I'm new to teaching chant, and it's been a while since my classes, so I thought I'd ask here. I'm looking to teach my choir the Vesper Psalm 147 by Victoria, but the versions I've encountered online only have the SATB parts, not the chant.
Could someone show me where to find the chant and preferable in the same key signature (one sharp)?
The file on the IMSLP page seems to be an older version of that on Nacho Alvarez's own site, but we can probably assume the version of the intonation is according to the cited source, Manuscrito musical 130 de la Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II. Roma.
You could get by with the tone 7 Lauda Jerusalem on p. 211 of the LU, using the 'a' termination outlined in the tenor. The given incipit however differs not only in the intonation (omitted on subsequent verses in any case) but has a pes at the mediation, so you might ideally want a pre-Solesmes book that agreed...
Or, you can sidestep and use organ versillos, as I assume would have been normal for Victoria. Those by Cabezon and Elias are, if not perfectly contemporary, at least great music.
and preferable in the same key signature (one sharp)?
As Sette mentions above, the Liber Usualis (available online) has a section for common vespers psalms (including Lauda Ierusalem) for different modes and terminations.
The key signature of 1# means G is your DO. The parts begin on RE or LA (A or E). I might choose to use a different incipit than what shows in your copy - I would go with something matching the tone that I choose, that allows for an easy transition as the first verse in parts starts at the mediant of the 1st verse (but that's just me - you can use it as written if preferred).
For me personally, I would likely use 4A. The reciting tone is a RE and the termination is a LA. This gives you both starting pitches for your verses in parts... the choir will hear the dominant (reciting tone = RE) even after singing the termination (LA), and it gives you the starting pitch at the mediant for the 1st verse in parts.
Pg 317 of the Liber Usualis gives you the chant representation of the psalm. With a DO of G, the chant would start on A (RE).
I suppose if one needs to use a tone 4 antiphon, the tone 7 incipit is best ignored altogether despite its presence in the superius in the following verses.
Taking a quick peek around, it looks like Nativity (Sept 8) might be the only feast calling for tone 7.
I was in the “choir in Rochester.” Scary to know that the Internet contains in perpetuity things that you attempted in uninformed youth.
I have since thought that mode doesn’t really go with the Victoria, but it doesn’t sound half bad on the recording. I’ll post my score tonight if I remember.
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