Setting of I Chronicles 29: 10-12
  • RedPop4
    Posts: 50
    Hi folks, I was just "appointed" to select music for a Mass this coming Friday.
    According to the USCCB, the Mass for Friday is the Memorial of the Vietnamese martyrs and the Responsorial is not a Psalm, but from I Chronicles.
    The Response is I Chronicles 29: 13b, and the entire selection is from I Chronicles 29: 10-12.

    Do any of you happen to have a setting of this that can work with a makeshift ensemble, gathering to rehearse at 5:00 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. Mass?

    With appreciation,
    Tommy
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    The text:

    R. We praise your glorious name, O mighty God.

    "Blessed may you be, O Lord,
    God of Israel our father,
    from eternity to eternity."

    "Yours, O Lord, are grandeur and power,
    majesty, splendor and glory.
    For all in heaven and on earth is yours."

    "Yours, O Lord, is the sovereignty;
    you are exalted as head over all.
    Riches and honor are from you."

    "You have dominion over all.
    In your hands are power and might;
    it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all."

    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • RedPop4
    Posts: 50
    That's the one.
  • tsoapm
    Posts: 79
    I’m not competent to provide an actual suggestion for your situation, but I know Anglican chant exists, and I know that it can be used for canticles as well as psalms. I also know that no one else has made any suggestions yet, so what I can say is that anglicanchant.nl has an index that lists chants linked to psalms/canticles in various collections. Here’s the I Chronicles 29 link: http://anglicanchant.nl/psalms/psalm0200.html

    Not many suggestions there; the majority seem to come from The Scottish Prose Psalter, helpfully on line.

    http://www.lettermen2.com/sppsalter.pdf

    The text, unsurprisingly, isn’t the same, so it’s not ready for use, would need repointing. And then, single and double Anglican chants aren’t the most natural match for the three line format in evidence above.
    Thanked by 2MarkS RedPop4
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Is the makeshift ensemble big enough to sing a four-part work?
    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • RedPop4
    Posts: 50
    If it's not too difficult, they'll give a valiant effort.

    This Mass will be decidedly 60s and 70s oriented, unfortunately. It's our Diocesan Minor Seminary (closed in 1985) Alumni Mass, so the music will lean VERY Sof V II. But we can try almost anything. Everyone in the ensemble will have learned to read music in H.S. and many have stayed active in music ministry for three or four decades. They can usually learn.

    I appreciate much!
  • MarkS
    Posts: 282
    Anglican chant would definitely be a solution. For these four stanzas of text, I would probably use a single chant, with the cadential figure coming by the end of each third line, therefore going through the chant twice. The other possibility suggested by the punctuation would be to cadence by the end of the second and third line of each stanza, but after a quick glance it looks as if some of those final lines might get a little choppy.

    If this is appealing I might be able to suggest one.
    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • MarkS
    Posts: 282
    Here's a quick and easy example, using a single chant but cadencing by the end of the 2nd and 3rd lines of each stanza. The pointing was a little hasty, and my pointing system is a bit idiosyncratic!
    Anglican_chant_I_Chronicles29_Lawes.pdf
    38K
    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    Here is a setting, Anglican chant style (one and a half, rather than single or double chant for the verses).

    Memorial_for_Vietnamese_Martyrs.pdf
    58K
    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • MarkS
    Posts: 282
    You could use a double chant by using the same pointing but combining stanzas 1–2 and 3–4.
    Anglican_Chant_IChronicles29_Lawes.pdf
    31K
    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • MarkS
    Posts: 282
    Or Mr. Giffen's would be lovely!
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen RedPop4
  • RedPop4
    Posts: 50
    Wow, thank you all!!
    Some great music to ponder. Mr. Giffen's looks really strong!
    Thanked by 2tsoapm CHGiffen
  • tsoapm
    Posts: 79
    I’d be interested to hear how your makeshift ensemble valiantly does. :)
    Thanked by 1RedPop4
  • RedPop4
    Posts: 50
    They're already complaining via e-mail as I sent out the rest of the songs, all guitar-oriented. What I sent them isn't 60's enough!! This is what I call a "memory Mass" as it's an alumni reunion of a closed school. They want to do what they sang in high school/prep. school. The older guys complain that they don't know the music, even though most of it has been standard, American-suburban Catholic.

    Mr. Giffen's arrangement can be done as everyone coming to sing has been singing for decades and can read. How willing they are, is another story. I will report back.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,187
    The canticle is, by the way, not proper for the Martyrs -- that would be Ps 124 with response "Our soul has escaped like a bird from the hunter’s net" -- but for the Friday in Ordinary week 33.
  • RedPop4
    Posts: 50
    Well, folks, I'm sorry to say, they couldn't pull it off. They had trouble with older 1970s music they had sung in their youth; and had trouble with the Taizé "In the Lord I'll Be Ever Thankful." It all turned out nicely, though, they made a nice sound, but it was a struggle.
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