Catholic Organ Music before 1750
  • Jeffrey CogginsJeffrey Coggins
    Posts: 360
    Hi everyone,

    It's my first post!

    There's a similar discussion here:
    http://musicasacra.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=21

    but I am specifically interested in organ music which is used for Tridentine/Traditional/Latin Mass and composed before 1750. I was wondering what is good and known to anyone here.

    So far, I have heard of:
    Couperin's Two Masses for Organ (since it's French, it might not work well everywhere)
    Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicali
    Speth's Versets (I have random versets of his, and can't seem to find a full collection anywhere)
    Zipoli's Organ Works

    Is there anything else that anyone likes?
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Greetings, Jeffrey.

    You've hit on an interesting concept here. I studied the Messe pour les parroises of Couperin for my master's degree, focusing in part on the legislative documents governing the use of the organ in the liturgy. Paris had its own ceremoniale which governed the "when's and how's" of the alternatim practice employed in the organ Masses.

    My point is, if you are interested in recreating the experience of the alternatim organ mass, which was in vogue at the time (and I believe used in Italy and Spain as well) then these sets of versets will be quite valuable. I believe the practice of alternatim in France disappeared during the Revolution, and afterwards was resurrected in a different form until the Catholic church was no longer recognized as the official state religion in 1905. There are some interesting recordings of Pierre Cochereau at Notre Dame improvising some alternatim on things like the Te Deum and the sequence hymns, but these were performances that I don't think took place during actual liturgies.

    I also have to wonder if the application of the alternatim practice to the Missal of 1962 is appropriate, or even "permitted" by the legislative documents that govern the ritual practices of the Mass according to the 1962 Missal.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I seem to be ever promoting this CD, but it is just wonderful: alternatim Masses by Heinrich Isaac, the reconstruction of which is based on the dissertation of William Mahrt. Hugely recommended. The conductor is a contributor to Sacred Music.

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  • Michael O'Connor
    Posts: 1,637
    One of the very best Catholic Renaissance organists was Antonio de Cabezon. His tientos (ricercars) are found in the Monumentos de la Musica Española series, but maybe published elsewhere. Here is an example:

    http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/cabezon/cabt1.pdf
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,048
    Jean Titelouze (1562-1633) composed a wonderful collection of called "Hymns of the Church" (including Veni Creator, Ave Maris Stella, and all the best known Gregorian hymns). Each piece is like a set of variations which include the chant melody as a cantus firmus. Wonderful stuff!

    Sam Schmitt
  • mahrt
    Posts: 517
    I play Frescobaldi, especially the elevation toccatas from the first and second book of toccatas, as well as the Firoi Musicali; also Froberger, the toccatas, some wonderful pieces there. Don't overlook the Fantasys of Byrd, great contrapuntal keyboard music. There are some wonderful, tiny, hymn settings of Thomas Tallis. Concerning the liturgical use of the Fiori musicali, see my article, “The Musical Shape of the Liturgy, Part IV: The Function of the Organ.” Sacred Music, 104: 4 (1977), 3-18.
  • G
    Posts: 1,400
    I can't remember where I came across Titelouze, (my organ studies are severely lacking,) but thanks to my playing first the tune itself and then the Titelouze Veni Creator until I was heartily sick of it, when the school children heard the original during the conclave they proudly recognized it.
    Thank you, Mr Schmitt, I'll look for more.

    (Save the Liturgy, Save the World)
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    The 6 'Fabordones' on modal tones (3,4,5,6,7,8) by Antonio de Cabezon are wonderful, great for improvisational material & can be easily 'cropped' when need be. I have the Collected Works in 6 volumes with many more interesting pieces on Gregorian themes. I also play works from "Libro de Tientos y Discursos de Musica Practica' (Vol 1-8) by Francisco Correa de Arauxo.
  • Jeffrey CogginsJeffrey Coggins
    Posts: 360
    Hi everyone,

    Thanks for all of the replies! I definitely wasn't expecting as many as there are, and I have a nice list of new pieces and composers to look into, now.

    Jeffrey: Thank for you for the CD! I'm definitely going to add this to my collection. Sacred Renaissance organ improvisation is not something all organists have studied, so this will be inspiring to hear.

    Michael: Thank you for reminding me about Cabezón. I studied two pieces of his when I started learning organ: Duo from Obras de música, and Versillo del Quinto Tono. Spanish Renaissance organ music doesn't seem quite as well known as the other kinds, but it's still just as wonderful. It's all about the ornamentation.

    When I first started playing for Mass, I expected things to be much different than how they are, now. I don't find myself enjoying being forced to play from the Gather and Breaking Bread hymnals ... I'm only an accompanist (piano and organ) for the churches that I play and have played for, under the direction of other music/choir directors. My organ teacher is protestant, and he definitely knows of some of these organ pieces discussed here, but he does not specialize in them as much as I would like (if that was the case, then he'd probably be Catholic!).

    I also don't feel that playing out of the Gather and Breaking Bread hymnals can justify having spent thousands of dollars on a music degree ... among other reasons. That's also a different discussion.

    I just wanted to give people an idea of where I'm [not] coming from.

    If I come across anymore pieces than what's mentioned here, I'll try to remember to post them. Thank you, everyone!
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,206
    Jeffrey,

    Play on, dear colleague, play on!

    The more we can demonstrate the stark contrast between truly well-crafted music that supports the business we're about, i.e., giving Glory to God, as against the ditties in "Bustin' Bread" the better the congregation will be.

    If you're not looking to make a direct connection between the actual liturgy and the music, don't overlook the interesting (and often chant-based) music found in Samuel Scheidt's "Tabulatura Nova." It seems to me that much of the music used in the German Lutheran mass at the time was based on adaptations of the Latin chants, and so you can find some interesting parallels in Scheidt's work.

    Enjoy!
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    Nicolas Lebegue (1630-1702)
    Complete Organ Works In Three Volumes
    Kalmus 4154
    Kalmus 4155
    Kalmus 4156

    Various title pages, table of contents, 289 pages.
    Amazon.com lets you browse the complete table of contents; a sampling:

    Volume One (Tone 1, Tone 2, ..., Tone 8) e.g., Tone 1: Prelude, Duo, Cromhorne en Taille, Basse de Trompette, Trio a 3 claviers, Dessus de Cromhorne, Tierce en taille, Recits de Voix humaine, Trio a 2 dessus, Dialogue, Fugue grave, Plein jeu.

    Volume Two (Mass, Magnificat on Tone 1, ..., Magnificat on Tone 8) e.g., Mass: 1er Kyrie, 2e Kyrie Fugue, Duo pour le Christe, 4e Kyrie, Dernier Kyrie, Et in terra pax, Benedicimus te, Glorificamus te, Domine Deus, Domine Deus Agnus Dei, Qui tollis, Duo du 4e ton, Trio du 4e, In gloria, 1er Sanctus, 2e Sanctus Fugue, Trio pour l'Elevation, Agnus Dei, Fugue pour le 2e Agnus.

    Volume Three (Offertoires, Symphonies, Noels, Les cloches, Elevations, Appendix of attributed pieces).
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