Christopher Wells of Vatican Radio interviews Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa about Vox Clara’s current working agenda, its goals, and Church matters in general.
Requiem for All Souls, St. Agnes
Hearing Chant in a Completely New Way
I’ve always been intrigued by the results of semiological studies that attempt a more precise rendering of the early signs, and comparing the results with the conventions of the first half of the 20th century when chant was rendered with a more equalist approach to rhythm.
A great way to discover the results of these studies comes from Fr. Anthony Ruff and his choir at St. Johns Abbey and University. A new CD called “Singing with Mary and the Saints” provides just this. The results are bright and fresh and, for those of us who sing propers year round, a fascinating look at a different approach. It might be the most compelling version of this revisionist approach to chant that I’ve heard.
For one thing, there is a certain bow to modernity in that the CD uses mixed voices. This is very difficult to do. Intonation must be perfect, and blend too. But they pull it off really well. This helps modern choirs too because mixed-voice chant is just part of the reality of our times. The two octaves can be startling at first but then you settle in and come to really appreciate its musical and sociological dimension.
Not knowing that much about how to interpret the old signs, I can only defer to Fr. Ruff here but it is fascinating to say the least. He goes further than most semiologists by changing not only rhythmic conventions but even notes (many Bbs are changed to B naturals). Is this the way chant was sung in the 9th century? I don’t see how anyone can know but it is surely interesting to hear one interpretation. It is very competently and confidently rendered. There are no missteps here. Both choir and director are determined and sure footed throughout.
If you just want to listen for reasons of piety and not musicology, there is a large pay off also, since the antiphons they chose are some of the most famous and interesting for the liturgical year.
Nicely done. If you have never heard the results of these kinds of studies, Singing with Mary and the Saints is a great way to familiarize yourself with this approach.
Westminster Cathedral Choir sings Mozart’s Requiem
Cross-posted from NLM: a concert performance of the Mozart Requiem will be sung by Westminster Cathedral Choir on Wednesday 13th November 2013 at 7.30pm. The full programme and details are below:
Mozart, Adagio and Fugue for Strings K546
J S Bach, Komm Jesu komm, BWV 229
Mozart, Ave verum corpus K618
Mozart, Requiem (Mozart/Sussmeyer version)
Westminster Cathedral Choir and Orchestra
Conducted by Martin Baker, Master of Music
Sophie Bevan soprano
Frances Bourne alto
Robert Murray tenor
David Soar bass
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk or from the Cathedral Gift Shop (priced £10 – £40)
Review of St. Agnes Conference
Here is a wonderful review of the CMAA conference two weeks ago in St. Paul, Minnesota:
by Mary Catherine Levri
On October 14th, I had the pleasure of playing a short recital at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. I was one of six musicians who performed for a conference sponsored by the Church Music Association of America. It was titled, “The Renewal of Sacred Music and the Liturgy in the Catholic Church: Movements Old and New.”
I usually attend the CMAA’s annual Colloquium that takes place in the summer, but my business with the Basilica Summer Choir (plus the opportunity to play this recital at the October conference) caused me to opt for this smaller, more academic conference in the fall. Directed by Dr. Jennifer Donelson, the Academic Liaison of the CMAA, the conference focused on issues at the heart of the renewal of liturgical music before, during, and after the Second Vatican Council. In a special way, the conference reflected on the legacy of Monsignor Richard Schuler (1920-2007), a musician priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis who gave much of his priestly life to the preservation of the Catholic musical tradition. He is most famous for founding the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale in 1955. Part of the conference took place at St. Agnes Church, the church at which Msgr. Schuler was pastor for thirty-six years. It was in this beautiful Baroque church that conference participants were treated to the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale’s performance of the Mozart Vesperae solennes de confessore on the first night of the conference.
The following two days of the conference consisted of spoken presentations, music recitals, and participation in liturgies. A number of the talks were quite good, and some were especially enlightening. Fr. Robert Johansen, a priest from the Diocese of Kalamazoo, gave a talk on the musical initiatives of the Liturgical Movement in the two decades leading up to Vatican II. Fr. Johansen explained that in these initiatives, active participation in the liturgy was fostered in a particular way through the congregational singing of chant. He asserted that the singing of chant by the congregation is a liturgical action that possesses a “sacramental” quality, making it all the more important for this sung participation in the Mass to be encouraged today. Having lived in nothing other than the post-Vatican II Church, it was enlightening for me to realize that such practical musical reform was already taking place in the United States before the Council. Fr. Johansen’s presentation led me to realize that as lonely as I can sometimes feel in my efforts as a church musician, I am not starting “from scratch” when I encourage congregations to sing the music of the Church. I am always already standing on the work of others.
Congrats! A community actively participating
After the posts last week, I’ve been musing a bit over the nature of participation- what that means in a possible Thomistic sense, and how that conception affects what we do and how we do things.
One thing I have been turning over in my head and in conversation is the idea of community participation in the liturgy in and through the (ostensibly) non-liturgical actions and work of the parochial church as an organization and also the actions and of a parish’s members, individually.
There was a time when the substance of liturgical celebration came directly from the community: the baking of bread, the vinting of wine, the pressing of oil, the cutting of stones, and the working of precious metals were all done by craftspeople and artisans whose guilds supported the local cathedral, basilica, monastery, or parish church. Even the luxury goods that had to be imported – silk from China, dye from Turkey, incense from Arabia – represented not just a monetary expense but moreover the labor and cunning of merchants and traders.
I believe that a critical part of the new liturgical movement is the discovery or invention of new ways to re-establish a liturgical participation of the parish community in this traditional sense – a sense in which the day to day business of living, the work and labor of the people, is a part of the journey upward and flowing outward within which the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass is truly “the source and summit of the Christian life.”
By this I do mean the simple “participation” in which everyone “gets to do something” or “is encouraged to contribute.” I don’t (just) mean an environment wherein a kind leader finds a way to use the contributions and hobbies of parishioners for some ostensible good, and liturgy is a showcase for “what people are interested in.” I mean, rather, a sacramental culture, wherein the work of the people is fundamentally ordered to and formed by the Eucharist.
Obviously, the difficulty here is that we are not, for the most part, a culture of people who make things. While I do think there could be an important role for the Church in re-orienting our society towards the inclusion and development of a strong artisinal culture, we must still – today – find ways to connect the economic life of the people with the sacramental life of the Church.
I had been thinking about all of these things in a vague philosophical way recently when, thanks to Facebook, I found a perfect living example of just this very thing. And no surprise, it came from the Cafe’s own Fr. Christopher Smith.
Fr. Smith’s parish, Prince of Peace, just recently finished paying the debt service on their building. The video below is a celebration of that milestone, a celebration placed firmly at the center of the community, honoring the work and sacrifice of the people who contributed to the parish and its building fund over the last decade.
Congratulations to Prince of Peace parish on this amazing milestone! May God bless your continuing ministry and witness.