James MacMillan's Tu es Petrus

I have a soft spot for the Maryvale Institute.

Recently they helped to found The Blessed John Henry Newman Institute for Liturgical Music.

The new Institute links Maryvale with the Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory and is under the joint patronage of the Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, and James MacMillan, the UK's best Catholic Composer.

"The purpose of the Institute is to provide a general formation in liturgical music, so that the Sunday liturgy in parishes may benefit from a doctrinal, liturgical and musical formation".

The aim is to promote chant in regular parish worship, in adherence to the instructions of Vatican II: The Council Fathers specified Gregorian Chant as "proper to the Roman liturgy”, stating that it "should therefore have first place in the liturgical actions.” (SC116)

MacMillan's settings for the Papal visit had a wonderful highlight - Tu es Petrus.
A modern interpretation of traditional chant.
Listen to it and feel the hairs on back of your neck...

Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church

Agnes Day has left the building

Our final 2012 session was held in St Margaret’s church. We assembled in the soundproofed room at the back until the Thursday Novena finished at 7.30pm. One of the prayerful ladies joked that we might all be too old to be a Boy Band. I'm sure this was only because Patrick, our youngest member, had been held-up in Glasgow.
Alan led us into the church. We took our places in the front pew and opened our session with prayer, ending by invoking the intercession of St Nicholas, whose Feast Day it was.
We revised the Kyrie. Alan stopped us at the Christe verse because we sang ChristAAayyyy. We were reminded that the first syllable should be most distinct - CHRIst ayyyyy.

Then we went on to the Agnus Dei.
I was pretty relaxed because I knew how to sing this prayer in the Missa de Angelis: a bit like Agnes Day.
AGnus DEi, qui toLLiss...mizzirere nobis.
Wrong
As we wrestled with the pronunciation of Agnus, Graham twigged and explained that the sound was like the tilde ñ in Spanish. Ahñus (Ahnyoos).
At this stage I realised that the neumes (nyoomz in Jack's pdf) were the cluster of notes, such as the three-note Torculus, rather than individual notes. As an aside, Alan told us that the name Torculus was derived from wine-press, reflecting the shape of the neume. Also, it is the root of our word 'torture', presumably because a wine-press could be used to squeeze the truth from prisoners.

Alan explained that the neumes applied to vowels. So the emphasis should be on the vowel-sounds.
Ahnyoos Dahyi.

I was keeping up at this stage but then he explained how the first l should be hummed in qui tol-lis (a Liquescent). I can hum an MMMMM but an LLLL before a second L? Maybe later.

Next I discovered that the final part of What everyone knows about Latin was wrong. It's not mizzrere nobis. The voice must be light, with the emphasis on the 'i' followed by 'sss'; 'miisss' rather than 'mizz'.

Graham suggested that Alan make some recordings of the prayers we are learning and send them by email.
I will try to find a way of posting these in private.

We finished by standing to sing the Kyrie followed by the Agnus Dei. The acoustics inside the church were very forgiving and we sounded as if we knew what we were doing.

We hope to meet again on January 10th next year.
Have a happy Christmas.

Order, counter-order, disorder.

Three of us had meant to attend the Latin Mass at the Holy Spirit as members of the congregation, to support the regulars who sing the Missa de Angelis.
In the event, only Jack and I were there and, due to some logistical problems, I had to serve at the Altar.

Alan had told Martin that we would be singing the Mass and asked him to come down from Aberdeen. So there was a bit of pressure on us to try singing a little, even without Alan's presence.

Fr Emerson then changed his mind about Salve Regina being OK for Advent and asked for Alma Redemptoris Mater. This is in our booklet but I didn't know it.
We had practiced the Kyrie and The Salve Regina with Alan but now there was only the Kyrie left.
Nevertheless, we were ready.

At the Kyrie, the organist started up her introduction. . But the music wasn't the Kyrie. The organist had got befuddled and had started playing the Alma Redemptoris Mater instead.
We had people singing versions of the Kyrie from 3or4 places in the church with an accompaniment which slowly morphed into the Kyrie.

Just as well we hadn't meant that Mass to be our first performance!

Afterwards, Jack found a useful guide which he sent to everyone. Its called 'An Idiots Guide to Square Notes'.
We will become confident and better prepared before we venture out officially.

The window at the back of the church shows seven angels carrying the gifts of the Holy Spirit: sapientia, intellectus, consilium, fortitudo, scientia, pietas, timor Domini (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord).
We need several of them:

Click for bigger angels

Saint Andrew's Day Mass

Two schola members and wives went to Edinburgh for the Patronal Mass of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, in the presence of Archbishop and Metropolitan Keith Patrick Cardinal O’Brien.

The principal celebrant was the new Auxiliary Bishop, Stephen Robson, he was accompanied by two priests in red chasubles and many other priests wearing the white chasubles from the Papal visit.

The altar was arranged with six candles and the 'Benedictine' crucifix. And there were four relics on display in silver reliquaries. I don't recall this arrangement for this Mass in previous years. Maybe the new Auxiliary has a preference for continuity rather than rupture.

Here is my shaky photo of the altar:

Click to enlarge

The Order of Service had the words and music for the Missa de Angelis Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Malky and I sang with vigour. And I could read the notes and sing much more accurately than I have ever managed before. Thanks Alan.

The hymn to St Andrew was sung at the end of Mass. The prayer that "Scotland yet again may love the faith, entire and true" was made with fervour.....

When Christ our Lord to Andrew cried: “Come, thou, and follow me,”                        
the fisher left his net beside the Sea of Galilee.
To teach the truth the Master taught, to tread the path he trod
was all his will and thus he brought unnumbered souls to God.

When Andrew’s hour had come, and he was doomed, like Christ to die,
he kissed his cross exultingly, and this his noble cry:
“O noble cross! O precious wood! I long have yearned for thee;
uplift me to my only good who died on thee for me.”

The faith that Andrew taught once shone o’er all this kingdom fair;
the cross that Jesus died upon was honoured everywhere.
But times once changed and Andrew’s name was for a while forgot;
the cross, though set in kingly crown, became a sign of shame.

St Andrew now in bliss above, thy fervent prayers renew
that Scotland yet again may love the faith, entire and true;
that I the cross allotted me may bear with patient love! 

will lift me, as it lifted thee, to reign with Christ above.

Later we went to the Christmas market.

 

Angels