AGNUS DEI - Ryan Dingess
  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    SSATTBB
    (Also works as a nice meditation piece on organ)

    I came across some old printed scores today which were not backed up digitally, so started re-entering them. This is from a choral mass ordinary I wrote in 2010. No particular stylistic goals with these, I was just trying to write something beautiful and worthy of the sanctuary. I based each piece on a "moveable cantus firmus" of the melody from chants in Jubilate Deo, which I had just learned of and which was the extent of my chant knowledge at the time. In this score I've notated the cantus firmus melody with different noteheads so its easy to spot as it hops around between voices.

    There was a recording of a choir of vocal majors singing the whole mass, but I can't find that right now, so the MIDI will have to do for the time being.
    Dynamics, breath marks, and other expressions were sketched in by the singers during rehearsals, so I didn't have much to notate from on this. I think when you hear it, the natural way to sing it is fairly obvious. Pauses between repeats, etc. Not a challenging performance piece other than the long sustained notes - when this was performed there were multiple singers on each part so they could alternate breath through those with no problem.


    I will post the other pieces from this collection as I have time to re-enter them.

    Please let me know if this is ever performed anywhere. Just nice to hear. :)
    Agnus Dei - Full Score.pdf
    70K
    Agnus Dei.mp3
    2M
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    The first inversion major triad with a 6th between bass and tenor in equal temperament is a pretty horrible sounding thing ... doubling the third makes it more problematic, tripling the third makes ear give up the ghost. I might suggest rethinking the beginning, (bar 4) Ryan. I find the combination of old and new notation unsettling, too, though maybe others think it's ok. When the organ simply duplicates the voice, one wonders why there are singers.
  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    Organ is there more for for rehearsal purposes. I had a part written that didn't include all voices (this is just a computer generated reduction), and it was played ppp on a piano (no organ available) just to keep the singers on pitch. It might have been intended to be a capella. I can't remember. And the reduction lets folks play it as an organ piece if they want. :)

    I don't know anything about the intonation issue. Sounded fine as memory serves. I'd think slamming minor 2nds in m5 would be more jarring than an inverted triad in m4. Is it the doubling (tripling) of the 3rd scale degree that is an issue, or the choice of inversion itself? Using the chant melody in bass 2 kind of dictates it being as such.

    Your writings on vocal intonation in other threads indicate some expertise in this. What is it specifically that's problematic and how would you suggest resolving it? And what is "the ghost" that is given up?

    The notation thing is just to draw attention to where the chant line exists within parts. "Study score" for the forum.
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    Ok, I might have been dramatizing. But, the third of a major triad has its own 3rd overtone, the fifth above, which is a minor second below the octave of the root of the triad. The root of a triad has an octave above, two octaves above, and three octaves above as real, audible, overtones. So, with one third, you have one buzz of overtones between a fifth of the third and an octave of the root. With two thirds, you have two buzzes. With three thirds, there are three buzzes, and my ear, at least, not to speak of all human ears, can't keep track of what is part of the harmony and what is a distraction. Should you feel compelled to keep the cantus firmus in the bass, in bar 4, then you should make certain that other voices avoid the third. IMHO.
  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    Its a maj7 rub, not a min2, because of the octave placements. And would the 3rds above the root note (G in bass 1) not be reinforced in the G's overtones?

    I appreciate the input. Like I said, this is 4 year old stuff and I'm just throwing it out there ... may certainly edit for things like this. I kind of like the idea of a "buzz" at that measure though, as I clearly remember (and still perceive) it as a moment of tension that follows the resolution at m3. Tension-tension-resolve... tension, keep moving!
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    Plot it out: it is multiple minor seconds. The fifth is actually a 10th. Definitely worth doing occasionally, imo again, to see where the individual note harmonics mesh and where they conflict. Nothing wrong with intentional tension, resolution, of course.
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    And, in equal temperament, the third from the root is a rather jarring clash at two octaves and a third above with the octave harmonic of the third.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    Nice piece.

    The C# in the A major chord at the end just doesn't do it for me, though. I'd try either moving the Tenor onto the A, ending with an open fifth, or keeping it on B; I'd play around with it a bit. Just my two cents.
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