Choral Responses in the TLM
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    I am going to start singing with the schola at a TLM. First off: November 9. The director said that they have been doing it a while, so don't rehearse "the responses," adding quickly, "but of course, the ite missa est depends on what the deacon decides or how good a musician he is." Going through the Corpus Christi videos (which are for a low Mass), reading the L. Usualis, and a fine missal I have, I can't figure out what he means.

    So...what are the responses that the choir does that I should be practicing?

    Kenneth
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Ideally, the deacon or priest would sing "Ite missa est" with the melody corresponding to the plainchant Mass ordinary which the choir sang. That is, with a melody based on the melody of the Kyrie. But you may find that something different happens. You might sing the ordinary with the setting called Mass II, but then hear the deacon or priest sing the "Ite missa est" from Mass VIII, simply because he knows it best. In that situation, the choir should follow the lead of the deacon and sing the companion "Deo gratias".
    Thanked by 2noel jones, aago CHGiffen
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    He means that the Ite Missa Est and its response (Deo gratias) change based on the season and Ordinary you are singing - or based on the priest/deacon's abilities. If the setting being used is one the choir is unfamiliar with, this is certainly something you should rehearse with them.

    The choir should also know all of the responses - but if they already know them, they don't change as often as the Ite dialogue does.
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    Matthewj--that's my question: what are "all the responses?"
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    The quote from the choir director is "how things are, and we are not rehearsing," so I need to know what to learn on my own.
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 496
    Et cum spiritu tuo.
    Gloria tibi, Domine.
    Habemus ad Dominum.
    Dignum et justum est.
    Sed libera nos a malo.
    Deo gratias.
    Amen.

  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    Ah, the videos I have seen---although i haven't gotten to all those parts--have the Deacon doing them. Many thanks.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Don't feel that you have to sing everything right away, including the bits that weren't rehearsed. You won't know until the moment whether the priest sings the preface dialogue with the simple tone or the solemn tone.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    Well, you could go ask the priest.
    Thanked by 1Gavin
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    My first Sunday? Not sure about that. But, come to think of it, I haven't seen the Preface Dialog in the Liber Usualis. Did I miss something obvious?
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    ---OK,, how do I delete a post I accidentally typed?
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 496
    Here's a little guide to choral responses for the Extraordinary Form based on the Liber Usualis. It may be excessively concise.
    ChoirResponses2.pdf
    138K
    Thanked by 1Heath
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 496
    Kenneth - you can't delete a post, but you can edit it.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Well, you could go ask the priest.

    How do priests feel about getting music questions from individual choir members?

    How do directors feel about having individual choir members ask the priest music questions?
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    Thanks--it's Kenneth, but I keep forgetting this one doesn't post my name automatically. And there wasn't anything attached to your first note about a guide book, but that sounds helpful.
    Thanked by 1Arthur Connick
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    Chonak--rather my point.
  • amindthatsuits
    Posts: 860
    Oh, I see, where it says "Common Tones of
    The Mass." The "R" is in the middle and I didn't see what they were. I will learn them but probably sit them out the first time.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    Whenever I go to a Latin High Mass I always wait to see if the Priest/Deacon will chant
    "Ite eleison".
    Thanked by 2Gavin StimsonInRehab
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