MUSICA SACRA SCOTLAND: MASS - INTROIT

We are used to an Opening Hymn for the Entrance Procession into Mass.
Yet I had read that the Introit in the Missal is to be preferred over any other song. I had never understood how the short Antiphon in the Missal could be long enough to accompany the Entrance Procession. But now I know!
You sing the Entrance Antiphon and then the Psalm verses....

But this shouldn't have been such a mystery.
The 2011 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) reads as follows:


"47. When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers.
48. In Scotland: This chant is sung alternately by the choir and the people or similarly by a cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone. In the dioceses of Scotland the Entrance Chant may be chosen from among the following:the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum or the Graduale Simplex, or another chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year,and whose text has been approved by the Conference of Bishops of Scotland.
If there is no singing at the Entrance, the antiphon given in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a reader; otherwise, it is recited by the priest himself, who may even adapt it as an introductory explanation."


At the Mass after the Conference, we went with the option specified by the GIRM. 
The recording below was made on an iPod placed away from me. We were in the front row of the choir stalls on the right in the picture below. James MacMillan didn't know about my recorder and chose to stand directly in front of the device. He sounds much louder on the recording than in real life.

The congregation, including many who had participated in the Conference, is to the left out of the picture. We sang men's voices/women's voices rather than antiphonally. It was beautiful.
Here is the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W28zzMVa-_w&feature=youtu.be

MUSICA SACRA CONFERENCE: INTRODUCTION AND BRILLIANT LECTURE FROM FR GUY NICHOLLS

Two speeches opened the event. James MacMillan was effusive and very positive and I felt that Archbishop Tartaglia gave a much better speech than the last one I had heard to welcome Archbishop Muller of the CDF. One of our number didn’t have the comparison and was not very impressed by His Grace’s technique. Nevertheless, the Archbishop strongly affirmed his desire that Gregorian Chant should be used in Catholic churches and noted that the poor should be exposed to the musical riches of the Church. He explained that his favourite hymn is Thomas Aquinas’ Adoro Te Devote.

Next Charles Cole rehearsed the music for the Mass. This was successful, apart from some details. A couple of people observed that Charles began in the wrong Mode but I didn't realise any of this. His approach to the pacing of Psalm verses was different from that of our teacher. James MacMillan helped out on this, emphasising the need to pause mid-verse at the *. And for the next verse to start quickly.

At 11.30 we had to choose from three options –  1. Releasing the Voice, 2. Introduction to chant notation or 3. Advanced Chant Class to be given by Father Guy Nicholls from the Birmingham Oratory. We chose Fr Guy, hoping that we could keep-up.

We could.

Father Guy began by taking us through the Gradual for the Saturday evening Vigil Mass, this replaces the Responsorial Psalm between the first and second readings:

CLICK TO ENLARGE ANY IMAGE

Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu, Domine.
Elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum.
Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight O Lord.
The lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141).

I recorded the session with my iPod in my shirt pocket, so it sounds very scratchy but I hope that you can hear that Fr Guy’s voice was not only excellent but very precise.
By way of introduction he told us that this Gradual was typical in that the Versicle was generally the solo part and was of a wider range, certainly a higher note is usually reached, as in Elevatio. And that words seem to trigger certain musical shapes or ideas. Thus, Elevatio, raising up, actually produces a raising-up of the voice. Words are painted with the music.

Here is the clip. I will post the full YouTube link when it becomes available
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWbZIeSrEWc

It's a long, long time from May to December

Our summer has been busy and I recorded so much music that it became an obstacle to blog about the events. So here’s a quick summary of our summer.
And autumn.

We were welcomed into the Church of the Holy Rude on 27th July where we sang Vespers and Compline of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, surely the most appropriate Feast Day for the medieval building of the same dedication.
We were joined by the Schola Cantorum of St. Pancras who gave a splendid recital of polyphony. They use this inspiring image of a spiral staircase as their brand:

This was probably the first time that these verses had been prayed in that building since the 1560s.

August started with our listings in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. On the 3rd we prayed Vespers of the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, Mgr Michael Regan was the Celebrant.

Six of us with Mgr Regan afterwards

Click any Image to Enlarge

On Sunday, we sang the parts of the Missa de Angelis at the 11.00 parish Mass in St Margaret’s in less-than-perfect circumstances. Delays meant that we didn’t have time to rehearse with the congregation. That evening we formed the schola for the 5pm Traditional Latin Mass in the Holy Spirit church. I served at the altar but the group sounded very good without me.

The next Saturday found us again in Edinburgh for Vespers of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This time Simon Nieminski had organised a choir to sing polyphony and we sang verse about. Again the Celebrant was Mgr Regan.

17th August saw our final Festival 2013 appearance, this time we prayed second vespers for the Feast of the Assumption. For some of the Psalms Simon Nieminski played versets by Jean Titelouze. Here, the organ took the place of the schola singing antiphonally. I have uploaded the Opening Versicles, the first Antiphon 'Assumpta est Maria in caelum'. Here we are before the organ verses start:




I'll upload the video when it appears on the main YouTube channel; click here to open it until then.

I travelled to Linlithgow on the 31st for a Diocesan Singing Day organised by Forth in Praise. This featured modern hymns and new Mass settings with a guitar workshop in the afternoon. Not being a guitarist, I made my excuses and left, as the News of the World used to say of its reporters. One of the hymns, Bernadette Farrell’s Bread For The World, was misprinted so as to be meaningless but we all sang along anyway:

"Lord Jesus Christ, you are the bread of life, broken to reach and heal the wounds of human pain, Where we divide your people waiting there on bended knee to wash our feet with endless care".

There’s a ‘You are’ missing before the ‘waiting’ I think. Even then, from a theological point of view, I'm not too sure that we should be telling Our Lord that He should be found kneeling before us to wash our feet.

Read about the event here: http://www.forthinpraise.co.uk/events.php#quest

1st September saw us back at Holy Spirit for the Latin Mass. We sang Adoro Te Devote as the Communion Hymn. I was able to sing this time. Fr John Emerson was the Clebrant as usual.

Two members attended the National Pilgrimage at Carfin on the 8th, there was some Chant.

October started with us singing the Kyrie and Agnus Dei at morning Mass in St Mary’s Stirling. We had arranged an open-day for anyone interested in Chant and Fr Kenneth had agreed that we could use St Mary’s and Sion House. In the event there were transport problems from Glasgow and two groups couldn’t attend, Fred gave up as well. Those who came enjoyed themselves.

6th October had us back at Holy Spirit for the TLM, while on Saturday 26th we travelled to the Preceptory of the Knights of St. John in Torphichen for Mass. The Celebrant was Fr Mark Morris, with Fr Emerson in Choir.That's my crucifix above the Altar, with the Corpus my father cast in Ireland, not long before he joined the Royal Navy.
Several Knights of Malta, and one remarkable Dame, assisted at Mass.

 Here is the day described on another blog:
 http://stuart-filioque.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/una-voce-mass-in-torphichen-scotland.html
The blogger concludes with ‘what a joy it is for one to hear Gregorian chant expertly resounding between these ancient walls for the glory of our Lord’.