Gloria VI

We are currently singing Mass VI at our Missa Cantata, and it is, in my opinion, an exceptionally singable mass setting. The Gloria is particularly memorable, and the use of identical cadences creates a lovely echo effect.

After we have learned Mass VI very well, it would be a worthy goal to learn to sing the strophes antiphonally between choir and congregation. This is the admirable practice of French traditional Catholics, and nothing is more thrilling than hearing the call-and-response effect between choir and congregation at the church of Ste.-Eugene-Ste.-Cecile when they sing the Ordinary of the Mass.

A recording is available at the liturgia.com website here. 

Some of the altar servers chillin' after Mass on Sunday.

Nice review about our TLM

I happened to come across this favorable commentary, Praying like it's 1962, about our Sunday Latin Mass celebration at St. John's Chapel Cemetery. It was written by Ryan James Girdusky, a member of the congregation and featured on the local online news site operated by the Juniper Park Civic Association.

Thank you so much, Ryan, for the nice words!

Mass VI, Rex Genitor

Deus, Rex Genitor (O God, our Father, Lord and King!)

We will be singing Mass VI from the Kyriale, the Missa Rex Genitor, for the next couple of weeks. Practice videos and mp3's are available here from Corpus Christi Watershed:

Kyrie

Gloria

Sanctus

Agnus Dei

Even more Candlemas Pictures

Angelis Suis by John Joseph Fux

This lovely piece is taken from the Gradual of the First Sunday of Lent. Score may be found here.

Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te: ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.

In manibus portabunt te, ne unquam offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum.

God shall give His angels charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee in their hands:
lest thou should ever strike thy feet against a stone.

My favorite chant schola

. . . is the original Schola Bellarmina under the direction of Fr. Bernard Lorber. I listen to their recordings of the Sunday propers from the Graduale Romanum every week in preparation for the coming Sunday, I have been using their 7-volume set of L'Annee Liturgique as my primary resource for the propers for three years running and never fail to find fresh insights.

I never tire of their light, serene interpretation, buoyed as it is by an ingeniously subtle modal organ accompaniment.

Comprehensive review of  Corpus Christi Waterhed's fine new Missal, the St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal, by Fr. Justin Nolan, FSSP, at Rorate Caeli blog.

Some of my friends have this splendid hand missal, and there are lots of oohs and ahs when they let the rest of us look through it after Mass. This might be especially useful for those new to the traditional Latin Mass and for children and young adults.

More pictures of Candlemas

Candle Mass

Still basking in the glow from our beautiful Mass this morning on the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We processed around the chapel outdoors since the weather was fine and there was a blessing of throats after Mass so the liturgy was lengthy but it didn't feel long at all----in fact, I didn't want to leave after Mass, it was such a lovely, festive morning.

St. Nicholas Visits St. John's Chapel

Ad te levavi

Music for the Feast of the Presentation

Deo gratias!

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.

Franciscus pauper et humilis

The Alleluia verse for today's celebration of the feast of St. Francis.

Mother Francis Mary in her book, A Right to be Merry, describes singing the Transitus from which these words are taken.

St. Michaelmas Alleluia

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.

Credo VI

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 Amen:

St. John's Cemetery Chapel on a summer Sunday.

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: