Next Sung Mass – Sexagesima

The “gesima”s are so cool. Growing up Novus Ordo, Ash Wednesday just springs out at you and suddenly it’s Lent. Back in the 1962 calendar you had a little warning with Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays. They mean Seventieth, Sixtieth and Fiftieth respectively, counting down the days to Easter. Now we only have seven days in a week so they’re fudging the numbers a little here, but you get the idea. Some Orthodox phase out the goodies bit by bit – first its carnival – bye bye meat, then cheesefare – farewell to cheese and dairy, ready for Great Lent.

Also, if you can, the Saturday before Septuagesima is the day to farewell the Alleluia. Vespers has one last Alleluia party before packing them all away for Easter. Now we say “Laus tibi Domine, Rex aeterne gloriae” instead.

So, if we keep the Second Sunday of the month pattern then the next sung Mass is Sexagesima, 12th February this year. We’ll be doing Mass XI and Credo 1 (see Antoine Daniel for music and recordings. I’d like to try for proper Introit and Communion antiphons – see the videos at Rene Goupil. The videos use recordings from French monks and sound tonnes better than the mp3s, but either will help.

brevgradtract.pdf – the relevant page out of the Liber Brevior with the Gradual and Tract.

So the only thing left to type is the Offertory. A quick trip to jgabc and fix up the gabc into propers.pdf.

And then I realise the next sung Mass is actually Candlemas 2nd February – Mass 9. But hopefully that will be a Girraween choir Mass.

So to recap

1. first, make sure you know Mass XI and Credo I.
2. then look at Introit and Communion videos from Rene Goupil. If they look awful that’s okay. We should have a go the week before and see and I can always do another psalm tone.
3. then have a look at Liber Brevior’s brevgradtract.pdf and the offertory in propers.pdf

Don’t worry if you only get as far as the first point – that’s still a great start.

We usually end with a hymn in English. The collect mentions St Paul. We can always go for a Marian hymn. We can flip for it.

Holy Family

Quick update. We had a great Epiphany with much more experienced choirmaster taking the reins.

Then I was thinking of giving this month’s 2nd Sunday a miss, but its the Feast of the Holy Family and here goes.

propers 3 page pdf with Introit, Offertory and Communion with experimental very simple antiphons. The introit and Communion are sort of a cross between psalm tone and proper antiphon – maybe psalm tone on steroids? along with some extra verses to fill up the time – otherwise there’s a gap between the end of the Kyrie and the beginning of the Gloria, though we have a great priest who helps out. And saves us having to think up a motet for Communion.

brevgradalle the relevant page from the Liber Brevior with their take on simple Gradual and Alleluia – keeping the proper Alleluia and psalm toning the verses.

alleluiaverse a short recording of me singing the above Alleluia.

And “Great St Joseph, son of David” at the end.

The feast of the Holy Family was fairly recent, and I think that’s why the music is harder to get the hang of.

Christmas 2011

‘Tis the night before Christmas and all ’round the world musicians are fretting about Midnight Mass.

So, here I should have a booklet of propers for the choir for Midnight Mass. This is the proper Introit and Communion, with the simplified Gradual and Alleluia from the Liber Brevior and the Offertory from the simplified propers of Guam.
propers.pdf 3 pages A5

I also have a booklet for the congregation with Mass 8 and Credo 3 – like what they sing at the Vatican Midnight Mass, but with different hymns – well, the Adeste Fideles at Communion time is the same.
MidnightMass.pdf 19 pages A5

This time I have managed to get along to a rehearsal! What a feeling! Practising the music without that awful feeling that Father’s coming round the corner with a couple of altar boys ready to start the Asperges. Many thanks to the choir that has been steadily practising in the background all this time.

May as well post here another booklet with the propers for next Sunday – 1st January. This has the propers all to the one psalm tone just like Rene Goupil has for most feasts, but not this one yet.
Here it is: newyearspropers.pdf 4 pages A5.

Next Mulgoa sung Mass is Epiphany – Friday 7pm. Get your proclamation of moveable feasts here. Stay tuned for another booklet. Missa de Angelis and Credo 3 again.

Sorry, it’s all a bit last minute – it’s been a bit of a roller coaster, but it’s all for the glory of God.

Also giving some thought to how to incorporate these booklets into dthymnbook.sf.net. I guess separate tarballs for each booklet.

The big hymnbooks are starting to slowly roll off the press. Getting them printed through Lulu would be the sensible way, but instead I’m printing them at home and making them into unique hardcover books.

Merry Christmas and may God bless you richly.

PS: This is in no way an official thing of what everyone should do. Just these booklets adapted to the situation at hand. I like flipping through other people’s booklets, so I share mine too. You can see the Pope’s booklets at vatican.va Liturgical Celebrations.

Gearing up for Gaudete Sunday

Sung Mass, second Sunday of the month, 10.45am St Mary’s, Mulgoa.

Choir practice booklet: advent3.pdf

The plan: Mass 17 – the one for Sundays in Advent and Lent
Credo 1
Proper propers, except the gradual and alleluia, which are like what I think the Liber Brevior would have (note to self, I must get myself a printed copy, currently on special at Fraternity Publications)
Rorate Caeli at the offertory – as per Mr Philip’s Mass Propers at Maternal Heart.org.au.
Hugh Henry‘s Anima Christi for Communion.

The proper propers are the thing to work on. For great videos with recordings from a French Monastery (Triors) and the chant up on the screen see Rene Goupil.org. Scroll down to Third Sunday of Advent and click the Video link (the mp3s are alright – usually sung solo by Matthew Curtis)

The ordinaries are at Antoine Daniel Mass.org

Notice there’s a prayer before Choir Practice at the beginning of the booklet. We need all the help we can get.

Two sundays for practice – it should be fine. If anyone turns up at 10am we can go through music before Mass – I’d like to add in some Latin singing at the Low Masses too – Veni O Sapientia, Conditor alme siderum, … So much music, so little time! and I’ve burnt the dinner, so back down to earth.

Ite Missa Est for November

Ite missa est from the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Ideas for this lesson – print all the Ite missa ests with corresponding Deo gratias and play some thing to match the two together – get people looking at the chant. Maybe do this on worksheets so keep it nice and quiet.

Since I’m out of time, the alternative is to write I-te mis-sa est and De-o gra-ti-as on the board and sing all the different tunes pointing to the corresponding syllables. Get across the wide variety of tunes in the Gregorian Mass settings.

Then thinking of something to prepare for the end of year concert. I think Mass 18 would be the way to go – its the one for ferias in Advent and Lent so no Gloria and no Creed. Easy.

I’d still like to tackle Non nobis Domine, attributed to William Byrd, but it has flopped so far. There’s always Dona nobis pacem to fall back on – I think it was this year we were doing that.

Does that make this the third year I’ve been teaching at Providence?

Zooming along on a one way ticket to eternity…

22nd Sunday after Pentecost

NovembersSungMass

This is for Sunday 13th November 2011.

Missa Orbis Factor (Mass 11) for the Kyrie and Gloria

and simpler Sanctus and Agnus Dei like the requiem Mass.

Psalm toned propers except the Alleluia like in the Liber Brevior.

Practice the Alleluia with this video from Rene Goupil.

Someone suggested “O Sanctissima” for an offertory hymn. Being the 13th of the month I guess that could be a nod towards Our Lady’s visits to Fatima.

It is getting easier with practice – getting used to where to come in and when to relax.

Next planned sung Mass is the Third Sunday of Advent – Gaudete Sunday. We are going to have a go at the proper propers. Also, there is so much beautiful Advent music – we might keep it simple with Rorate caeli and Conditor alme siderum.

Christus vincit!

Christus regnat!

Christus imperat!

There is such a lot of great music to celebrate Christ the King! So this Sunday we’re pulling together another short notice Missa Cantata.

Here is the booklet. This one is more for the choir.

So we have

• Asperges
• Missa de Angelis aka. Mass 8
• Credo 2
• Two simplified versions of the introit
• Gradual and Alleluia from the Liber Brevior simple versions
• Offertory and Communion to psalm tones
• Gloria Laus for an offertory motet
• Anima Christi as a communion motet – this is as typed up by Hugh Henry for the Christus Rex Pilgrimage books.

The two tricky parts here are the first version of the Introit and the Alleluia.

Dignus est Agnus dignusest.mp3

I’d like to sing this, I’m going to try get my children up to speed with it today, but there’s the alternative psalm tone version in the booklet in case it doesn’t happen.

Alleluiaalleluia.mp3

Notice the opening notes sound like Victimae Paschali Laudes, the sequence for Easter. In English we know that sequence as the base for “Bring all ye dear-bought nations, bring”.

For better recordings see Domini Nostri Iesu Christi Universorum Regis from Luís Henrique Camargo Quiroz’s webpage of Gregorian Chant. Rene Goupil.org doesn’t have its usual links to the recordings of the monks of Triors for this particular feast.

That guiltless Lamb who bought your peace
And made His Father’s anger cease…

Agnus Dei for October

The second Thursday of the month is rolling around again so its time to prepare something for the Providence Homeschoolers.

First run through the words:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, grant us peace.

Short reflection on the prayer from Women for Faith and Family.

Vocabulary

Easy this time

Agnus = lamb
Deus = God
Dei = of God
qui = who
tollis = takes away
peccata = sins
mundus = the world
mundi = of the world
miserere = have mercy
nos = us
nobis = on us/to us
donum = gift
dona = grant
pacem = peace
pax = peace

Sing a few

Film clips

Gregorian Chant
This is from Milan where the choir director Giovanni Vianini keeps making videos. He also has the website Canto Ambrosiano.

This is the same tune we’ll be running through, but the words are slightly different. This clip is from a Requiem Mass where the words “miserere nobis” are replaced by “dona eis requiem” and “dona nobis pacem” by “dona eis requiem sempiternam”.

Renaissance Polyphony

From the oldest known surviving polyphonic Mass, the Tournai Mass from Belgium, dating from 1349. It is dedicated to Our Lady.

Classical over-the-top orchestration
Franz Biber’s Missa Salisburgensis

Actually this is Baroque. Scored for 53 voices!

Usually Agnus Dei is a toned down piece.

Organ accompaniment

I made the flippant comment that we should have trained organists coming out of our ears. Today I got to speak to some people after Mass who play the piano. Now, there’s a certain culture where piano playing is like tying your shoes – you’ve got to be able to do it – not necessarily concert level, but at least being able to play something. There are lots of people who can play the piano.

We have the basic skills, we have the need, but we just need that extra bridge to do the last bit.

Here are some links about Music:

• Vatican II Hymnal including free downloads of their organ accompaniments. They’ll even send out a transposition for you via email on request!
• Nova Organi Harmonia 8 volumes of Gregorian chant accompaniments
• Small Church Music an organist from WA who records hymn accompaniments and posts them online. He also has free sheet music for the Public Domain ones.
• We have a copy of The Living Parish Hymnbook Accompaniment Edition (Low Setting) in our parish organ stool. Although it contravenes copyright (it was published in 1965) I have scanned it in and printed copies. I am sorely tempted to upload it here saying I don’t know who to ask for permission, but knowing some of the copyright holders of the contents, that would not be entirely honest. I’ll type up the contents that I know to be Public Domain and maybe find permission for the copyright pieces piece by piece. Work has started in the PDFs page.
• The Hymnal of St Pius X an Australian hymnbook from 1952 edited by Percy Jones, musical legend from Melbourne. I have also scanned in this one and printed copies.
• The Westminster Hymnal by Sir Richard R Terry, choirmaster of Westminster Cathedral. Available in print in my Books page
• A Treasury of Catholic Song by Fr Sidney Hurlbut, from Maryland, USA. Also available in print in my Books page

And here are some links about learning to play the organ:

• The Art of Playing the Organ by Eugene Thayer. This guy loves Bach so has got to be good. Its a pity they don’t have the complete set, but the Supplement has lots of Preludes that might work for Mass. More Organ Methods from IMSLP
• Praktische Orgelschule or Practical Organ School. This one has been newly typeset too.
• The New LDS Organist podcasts yes, its Mormon, but seems alright.
• IMSLP stands for International Music Score Library Project.

Final booklet for Sunday’s sung Mass

OctobersSungMass a5 pdf, 20 pages.

Continuing from First draft for next sung Mass

• Asperges,
• Gradual and Alleluia from the Liber Brevior
• Kyrie, Gloria and Ite Missa Est from Missa Orbis Factor (Mass XI)
• Credo 1
• Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Mass XVIII
• Other propers to psalm tones matching the mode from the prescribed chant.
• Communion hymn Jesu Dulcis Memoria
• Recessional “Thee, O Christ, the Prince of ages” an anonymous Australian hymn, sung to the same tune as “Praise, my soul, the King of heaven”.

Hope the weather allows for some chat time after Mass. It’s feeling kinda one sided, putting in the preparation and not having rehearsals to get feedback on how it’s going.

From Richard Terry’s book Catholic Church Music:

If the writer may be permitted to express and opinion, he does not think it desirable that the people should sing in the Mass where a really good choir is in existence, but in small country churches he firmly believes that it would be a wise plan to abandon the scratch choirs which vainly struggle with music beyond their powers, and to each the congregation to sing the Mass and other offices, either to Plain Chant or simple unison music. In several churches known to him this practice has been carried out for years with most satisfactory results, and it eminently desirable that it should become more general.

So with the system at the moment, I give out booklets and CDs and hope that someone will listen and learn over the weeks and turn up at Mass ready to join the singing – maybe even to intone something. It’s very unnerving in the lead up as there is a very real possibility that I will be singing solo which I DO NOT WANT.

Another plan is to market this to homeschoolers – have a day time practice. Even if they only come for the Sung Mass, as long as they get there early for a run through. I can even check on how they go with the CD and booklet over the telephone. Then they get training, a monthly performance, some exposure to Latin and liturgy.

Another part of me wants to steer clear of relying on children’s voices. There’s a tendency for adults to kind of abandon their own learning. Ideally we’d have the adults all joining in so the children can grow tall sort of growing up in their shade. Adults have great advantages – they can usually read, they have more mature voices, they often have a good dose of “I can’t sing” so aren’t too strident – though that can be a pain too.

And at the end I keep thinking this should have been done years ago. Every Catholic parish should be teaching Gregorian Chant. We should have trained organists coming out of our ears.

Please spare a prayer for my local parish – there’s a meeting tonight and a new priest on the way.

And happy feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Hey, if the rosary can defeat 300 odd Turkish and Algerian galleys, then our little niggles should be fine. Enjoy Lepanto by Gilbert Keith Chesterton.