Category Archives: sacred music

Come, Let’s Rejoice: A Celebration of English Renaissance Music

tallisPlease save the date, time, and place of our next concert:

2:30 p.m. Saturday, October 18
Holy Ghost Church
1041 N. Central St., Knoxville, TN 37917

During this hour-long performance, the Pope Benedict XVI Schola will sing works of the musical giants of Renaissance England—composers such as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, John Sheppard, and Christopher Tye.

Soprano soloist Maria Magdalena Rist and lutenist Thomas Tallant will also perform a set of sacred songs.

Here’s the lineup for the schola’s two sets:

  • Out from the deep, Thomas Tallis, 1505-1585
  • Verily, verily, Tallis
  • Lord, let thy servant, Christopher Tye, c 1505-1573
  • If ye love me, Tallis
  • Give almes of thy goods, Tye
  • Rejoice in the Lord alway, anonymous
  • Mass for four voices (sung by schola quartet), William Byrd, 1540-1623
    • Kyrie
    • Agnus Dei
  • Ave verum corpus, Byrd
  • Hear the voice and prayer, Tallis
  • A new commandment, Tallis
  • Cibavit eos (sung by schola quartet), Byrd
  • The Lord’s prayer, John Sheppard, c 1515-1556
  • Come, let’s rejoice, John Amner, 1579-1641

There’s no fee for the concert, but we’ll gratefully accept “love offerings.”

Questions? Please e-mail me, Mary Weaver, or call me at 865-437-8620.

Download a concert poster here.

New FAQ on sacred music

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.

choosing music

I was talking with a friend on Monday night—an excellent bass whom I’d like to pull into the schola—about what sort of music we’ll be singing. I’ve been musing on the topic and will try to give you the nutshell version of my thoughts.

The blurbs I’ve been publishing say the schola will sing Gregorian chant (aka “plainsong”) and polyphony. But that’s not really very specific. The primary framework for my music decisions is the Mass: the proper texts for the Mass, the Scriptures for a specific Mass, and finally, the liturgical season.

What are the propers? These are settings of very specific scriptural texts for each Mass and feast day, as presented in the Graduale Romanum, or Roman Gradual. The propers may also be found in the Gregorian Missal, which has the virtue of offering English translations (for comprehension, not for singing).

The propers are not songs to sing at Mass—they are the Mass, an integral part of the liturgy.

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