Wedding Ordinary and Tenor/Baritone Duets
  • emac3183
    Posts: 55
    Hi!
    Planning my (OF) wedding for later this summer, and I have a couple of questions...

    What ordinaries would you use? I would like to avoid the ICEL mass if possible, but I'm a little at a loss for a setting that is congregational, easy to access, and able to be printed in the accompanying liturgy guide. We have the 2023 Source and Summit Missal in the pews. My fiancee would like the Missa De Angelis...but almost no congregants will know that one. We've looked at the Mass of in Honor of Saint Thomas More, but she doesn't want that one (and same story about congregants not knowing it).

    We have two male cantors (tenor and baritone) lined up to sing. Looking for appropriate duet repertoire for a couple of spots:

    1) Devotional duets as prelude material.

    2) Ave Maria (Marian Consecration)...Is there a version of the Gonoud/Bach with harmony?
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Emac,

    Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. My advice on music is : offer the best you can to God. "The Best" isn't measured by the number of people who recognize or sing along with the music.

    About the duets, what are you limitations/parameters aside from TB, prelude, devotional and Marian?
    Thanked by 1mmeladirectress
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    Why does it need to be congregational? Weddings generally have some participants who are not Catholic, or not practicing Catholics, or from far away where maybe they prefer different Ordinaries. And people are hesitant to ruin "their special day" with their vocalism. I'd say you are as likely to find as many who know de Angelis as anything outside of Mass of Creation.

    For your duets: Latin or English? Lots of Latin out there.

    Not finding a duet version of Bach/Gounod. Does it need to be that setting? There are at least 4000 others. There's a 2 part of the Abt.
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 623
    Two pieces of advice:

    1. Go ahead and use De Angelis (or better yet Mass IX). Congregations don't sing at weddings.

    2. Use any setting but the Schubert or Bach/Gounoud Ave. There are many, many better choices.

    Congrats on your upcoming nuptials.
    Thanked by 1mmeladirectress
  • davido
    Posts: 942
    The Faure “Mater Maria gratiae” would work for tenor/bass. Also Faure’s Ave verum duet
  • Nathan_the_Organist
    Posts: 440
    If you are looking for an easy Ordinary, you could try Missa Simplex. I think it would sound quite nice at a wedding.
  • mmeladirectress
    Posts: 1,100
    about your Ave Maria - the Arcadelt Ave Maria is quite lovely and can be sung in two voices; you will find it on CPDL https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Main_page

    hope your wedding and new married life are wonderful. Ad multos annos!
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    I'm going to put my oar in (unprompted by the composer) for Charles Giffen's setting of the Ave Maria. I really like it. The edition I have is 2 parts, and T and B would quite comfortably work.

    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • MichaelRaney
    Posts: 28
    If your fiancee want Missa de Angelis, use it.

    If your fiancee wants the Bach / Gounod version of Ave Maria, use it.
  • davido
    Posts: 942
    Michael gives good advice. She will remember what music is picked for the rest of your life.
  • emac3183
    Posts: 55
    Thank you all for your responses! The Missa Simplex should work perfectly. I would like it to be congregational because I know my immediate family–they're very musical, but unfamiliar with chant melodies (even the Missa De Angelis), and would likely spend the Mass frustrated that they can't sing the parts well instead of uniting themselves interiorly to the text. The Missa Simplex should be sight readable by the bulk of my immediate family and the choir members that will be in the pews, but is still a dignified setting.
    Don't worry–I'm definitely running the music past my fiancee. I trust her musical sense and I want to start off the marriage on a happy note (pun intended).

    Neither I nor my fiancee are married (also pun intended) to the Gounod version of the Ave Maria...I'm also looking into the Saint-Saens (I would like an organ accompaniment for whatever we choose). I love the Arcadelt–I may just make an arrangement of it for their specific voices.

    As far as prelude duets, I don't have any limitations other than TB + organ and devotional texts. Any favorites?
  • Clara Chung
    Posts: 20
    I've used the Saint-Saens duet with soprano and alto for weddings before, it's a lovely piece. I've never heard it with male voices, but I'm sure it would sound nice. I've also come across solo settings by Dvorak and Rheinberger that are quite nice as well.

    I'm biased from singing so many weddings, but I always appreciate singing less commonly-done versions of the Ave Maria. I kind of dislike singing the Schubert (though I could do it in my sleep), and I rarely sing the Bach/Gounod as I'm a mezzo so I have to sing it pretty low, and it's just not as interesting in my range.
  • emac3183
    Posts: 55
    I think we're going to go with the Arcadelt Ave Maria (the Saint-Saens was a really close second!). Here is the arrangement I made quick this morning. I would love suggestions to improve it!
    Arcadelt Ave Maria T:B:Organ - Score.pdf
    113K
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