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Posted on by Adam Bartlett

Steven van Roode’s ‘Klein Graduale’ in use in the Netherlands

This past Sunday, at the Mass televised on Dutch national television, two pieces from Steven van Roode’s Klein Graduale were sung: the responsorial psalm and the verse before the Gospel. Here is the video:

The Mass was celebrated by Mgsr. Van den Hende, bishop of Breda at St. Quirinus Church in Halsteren, and the choir is the Cantorij of Hortus Musicus Religiosus from Bergen op Zoom, directed by Marcel van Westen.

Posted on by Jeffrey Tucker

Faculty Profile: William Mahrt

The leader of the faculty at the Sacred Music Colloquium, and, really, the leader of the entire sacred music movement, is William Mahrt of Stanford University and president of the Church Music Association of America. I really do wonder sometimes what the state of Catholic liturgical would be without his forty plus years of brilliant work in the background, directing his own schola, turning out fantastic students, and quietly leading by example. In his work and his example, he is an absolute treasure.

The other day, he was must have been home with a few minutes on his hands and he graciously used those minutes to post a series of comments on forums and on this website. In one, he explained the responsory structure of the offertory chant and how it differs from other propers of the Mass. I learned something I did not know. In another, he made the point that the GIRM seems especially written to address vernacular liturgy and why that has implications for how Latin translations are treated – and this too what a special insight.

In yet another comment, he addressed an old controversy about the role of “voice of God” music at Mass, pointing out that ordinary chants are directed toward addressing God whereas the chants of the propers do in fact use the voice of God – and this has implications for whether the congregation ought to be singing propers rather than the chants assigned to them in the ritual structure. This was the first new thought on this topic in twenty years, and it absolutely blew me away.

These were just three passing thoughts tossed out from his vast store of knowledge on this topic. Even after knowing him for years and listening to so many of his lectures, I’m nowhere near finished learning from him.

At the colloquium this year, he is teaching not only singing but also offering a lecture series on the propers of the Mass. When I heard that he intended to do this, I just stopped and said, “wow.” Truly this is going to be amazing. I hope it is recorded and posted. Even better is going to be actually hearing this live. This is important material, and there is no one in a better position to address this topic than Professor Mahrt.

It has been my great pleasure to work with him on the journal Sacred Music for the last five years, Time and again, he has made contributions that have given the journal its reputation for excellence. His knowledge is boundless and I’m often in awe of the things he knows that have been completely lost of me and my generation. He has so much to teach all of us.

He is also a unique case of a serious musicologist who is also a parish musician and practitioner of chant, working with volunteers in his parish for all these decades. He has always understood something that it took me many years to realized, namely that showing a lighted path forward is far more productive than wrangling over the past with hymn wars and the like. His combination of excellence in scholarship, practicality in performance, and absolute insistence on the primacy of beauty have formed the core of what the modern CMAA is all about. He also gave us all the language in which to discuss the whole topic of ideals in liturgy.

Posted on by Mr. C

An Invitation

to any parish, cathedral or scholastic choirs who would like to sing in the acoustic environment of our parish.
From the same concert on March 1st and the debut of my setting of ANIMA CHRISTI, here is
AVE MARIA by Tomas Luis de Victoria
as performed  in the round by the College of Sequoias Concert Choir
Jeffrey Seaward, Director
March 1, 2011
St. Mary’s Church, Visalia, California

contact Charles via cculbreth (at) tccov (dot) org

I wish the “surround sound” effect could be reproduced here.
Alas, just come out and visit us in CenCA. We’re just hours
away from everywhere in the Golden State!

Posted on by Jeffrey Tucker

Faculty Profile: Horst Buchholz

As a faculty member of the Sacred Music Colloquium Horst Buchholz, vice president of the CMAA and now the new director of the St. Louis Cathedral, contributes both musical experience and highly spirited love of sacred music. St. Louis is very fortunate, and now he has Fr. Samuel Weber as a colleague right there. Glorious things will emerge from this partnership.

I personally marvel at his ability to tackle any score so fearlessly, whether it is an orchestral Mass of the 18th century or a rich polyphonic work from centuries earlier. I’ve never experienced him as a conductor another setting but I understand from those who have that he is at home with Mahler as he is with Monteverdi. The music on the page must enter his musical imagination immediately, and he certainly has the capacity to use grace and charm to elicit from singers exactly what he hears in his head.

He has never missed a performance deadline. In some ways, he is the very opposite of a “diva,” happy to be as practical as necessary to get the job done but always with high standards. The Graduale Romanum is utterly transparent to him and he can probably sing sizable portions of it by memory. And for a person of such extraordinary training and accomplishment, he is so approachable and humble as well.

The first time he attended the colloquium, he came as an attendee, singing alongside everyone else. It was only later in the week that I realized just who he was – sort of like having the CEO of company show up in disguise as a regular customer.

Attendees are very fortunate for the chance to get to know him, and the Colloquium benefits enormously by having a musician of such high caliber in our presence for a week.

Posted on by Arlene Oost-Zinner

Colloquium Preliminary Schedule

Colloquium XXI is taking on the most marvelous shape. Among the composers we’ll be singing at Masses are Josquin, Lotti, Gallus, and Byrd; among the faculty are Horst Buchholz, William Mahrt, Edward Schaefer, Ann Labounsky, Charles Cole, Jonathan Ryan, Wilko Brouwers, MeeAe Nam, and more. Too many to list in this quick post.

Please join us at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in June. In the meantime, here’s a peek at the events slated for the week:

Monday, June 13
2:00pm-5:00pm – check-in
5:00pm-6:00pm – Opening Reception (PCSS)
6:00pm-6:45pm – Dinner and Welcome (PCB; Pasley, Oost-Zinner, Tucker)
6:45pm -7:30pm – Introductory Lecture (PCB); Dr. William Mahrt
8:00pm – Organ Recital (Dr. Paul Weber, Franciscan University; EPI)
9:00pm – Night prayer (EPI)

Tuesday, June 14
8:30am – Morning prayer (CHAP)
8:50am – Breakfast (PCB)
9:30am-11:00am – Chant Rehearsals (Beginning chant for men and women, Oost-Zinner (MP206); Intermediate Men, Morse (TMP); Intermediate Women, Hughes (MP307); Advanced Men, Cole (EPI); Advanced Women, Brouwers (PCB)
11:20am-12:30pm – Breakouts (Choose daily from four options: Anatomy of the Propers, Mahrt (PCB); Vocal Training, Nam (MP206); Semiology, Schaefer (TMP); Conducting Seminar, Buchholz (MP307)
12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch
1:40pm- 3:10pm – Polyphony Rehearsals: Nam, (TMP); Buchholz (EPI); Mahrt (MP307), Schaefer (MP206); Brouwers (PCB); Priests and Seminarians attend Priest Training, Pasley (MP?)
3:30pm – Mass (EPI)
5:15-6:30pm – Organ Repertoire and Performance: Cesar Franck ( I; Labounsky; EPI)
6:45pm-8:15pm – Dinner and Plenary Lecture – Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth (PCB)
8:30pm – Night Prayer (PCB)

Wednesday, June 15
8:30am – Morning prayer (CHAP)
8:50am – Breakfast (PCB)
9:30am-11:00am – Chant Rehearsals (Beginning chant for men and women, Oost-Zinner (MP206); Intermediate Men, Morse (TMP); Intermediate Women, Hughes (MP307); Advanced Men, Cole (EPI); Advanced Women, Brouwers (PCB)
11:20am-12:30pm – Breakouts (Choose daily from four options: Anatomy of the Propers, Mahrt (PCB); Vocal Training, Nam (MP206); Semiology, Schaefer (TMP); Conducting Seminar, Buchholz (MP307)
12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch
1:40pm- 3:10pm – Polyphony Rehearsals: Nam, (TMP); Buchholz (EPI); Mahrt (MP307), Schaefer (MP206); Brouwers (PCB); Priests and Seminarians attend Priest Training, Pasley (MP?)
3:30pm – Mass (EPI)
5:15-6:30pm – Organ Repertoire and Performance: Cesar Franck ( II; Labounsky; EPI)
6:45-8:30pm – Dinner and Plenary Session: Chants of the New Roman Missal; Wadsworth (PCB)
8:45pm – Night Prayer (PCB)

Thursday, June 16
8:30am – Morning prayer (CHAP)
8:50am – Breakfast and Wake Me Up: Parish Resources For Every Sunday: Tucker (PCB)
9:30-11:00am – Chant Rehearsals (Beginning chant for men and women, Oost-Zinner (MP206); Intermediate Men, Morse (TMP); Intermediate Women, Hughes (MP307); Advanced Men, Cole (EPI); Advanced Women, Brouwers (PCB)
11:20am-12:30pm – Breakouts (Choose daily from four options: Anatomy of the Propers, Mahrt (PCB); Vocal Training, Nam (MP206); Semiology, Schaefer (TMP); Conducting Seminar, Buchholz (MP307)
12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch
1:40pm- 3:10pm – Polyphony Rehearsals: Nam, (TMP); Buchholz (EPI); Mahrt (MP307), Schaefer (MP206); Brouwers (PCB); Priests and Seminarians attend Priest Training, Pasley (MP?)
3:30pm – Mass (EPI)
5:15-6:30pm – Organ Repertoire and Performance: Cesar Franck (III; Labounsky; EPI)
6:45-8:30pm – Dinner and Plenary Lecture (Dr. William Mahrt) (PCB)
8:45pm – Night Prayer (PCB)

Friday, June 17
8:30am – Morning prayer (CHAP)
8:50am – Breakfast (PCB)
9:30am-11:00am – Chant Rehearsals (Beginning chant for men and women, Oost-Zinner (MP206); Intermediate Men, Morse (TMP); Intermediate Women, Hughes (MP307); Advanced Men, Cole (EPI); Advanced Women, Brouwers (PCB)
11:20am-12:30pm – Breakouts (Choose daily from four options: Anatomy of the Propers, Mahrt (PCB); Vocal Training, Nam (MP206); Semiology, Schaefer (TMP); Conducting Seminar, Buchholz (MP307)
12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch
1:40pm- 3:10pm – Polyphony Rehearsals: Nam, (TMP); Buchholz (EPI); Mahrt (MP307), Schaefer (MP206); Brouwers (PCB); Priests and Seminarians attend Priest Training, Pasley (MP?)
3:30pm – Mass (EPI)
5:15pm-6:15pm – Organ Repertoire and Performance: Cesar Franck (IV; Labounsky; EPI)
6:30pm – 8:00pm – Vespers (EPI)
8:00pm-8:45pm – Dinner (PCB)
8:45pm – Night Prayer (PCB)

Saturday, June 18
8:00am – Morning prayer (CHAP)
8:30am – Buffet Breakfast (Hogan Dining Center, Towers Building; Saturday only)
9:30am-11:00am – Chant Rehearsals (Beginning chant for men and women, Oost-Zinner (MP206); Intermediate Men, Morse (TMP); Intermediate Women, Hughes (MP307); Advanced Men, Cole (EPI); Advanced Women, Brouwers (MP322)
11:30am-1:00pm Mass
1:15pm – 2:15pm Lunch (Hogan Dining Center, Saturday only)
2:30-4:00pm – Polyphony Rehearsals: Nam, (TMP); Buchholz (EPI); Mahrt (MP307), Schaefer (MP206); Brouwers (MP322); Priests and Seminarians attend Priest Training, Pasley (MP?)
4:30pm – 6:30pm Special Session: New Music Reading; Hughes (MP322)
6:30pm – CMAA Member meeting (MP307)
7:00pm – Dinner (Hogan Dining Center, Saturday only)
Free time on the town

Sunday, June 19
8:30am – Morning prayer (CHAP)
9:00am – Continental Breakfast (PCB) or check out of dorms
9:30am – Mass Preparation (EPI)
10:00am – Mass (EPI)
12:00pm-1:30pm Brunch and Closing Remarks (PCB)
Adjourn

Register now

Posted on by Jeffrey Tucker

Why We Should Sing

Fr. Anthony Ruff has a wonderful article in the new Pastoral Liturgy, which he has helpfully uploaded on his website: The Value of Unaccompanied Vernacular Chant in the Liturgy.

He is so right on this:

Singing is one of the most basic things human beingss do. Since the dawn of time, in the various cultures of the world, human beings have sung. Mothers have sung lullabies to their babies. Families have sung together before sharing a meal. Children at play have sung nursery rhymes. Saint Augustine reports in the fifth century that farmers sang psalms while working in the fields.

In our day, electronic recordings and earphones threaten to silence our singing. It is now possible to hear music all day long without producing any of it oneself. The liturgy calls us back to our humanity. The liturgy reunites us with our forebears. When we sing the liturgy, we are thereby made more human.