Monday 6 April 2015

Two men is all it takes...

Yesterday, Jonathan and I sang the Easter Mass. That consisted of:

Vidi Aquam
Introit: Resurrexi, et adhuc tecum sum
Kyrie (Mass I: Lux et origo)
Gloria (Mass I: Lux et origo)
Gradual: Haec dies quam fecit Dominus
Alleluia: Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus
Sequence: Victimae paschali laudes
Credo I
Offertory: Terra tremuit
Sanctus (Mass I: Lux et origo)
Agnus Dei (Mass I: Lux et origo)
Communion: Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus
Prayer for the Queen: Domine salvam fac
Antiphon to Our Lady: Regina caeli

It was a big sing for two voices, and it was not perfect; but we sang it to the best of our ability, and with very few mistakes. Another voice or two would have been helpful. 

Of course, ideally we would have had some sacred polyphony at the Offertory and Communion as well.

But my point is that it only takes a couple of men, prepared to put in the practice, and a willing Parish Priest, to start to restore some of our heritage of sacred music - and fulfil the mandate of the Second Vatican Council (cf Sacrosanctum Concilium) that Gregorian Chant retain its pride of place as the music most fitting for liturgical worship.

And the chant is truly magnificent!



2 comments:

Patricius said...

Happy Easter!
Congratulations to both of you!
Here in the world of what I take to be the "Reform of the Reform" we had the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei of the Missa de Angelis, the Missal chant of the new English translation of the Gloria, (all sung by the congregation unaccompanied) the Vidi Aquam (traditional chant) and English Introit and Communion antiphons set to psalm tones sung by the cantor and three traditional English Easter hymns with the Regina Caeli, afterwards. We also managed a responsorial psalm. Unfortunately proper Gregorian Propers are beyond this cantor's meagre abilities. In fact we didn't even do them in the choir of which I was a member in my (pre1969) youth- apart from the Requiem, that is. The celebrant also sang the prayers, dialogue and Preface. So, perhaps not up to your standard but...there is hope!

Ben Trovato said...

Patricius

Interestingly, if you have sung the Requiem, you would recognise some of the musical phrases in the Gradual I included in this post: they are identical to phrases in the Gradual of the Requiem - a lovely link between death and resurrection!