to anticipate a new beginning here. Faithful to the spirit of the Latin text and with an accurate translation into a consciously sacred style of English, the new Missal points to a rediscovered seriousness in the way America celebrates her liturgy and perhaps a greater appreciation as well of the elements of liturgy which have been discarded these past forty years.
Perhaps with this new seriousness, and given the need to compose new chant melodies to accompany the new translations, this may well be the time when liturgists will begin discussing the meaning of a received liturgy; when composers might make their first attempts to set these antiphons to a simple English Plain Song, and when publishers might begin to produce worthy and dignified liturgical books.
at 8:57 AM 15 comments Links to this post
Labels: Jeffrey Tucker
http://www.chantcafe.com/2010/11/bishop-slattery-and-sung-introit.html
Bishop Slattery of Tulsas has offered a wonderful case for bringing back the sung introit. What he calls for here is PRECISELY what the Chant Cafe has been pushing with the Simple English Propers Project. We are making progress in this campaign but we need your help. Please make a donation today.
But today I would like to suggest one simple change by which we might begin to recover the sense that the liturgy is something we receive, rather than something we create. I do not propose this as the most important or essential change towards this end, but merely as one change, one step, one movement away from the chaos of created liturgies towards the proper vision of the Council.
What I would like to propose is that we recover the sung introit at Mass.
I know that for two generations now, Catholics have been expected to sing an opening hymn at Mass and in many parishes the faithful are regularly browbeaten to “stand up and greet this morning’s celebrant with hymn #so-and-so” which, depending upon the parish, might be taken from the red hymnbook, or the blue hymnbook, or the nicely disposable paperback missalette. So deeply has this ‘opening hymn mentality’ shaped our consciousness that most Catholics would be astounded to hear me say that hymns have no real place in Mass.
Hymns belong in the Liturgy of the Hours and in the common devotions of the faithful, but the idea that the parish liturgy committee should sit down sometime early in the month and look through a hymn book, trying to find pretty hymns which haven’t been overdone in the past three or four months, which explore the themes of the Sunday Masses and which brings the people together as a singing community is an idea completely alien to the spirit of the Catholic liturgy.
It is alien first of all because the singing of hymns as Sunday worship was a Protestant innovation, better suited to their non-Sacramental worship than to the Mass, and alien secondly because an opening hymn introduces - at the very inception of the sacred action - that element of creative busy-ness, which is, as we have seen, antithetical to the nature of salvation as a gift we receive from God.
What belongs at the beginning of Mass is the sung introit, that is a sung antiphon and psalm. In the Catholic liturgical tradition, these are unique compositions in which a scriptural cento is set to a singular piece of music. The melody explores and interprets the text of the cento, while the composition as a whole illuminates the meaning to be discovered later in the readings of the day.
The Sung Introit
These sung introits have been an integral part of the Latin Rite, and remain so in the Extraordinary Form, where the schola or choir chants the more difficult antiphon, and the congregation sings the psalm. This gives the faithful both the chance to listen and respond, practicing, in effect, the basic elements of the Mass, listening and responding, listening, for example to the Word of God as it comes to us in the readings, and then responding to the Father’s initiative by offering to Him the obedience of Jesus.
Unfortunately these antiphons have never been set to music in the Novus Ordo. For forty years they have sat, lonely of notation, at the top of each page in the Sacramentary unable to be sung, until even the memory of the sung introit has passed away.
Yet there are changes afoot and reason to hope. The introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal, now definitely set for the First Sunday of Advent of next year, gives me reason to anticipate a new beginning here. Faithful to the spirit of the Latin text and with an accurate translation into a consciously sacred style of English, the new Missal points to a rediscovered seriousness in the way America celebrates her liturgy and perhaps a greater appreciation as well of the elements of liturgy which have been discarded these past forty years.
Perhaps with this new seriousness, and given the need to compose new chant melodies to accompany the new translations, this may well be the time when liturgists will begin discussing the meaning of a received liturgy; when composers might make their first attempts to set these antiphons to a simple English Plain Song, and when publishers might begin to produce worthy and dignified liturgical books.
at 8:57 AM 15 comments Links to this post
Labels: Jeffrey Tucker
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Schola: November calendar
At OLPH (practice on Mondays at 7:30)
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up starts at 7:40)
Nov.6, 20
Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ego sum vitis vera
Salve Regina
At Resurrection Church (practice on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM)
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Nov.13, 27
Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ego sum vitis vera
Salve Regina
At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
Nov. 21, Sunday, 10:30 (warm-up at 10AM)
Introit (Entrance antiphone) : schola
Entrance Hymn: Crown Him with Many Crowns (747)
Kyrie (857)
Gloria (858)
Responsorial Psalm:
Gospel Acclamation
Offertory Proper: schola
Sanctus (859)
Mysterium Fidei (priest)
(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias
(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord,
and we confess Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)
Doxology: Amen
Agnus Dei (862)
Communion Proper (schola)
Communion Hymn: Alleluia Sing to Jesus (742)
Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (702)
Children's Schola
(classes at St. Paul on Monday & at St. Michael's Academy on Thursday)
First Friday Mass, Nov. 5
OLPH 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)
Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Salve Regina
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ave verum Corpus natum
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up starts at 7:40)
Nov.6, 20
Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ego sum vitis vera
Salve Regina
At Resurrection Church (practice on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM)
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Nov.13, 27
Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ego sum vitis vera
Salve Regina
At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
Nov. 21, Sunday, 10:30 (warm-up at 10AM)
Introit (Entrance antiphone) : schola
Entrance Hymn: Crown Him with Many Crowns (747)
Kyrie (857)
Gloria (858)
Responsorial Psalm:
Gospel Acclamation
Offertory Proper: schola
Sanctus (859)
Mysterium Fidei (priest)
(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias
(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord,
and we confess Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)
Doxology: Amen
Agnus Dei (862)
Communion Proper (schola)
Communion Hymn: Alleluia Sing to Jesus (742)
Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (702)
Children's Schola
(classes at St. Paul on Monday & at St. Michael's Academy on Thursday)
First Friday Mass, Nov. 5
OLPH 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)
Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Salve Regina
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ave verum Corpus natum
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sacred vs. Secular cartoon
Here is a cartoon, produced by Corpus Christi Watershed, that got more than 12,000 views on YouTube within the first four days of its release. The cartoon was designed with humor in mind. The intent is to get folks to start delving into the Church’s legislation on Sacred music:
The cartoon is similar to another Corpus Christi Watershed video:
Can You Tell The Difference? Sacred vs. Secular Music at Mass
http://vimeo.com/10686215
Sacred Vs. Secular Cartoon from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.
The cartoon is similar to another Corpus Christi Watershed video:
Can You Tell The Difference? Sacred vs. Secular Music at Mass
http://vimeo.com/10686215
Monday, October 4, 2010
Vernacular hymns in the Liturgy of the Mass
I do use metrical vernacular hymns, but to me they are inferior to Gregorian chant, spritually and musically. They are not the text of the Mass, they are commentaries of individuals when they are used in Mass. Even if they are chosen by the most wise music director, they cannot surpass the chosen text by the Church.
English is a syllabic language, so it might fit better with the metered music. But metrical music cannot transcend like Gregoriant chant does. If a parish needs a commentary in Mass, I guess you need vernacular metrical hymns too. And if the parishioners are not familiar with Gregorian chant, I guess you have to use vernacular hymns. But there are also people who want to experience the liturgy without commentaries, the liturgy that trascends the time and space, which is supported by the music that highlights it.
"What active role did the apostles play at the Last supper? They let the astounding events enfold them, ...
"if I do not wash you, you have no part in me." (Mosebach, Heresy of Formlessness)
What part do we play in His sacrifice and how much commentaries do we need for His sacrifice?
I'd like to share the following I read recently. Even if you don't agree, it might help you to think twice before you promote vernacular metrical hymns in Mass. ( 'hymn' refers to vernacular hymn in the following quote, not hymns such as Gloria, Sanctus... )
"vernacular hymns have played significant part in the collapse of the liturgy. Just consider what resulted in the flowering of hymns: Luther's Reformation was a singing movement, and the hymns expressed the beliefs of the Reformers. Vernacular hymns replaced the liturgy, as they were designed to do; they were filled with the combative spirit of those dismal times and were meant to fortify the partisans. People singing a catchy melody together at the top of their voices created a sense of community, as all soldiers, clubs and politicians know. The Catholic Counter-Reformation felt the demagogic power of these hymns. People so enjoyed singing; it was so easy to influence their emotions using pleasing tunes with verse repetition. In the liturgy of the Mass, however, there was no place for hymns. The litrugy has no gaps; it is one single great canticle; where it prescribes silence or the whisper, that is where the mystery is covered with an acoustic veil, as it were, any hymn would be out of the question....
Still they were there: the sound of hundreds of people singing smothered the liturgy and obscured what was going on at the altar. It was clear that something needed to be done; but as we know, it was the hymns that were victorious, not the liturgy..."' (M. Mosebach)
English is a syllabic language, so it might fit better with the metered music. But metrical music cannot transcend like Gregoriant chant does. If a parish needs a commentary in Mass, I guess you need vernacular metrical hymns too. And if the parishioners are not familiar with Gregorian chant, I guess you have to use vernacular hymns. But there are also people who want to experience the liturgy without commentaries, the liturgy that trascends the time and space, which is supported by the music that highlights it.
"What active role did the apostles play at the Last supper? They let the astounding events enfold them, ...
"if I do not wash you, you have no part in me." (Mosebach, Heresy of Formlessness)
What part do we play in His sacrifice and how much commentaries do we need for His sacrifice?
I'd like to share the following I read recently. Even if you don't agree, it might help you to think twice before you promote vernacular metrical hymns in Mass. ( 'hymn' refers to vernacular hymn in the following quote, not hymns such as Gloria, Sanctus... )
"vernacular hymns have played significant part in the collapse of the liturgy. Just consider what resulted in the flowering of hymns: Luther's Reformation was a singing movement, and the hymns expressed the beliefs of the Reformers. Vernacular hymns replaced the liturgy, as they were designed to do; they were filled with the combative spirit of those dismal times and were meant to fortify the partisans. People singing a catchy melody together at the top of their voices created a sense of community, as all soldiers, clubs and politicians know. The Catholic Counter-Reformation felt the demagogic power of these hymns. People so enjoyed singing; it was so easy to influence their emotions using pleasing tunes with verse repetition. In the liturgy of the Mass, however, there was no place for hymns. The litrugy has no gaps; it is one single great canticle; where it prescribes silence or the whisper, that is where the mystery is covered with an acoustic veil, as it were, any hymn would be out of the question....
Still they were there: the sound of hundreds of people singing smothered the liturgy and obscured what was going on at the altar. It was clear that something needed to be done; but as we know, it was the hymns that were victorious, not the liturgy..."' (M. Mosebach)
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