We're so grateful for our altar boys at St. John's Cemetery Chapel who so earnestly and devoutly assist Father at our Sunday morning Missa Cantata.
It's one of the highlights of my Sunday morning to see them after Mass rushing out of the sacristy to play football in the sun among the old tombstones. I can't help but think that the dear departed welcome their laughter and youthful high spirits as well.
The Alleluia for the Feast of St.Michael yesterday presented some challenges, the first being that there seemed to be no recordings of it available. I was happy to discover through someone on the Musica Sacra forum an awesome resource: www.gregorianbooks.com which offers many recordings of hard-to-find propers so that was a happy benefit of my search.
The Alleluia is of particular note.
I found this section the most challenging with its two climacus of different lengths.
Looking through the various Credo's in the Kyriale, I was fascinated by this oft-recurring figure in Credo VI. It is repeated 21 times as the conclusion of every phrase.
The Messe Royale has long been a favorite of the French. The famous church of Saint-Eugene-Saint-Cecile at Paris, where the EF Latin Mass has been celebrated for the last 25 years, frequently sings this beautiful chant mass, composed in the 16th c. by Henri du Mont.
Wikipedia tells us that from 1652 Henri Du Mont was harpsichordist at the court of the Duke of Anjou (Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, a brother of Louis XIV), and in 1660 he obtained that post to the young queen Marie-Thérése. In 1663 he became "maitre" of the Chapelle Royale in Versailles, in 1672 he became "Sous-maître de la musique du Roy" (with Pierre Robert) and in 1673 became Master of the Queen's Music.
The notation may be found here, but I've had no luck in finding the organ accompaniment online. Will keep trying since I would love to introduce this mass setting to our schola and congregation. Of course, it's always possible to sing it acapella but we've found that using the accompaniment is a helpful aid in encouraging the people to sing along with the schola.
These recordings are from Saint-Eugene-Saint-Cecile:
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