Posted on by Adam Bartlett

Simple Propers for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

As a continuation of our experiment in sacred music resource production here are a set of “simple propers” for this week:

Download simple propers for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This work is the fruit of a collaboration between a host of Catholic musicians who have discerned a need in the Church for very simple settings of the propers, which are aimed at the current ordinary state of parish life. A team of volunteers is going to work on the compiling and formatting of source texts for this project and potentially many others, the collaborative effort can be followed by clicking on the links on the sidebar under “Open Source Projects”.

Help is still needed! If you would like to contribute some of your time to the project, even if it is small please, email me.

As noted last week, we are experimenting with various approaches to the “simple propers” idea. What seems to be working well, as confirmed by feedback from parish musicians of many stripes, is an approach where two antiphon settings are offered: One in the ultra-simple form of a St. Meinrad Psalm Tone, and a second in the form of melodic formulas that seek to meld the nature of a psalm tone with certain features of through composed Gregorian antiphons. These formulas are being developed by the writer of this post under the guidance of Fr. Columba Kelly, a known master of English chant. The challenge in this approach is to find a melodic formula that will work consistenly with all of the textual variations that are found in the English language (compared to the greater consistencies found in Latin), all while remaining intuitive to the amateur singer.

Here are two formulas that were developed for this week (note: these may change still and are still in a process of refinement)

The first is a Mode 8 setting of this weeks offertory:


This formula draws some inspiration from the Mode 8 “solemn” Gregorian psalm tone”, uses a 4-part structure, and is slightly more ornate in its intonations and terminations than the introit formulas that have been used thus far, which are of a similar nature. The goal here is to have a set of 8 formulas (one in each mode) for each genre (for the Introit, Offertory, and Communion–a total of 24 formulas). And the result, it is hoped, is that the formula is learned once by singers and thereafter the melody will be intuitively anticipated when it is used again and again.

The second example is a Mode 5 setting of this week’s Communion:

The formula here is essentially taken from the Mode 5 Gregorian psalm tone, with enough variation to set it apart from it, with needed adaptations to work well with English texts.
Be sure to look a the rest of the chants and please share feedback! Our hope is to be able to share the fruits of this work two weeks in advance to make it easier for use in liturgy–for now we’re doing the best we can!
There is still much help needed. If you would like to contribute some of your time to the project, even if it is small (no specialization needed) please email me.

4 Replies to “Simple Propers for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C”

  2. This is a fine resource for those that cannot use Latin. There are plenty of complimentary sources for the responsorial psalm and Alleluia that would complete the Propers for any Sunday. With little effort it is now becoming inexcusable not to be able to sing the Mass in English rather than to merely sing at Mass.
    In this connection, perhaps I missed something, but I have not heard much mention on this blog about Richard Crocker's original compilation of English Gradual (responsorial) Psalms, Alleluia Verses, and Tracts that he did for the Episcopal Church back in the late 70's. These are based on chant style melodies, and are in 3 volumes, one for each lectionary year. The Alleluia acclamations are especially interesting. They are part of the Church Hymnal series, and may be reproduced by any congregation without charge. Bruce Ford has recently put out a new revised edition of these in one volume, but Crocker's is still available new.

  3. I know nothing of Crocker's English Gradual, but of course what Catholics are looking for are Introits, Offertories, and Communions. Still it would be wonderful to have Crocker's work digitized.

  4. Jeffrey:
    Here is the first part of Year C at Google books if anyone is interested:

    http://books.google.ca/books?id=tQNa2wL8i9IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gradual+Psalms+:+with+Alleluia+Verses+and+Tracts+crocker&source=bl&ots=EfNwYeR9P8&sig=iZ0YIMLTZ4V969O4CIB59qKe7PE&hl=en&ei=bIKRTO3pEoOesQP3kqGRBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

    The second part of year C contains an extra section on Alleluias ad libitum. The Alleluia's would suitable for Catholics, and the authorised verses could be sung to psalm tones.

    For a total of 6 regular sized books (there are no page numberings) that would make quite a task to digitise, but may be worth it as a resource.

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