Fr. Rob Sings!
Sings the Roman Canon, to be exact. At the Midnight Mass for Christmas, I chanted Eucharistic Prayer I, otherwise known as the Roman Canon, in Latin. This is a step forward for me and my parish: I have used the Roman Canon in Latin several times before, but this is the first time I have chanted it. The source I used was the "Ordo Missae in Cantu" published by Solesmes.
I find the Latin text more "singable" than the English. The Latin "flows" very naturally when chanted. Though I have a M.A. in Classics, I still find my tongue tripping over the occasional Latin word. This is much less of a problem when the prayer is sung.
[Update: I have received some e-mails saying that the audio link here, or in other posts, "aren't working." The link does work, but it appears that my file hosting service is a little slow. What you may need to do is, once you've clicked the "play" button and the stream starts, click it again to pause the playback, then wait about 30 seconds, then click play again, at which point the stream should have caught up and you can listen to the file. Either that, or drag the slider back to the beginning. Sorry about that - it looks like I need to find a different hosting service.]
[Update 2: I've switched to the "Blogcastone" streaming mp3 player, and I'm getting better results with that. Apparently the "Odeo" player I was using is a big kludge. Happy listening!]
Roman Canon
Warning to those of you you who know the Latin of the Mass fairly well: I slipped into using the Classical pronunication a couple of times. I first learned Latin with the Classical pronunication, and old habits die very hard indeed...
A very "high" liturgical celebration we had here. Here's to a joyful New Year for us all!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
More Good Music From St. Stanislaus
In addition to the singing at Midnight Mass, our Organist and Music Director, Gavin Craig, played wonderfully for all the Christmas Masses. The prelude before Midnight Mass was Johannes Brahms' lovely Chorale Prelude on "Es is ein Ros' entsprungen" (Lo, How a Rose e'er blooming):
Prelude: Es ist ein Ros'
Gavin's postlude was Louis Vierne's well-known "Carillon". There's a bit of ambient noise, as people are talking, etc., as they make their way out of church. But Gavin plays it quite well:
Postlude: Carillon
Enjoy the music!
In addition to the singing at Midnight Mass, our Organist and Music Director, Gavin Craig, played wonderfully for all the Christmas Masses. The prelude before Midnight Mass was Johannes Brahms' lovely Chorale Prelude on "Es is ein Ros' entsprungen" (Lo, How a Rose e'er blooming):
Prelude: Es ist ein Ros'
Gavin's postlude was Louis Vierne's well-known "Carillon". There's a bit of ambient noise, as people are talking, etc., as they make their way out of church. But Gavin plays it quite well:
Postlude: Carillon
Enjoy the music!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Christmas Music at St. Stanislaus
Me in my White and Gold Festal Vestments
I mentioned in my previous post that we had some beautiful music here at St. Stanislaus for Christmas. And so indeed we had.
For Midnight Mass, we put together an ensemble of 12 men from the parish, and they did a wonderful job of singing! I'm afraid I don't have a photo of them. It's probably just as well, as some of them, I'm sure, would be annoyed at having their pictures posted here...
They sang the Introit for Christmas, Puer Natus Est Nobis. Now, some purists out there might say "wait a minute, that's the introit for Christmas day." And that would be true. But since the guys sang at Midnight, and Puer Natus Est is perhaps the best known of the Christmas chants, it seemed to to me the way to go for a parish that's largely unaccustomed to chant. So you'll have to cut me a little slack, OK...
At any rate, they did a fine job on it, especially since, for most of the guys, it was their first time singing chant:
Introit: Puer Natus Est Nobis
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We also sang Kyrie V, which is one of my favorites. It seems especially festive and joyful to me. It's becoming the Kyrie that we use here for special Feasts and Solemnities. We've used it enough now that my parishioners are coming to know it fairly well. That fact, however, wasn't enough to keep me from making a mistake in intoning the second part. However, I think it still came off creditably:
Kyrie: Mass V
For the offertory, the men's ensemble sang the classic Catholic Christmas hymn "Sleep, Holy Babe" (also sung by the school children at the Vigil Mass):
Offertory: Sleep, Holy Babe
The Creche at St. Stanislaus
For Communion, the men sang again, an English version of the 15th century Latin hymn Puer Natus in Bethlehem. It was well-suited for use during communion, with the people invited to join in the repeated refrain "A new song let us sing..." Speaking of the refrain, the men are singing the refrain with an organum-style harmony.
Communion: A Child Is Born in Bethlehem
To Father, Son, and Spirit raise, alleluia:
A never-ending song of praise, alleluia, alleluia!
A new song let us sing, Christ is born,
O come and adore, and let our gladness ring!
I mentioned in my previous post that we had some beautiful music here at St. Stanislaus for Christmas. And so indeed we had.
For Midnight Mass, we put together an ensemble of 12 men from the parish, and they did a wonderful job of singing! I'm afraid I don't have a photo of them. It's probably just as well, as some of them, I'm sure, would be annoyed at having their pictures posted here...
They sang the Introit for Christmas, Puer Natus Est Nobis. Now, some purists out there might say "wait a minute, that's the introit for Christmas day." And that would be true. But since the guys sang at Midnight, and Puer Natus Est is perhaps the best known of the Christmas chants, it seemed to to me the way to go for a parish that's largely unaccustomed to chant. So you'll have to cut me a little slack, OK...
At any rate, they did a fine job on it, especially since, for most of the guys, it was their first time singing chant:
Introit: Puer Natus Est Nobis
Puer natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis. Cuius imperium super humerum eius: et vocabitur nomen eius, magni consilii Angelus. | A child is born for us, a son is given to us. Dominion shall be upon his shoulder: and His name shall be called the Angel of Great Counsel. |
We also sang Kyrie V, which is one of my favorites. It seems especially festive and joyful to me. It's becoming the Kyrie that we use here for special Feasts and Solemnities. We've used it enough now that my parishioners are coming to know it fairly well. That fact, however, wasn't enough to keep me from making a mistake in intoning the second part. However, I think it still came off creditably:
Kyrie: Mass V
For the offertory, the men's ensemble sang the classic Catholic Christmas hymn "Sleep, Holy Babe" (also sung by the school children at the Vigil Mass):
Offertory: Sleep, Holy Babe
For Communion, the men sang again, an English version of the 15th century Latin hymn Puer Natus in Bethlehem. It was well-suited for use during communion, with the people invited to join in the repeated refrain "A new song let us sing..." Speaking of the refrain, the men are singing the refrain with an organum-style harmony.
Communion: A Child Is Born in Bethlehem
A never-ending song of praise, alleluia, alleluia!
A new song let us sing, Christ is born,
O come and adore, and let our gladness ring!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Christmas at St. Stanislaus
I had a wonderful Christmas at my parish of St. Stanislaus. A number of volunteers turned out to decorate the church, and as always, they did an outstanding job (click on the photos for enlarged versions):
The Sanctuary Decorated for Christmas
We had some wonderful music for the Christmas Masses as well. At the Vigil Mass, which is traditionally the "Children's Mass", we had an ensemble of the 3rd through 8th grade students sing the old Catholic Christmas hymn "Sleep, Holy Babe", in 3 parts (It had to be three parts, since none of our boys are basses yet!). But the organ filled in for the bass part, and they sounded very nice, as you can hear:
Post-Communion: Sleep, Holy Babe
At Midnight Mass, we pulled out all the stops, and had beautiful music for that Mass as well, provided by a 12 voice men's ensemble we put together for the occasion. But more about that later...
In the meantime, here is a photo of me vested for Mass, in the parish's festive gold and white vestments:
I hope your Christmas was a blessed and joyful one!
I had a wonderful Christmas at my parish of St. Stanislaus. A number of volunteers turned out to decorate the church, and as always, they did an outstanding job (click on the photos for enlarged versions):
We had some wonderful music for the Christmas Masses as well. At the Vigil Mass, which is traditionally the "Children's Mass", we had an ensemble of the 3rd through 8th grade students sing the old Catholic Christmas hymn "Sleep, Holy Babe", in 3 parts (It had to be three parts, since none of our boys are basses yet!). But the organ filled in for the bass part, and they sounded very nice, as you can hear:
Post-Communion: Sleep, Holy Babe
At Midnight Mass, we pulled out all the stops, and had beautiful music for that Mass as well, provided by a 12 voice men's ensemble we put together for the occasion. But more about that later...
In the meantime, here is a photo of me vested for Mass, in the parish's festive gold and white vestments:
I hope your Christmas was a blessed and joyful one!
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