Pope Benedict XVI Schola

Tonight I returned home after attending the 2009 Sacred Music Colloquium in Chicago. From Monday evening, June 22, through this morning, we rehearsed Gregorian chant and polyphony daily, sang at Mass, and attended workshops and lectures. Tuesday morning after Mass I thought, "If we participated in Masses like this every week, it would change our lives." It is impossible to be indifferent to such a Mass. Such a Mass is so profoundly otherworldly, so oriented to the transcendent, so powerfully prayerful that it is impossible to be lukewarm. One must choose whom one will serve.

If you haven’t been, you can’t imagine the joy of being with and singing with 250-some like-minded people—all of them talented singers, music directors, and/or instrumentalists—who know the church’s teachings on sacred music, support them fully, and will never say "Why do we have to sing all this Latin?"

These Masses were the closest thing to perfect liturgies that I’ve ever seen or heard. The rubrics were respected. The church’s wishes for liturgical music were respected: full Gregorian propers for every Mass (except for Tuesday, for which English propers were sung) as well as Renaissance motets. For two of the Masses choirs sung polyphonic ordinaries (Mass parts).

You can listen to some of the sound files here.

Here is the advanced women’s chant schola (including yours truly) singing "Tu puer," the Alleluia from the Graduale on the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist. Our conductor was Dr. William Mahrt, one of the finest chant scholars in the world. Dr. Mahrt is president of the Church Music Association of America.

Here is Cardinal George’s homily–with an excellent message for church musicians.

When the Gregorian Alleluia from today’s Mass is posted, I will post a link. It included the most beautiful solo chant I’ve ever heard, by a soprano who obviously has not only a profoundly beautiful instrument but also a great mastery of chant technique.

Did you say you are not yet a member of CMAA? Join this year for $36. Dues increase next year to $48. At any price, membership is a bargain and includes a subscription to the excellent quarterly journal Sacred Music.

I’ve just finished a project I started more than a month ago—writing a brief introduction to the propers of the Mass. I attempt to explain what the propers are, what the church says about them, why we should sing them, and where settings can be found.

You can read my attempt on this site. I’ve also cross-posted the page to the website for the East Tennessee chapter of the Church Music Association of America.

We had the privilege tonight of singing for the confirmation Mass at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville.

We sang two pieces for a 10-minute prelude—the chant Confirma hoc and the three-part Jesu Rex Admirabilis attributed to Palestrina—that also included two organ pieces.

We joined the Holy Ghost choir for the Mass and sang an introit (an English setting of Judica me, Deo, composed by Vladimir Soroka), several dignified hymns, and Albin Mascek’s setting of Veni Sancte Spiritus. Good stuff all around.

Here’s the schola in its current incarnation: from left, me (Mary Weaver), Dan Pacitti, Susan Dixon, Steven Hensley, and Nancy Harless.

The schola sang beautifully at Our Lady of Fatima Church on March 14. Here’s what I posted on the CMAA forum:

Note that most of the music I mentioned—including the Palestrina, the Perosi, the Anglican Use Gradual, and Father Kelly’s propers—is available free online.

I am preparing a guide to the propers for the website of the East Tennessee chapter of CMAA. I’ll post about it here when it’s available.

I just created a Facebook group in an attempt to attract more young singers.

Please join us!

Mary

We began this effort almost exactly a year ago, on Feb. 24, 2008. Our members have changed a bit–we’ve lost a few and gained a few. We gained a new member last Thursday, and I’m grateful for her interest. So now we have five regulars. Still a very small ensemble . . . but we’re making music.

I believe the only thing limiting us now is our small numbers. I’m praying for new members and have sent notices to a number of church bulletins in the Knoxville area.

Oh, and we are now rehearsing at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville, arguably the most beautiful Catholic church in the area. I appreciate the welcome the music director and the priests have given us.

If you love chant and polyphony, whether you’re an utter novice or a veteran, consider spending a week in what’s been called "musical heaven" this summer. That’s where I plan to be.

What: Sacred Music Colloquium XIX

When: Monday, June 22, through Sunday, June 28

Where: Loyola University in Chicago

Who: sponsored by the Church Music Association of America

Find all the details here.

Our friends at CMAA have revised the organization’s excellent FAQ on sacred music. It includes a great deal of information that could be used to help educate the faithful. And it could help bolster your position if you’re in the position of having to justify your use of chant and polyphony.

It looks as though we have at least four who can sing Sept. 13, the vigil for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Below are links to some resources you’ll need. I’ll bring copies Tuesday night, but if you’re so inclined, you can download your own beforehand.

I’d like for us to learn Liszt’s setting of the ancient Latin hymn Vexilla Regis. Liszt includes two of the verses, here in English translation:

Abroad the regal banners fly,
now shines the Cross’s mystery:
upon it Life did death endure,
and yet by death did life procure.

That which the prophet-king of old
hath in mysterious verse foretold,
is now accomplished, whilst we see
God ruling the nations from a Tree.

We’ll definitely sing the Chabanel Psalm for the day and a chanted alleluia verse, as we did on Aug. 14.

The Communio is Per signum Crucis. The antiphon text (translated) is "By the sign of the Cross, deliver us from our enemies, O our God."

We may sing the Salve Regina chant.

And I’d like to learn a three-voice bit of polyphony if we can swing it. Good choices include Asola’s setting of Christus factus est and a Lasso setting of Adoramus te, Christe. Both are appropriate to the feast. Indeed, the Christus factus est text is the same as that of the Graduale for the day. The Graduale is the proper that is typically replaced these days by the responsorial psalm.

Count on a dignified hymn or two.

To listen to sound files of some of the pieces mentioned here, click this link and investigate the pages.

I’ve been communicating most of our news via our Google group/e-mail list or private e-mail. But we have not been idle.

Five of us sang for the vigil of the Assumption on Aug. 14 at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa. I was very pleased with the group. We were small but mighty!

Highlights of the Mass included the Chabanel psalm for the day; a two-part "Ave Maria" by Perosi at offertory, followed by "Salve Regina," the seasonal Marian antiphon; and the chanted proper at Communion, "Beata viscera." Dignified hymns at processional and post-Mass recessional.

We’ve been invited to sing at St. John Neumann in Farragut for the vigil of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (also known as the Triumph of the Cross), and if we have sufficient numbers, we’ll do it. My initial thoughts include Liszt’s "Vexilla Regis," the Communio ("Per signum Crucis"), the Chabanel psalm for the day, "Salve Regina," and whatever polyphonic piece we can learn. Two possibilities are Asola’s "Christus factus est" and Lasso’s "Adoramus te, Christe." Both are available from cpdl in editions for three parts.

Note an addition to the sidebar at right: links to my public page on iterasi.com. It looks like an easy way for me to share info and links on the fly with members.

If you’re interested in joining the schola, comment on this post or e-mail me.

By the way–there may be changes ahead in our rehearsal schedule. I’ll keep you posted.