Chant Café

Msgr. Charles Pope takes on the great hymn–of Advent.

On this Vigil of Our Lady’s great feast, I wanted to draw our readers’ attention to an exciting new album by the Dominican Friars in Washington DC, called Ave Maria: Dominican Chant for the Immaculate Conception.

This is a large set of music, as can be seen from its gorgeous libretto here in PDF. The brothers have an especially unified sound that comes from singing together many times a day.

Dominican Chant has its own heritage that is somewhat distinct from, and historically parallel to, Roman chant. The Solemn Salve Regina, for example, has more–unwritten–lengthenings of notes than the cathedral version, while retaining the te on the “nobis,” which is a ti in other editions, such as the Carthusian. 

As a mendicant Order, the Dominicans required a unified liturgy so that a friar transferred from one house to another would easily find his way through the Mass and Hours. All the easier that he might hear in his mind’s ear his founder St. Dominic’s exhortations to the choir: “Stronger! Faster!”

Just in time for Christmas, in honor of the Blessed Mother on her great Feast, order the CD here and support a huge thriving seminary full of the next generation of the Order of Preachers at the service of the Church.

Get out of the snow. Put away those Christmas toys. And head to the land of sun and sacred music!

The Winter Chant Intensive from January 5th to the 8th is your perfect way to celebrate the feast of the Three Kings in style.

The Church Music Association of America’s Winter Chant Intensive is a opportunity to study with the best.

The Chant track offers an intensive course with the chant master, Jeffrey Morse.  Beginners will be well grounded and intermediate singers will soar under his tutelage.

The Sing the Mass track with Matthew J. Meloche of the Phoenix cathedral will bring priests, deacons, seminarians, and those who would teach them elsewhere up to speed on the chants of the Mass.  If the celebrant chants, who can resist joining in?  And no prior musical experience is required.

If you don’t want to go, how about helping to defray costs for someone you know?  A choir director, schola leader, or a worthy cleric. When you give the gift of this music, you are a patron of the sacred arts and help advance the renewal of the liturgy in our time.

Find out more and register today at musicasacra.com. 

Composer Colin Mawby asks “What is sacred music?”