Thursday, May 16, 2013

A Splendid French Mass Setting

Henri Dumont (1610-1674)
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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