Category: Ben Yanke

I’m always interested by chant settings of common prayers such as the Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen), Ave Maria (Hail Mary). Recently I was alerted to a new composition with the text of the St. Michael Prayer! I have to say, I really like it. At first glance, I noticed the nice word painting of the higher notes over “hosts of heaven” and the lower notes for “evil spirits.” I may end up using this.

What do you think about it? Check out the PDF here, or the original source here.

HT Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

Needless to say, the Musica Sacra Forum is one of the most valuable locations on the web for musicians (and others!) wanting to learn more about the church’s deep music tradition, network with other musicians, or even have more general liturgical discussions sometimes. Not to mention you can hang out with some of the Cafe writers who often drop in over there! If you’re a musician working in a parish, or just someone with an interest in liturgical music, it’s worth checking out once and a while! If you have a question, jump right in and start a discussion, and you could get an answer from some of the finest musicians throughout the country.

Now here’s your MSF recap for the week! And don’t forget to visit the forum directly as well, because this is just a small selection of the discussions going on over there right now!

• Should the gloria be spoken without a choir?
• Sung Masses on weekdays?
• A lively discussion on the seasonally appropriate hymn tune, Lambillotte
• Singing “Come Holy Ghost” to other hymn tunes besides Lambillotte
• How to sing Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices with odd voicing
• A musical recap for Ascension and Pentecost from MD’s around the country
• Liturgical Congregational Singing – general discussion and comments
• New composition: metrical communion chant for Sts. Peter and Paul