Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 411
    This year is the 100th anniversary of Stanford's death; will forum members be marking it?
    We recently sang his Magnificat in C in combination with other local church choirs to mark Christian Unity Week, but his music can be hard to place in a Catholic setting.
    His view was that the Church 'should uncompromisingly adopt what is best, irrespective of popularity, and eschew the second rate, event if it is momentarily attractive'.
    Just as true now (if not more so) than it was back then.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen tomjaw M. Jackson Osborn
  • cesarfranck
    Posts: 162
    I am playing his Prelude on St Colomba and a couple of other pieces by him. The choir is singing some verses from."I bind unto myself this day" as offertory anthem. Of course this will.be on March 17 and I was able to find all Irish hymns or tunes that fit easily with liturgy for the day.
    Thanked by 1Viola
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,798
    To "uncompromisingly adopt what is best" seems a no-brainer to me, who strive to 'place' JSB in a Catholic setting. I didn't notice the 100 year mark, but we sang Beati quorum via just last week; in years A & C it's usually an OT 6 anthem.
    Thanked by 1Viola
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    O For a Closer Walk is quite beautful.
    Thanked by 4M. Jackson Osborn Viola Roborgelmeister cesarfranck
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    O.K. I am sure the choir would like to celebrate the 100th anniversary, but what would be suitable for the TLM ?
    N.B. We almost never sing in English, we start with the Asperges, and finish with the Marian Anthem so Entrance and Recessionals are not possible.
  • davido
    Posts: 942
    His Three Latin Motets, probably
    Thanked by 4tomjaw Viola IanW Roborgelmeister
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    As the anniversary is on Good Friday, nothing will be suitable.
  • JacobFlahertyJacobFlaherty
    Posts: 331
    N.B. We almost never sing in English, we start with the Asperges, and finish with the Marian Anthem so Entrance and Recessionals are not possible.
    Tomjaw, I assume this is a TLM. As a long-time TLM director, what do the folks in the pews sing? Do they sing the Ordinary at all? In our TLM we opened and closed with hymns and then sang the Asperges or Vidi Aquam. Then on to the Introit, etc...
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,311
    See, I can’t stand a hymn before the sprinkling, and I know that this is a fairly strong assertion of taste, but the organ is its own voice. There is so much beautiful music, along with improvisation, that is not heard if you use hymns there, and in Advent and Lent, not filling the gap is truly striking!

    tomjaw’s parish uses a hymn board to announce the Ordinary which inspired me to do so. I can’t recall how much they sing, but that practice is worth imitating. Msgr. Hellriegel believed in doing this as well.

    Now, I generally prefer organ postludes and maybe a hymn (I’m not that attached to hymns) before a postlude but replacing the first with a choral anthem, in the vernacular, is a good way to mark such an anniversary or another important occasion, IMHO.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 411
    About Stanford.
    Of the three Latin motets op. 38, I would recommend no 3 Beati quorum via. It's SSATBB, though there are arrangements on CPDL for smaller choirs but I haven't looked at them. No. 1 Justorum animae, is for the departed, so rather restricted, and no, 2 is an Ascension motet for double choir. Nice if you have the forces available!
    His date of death is indeed Good Friday, but we are marking the year rather than a specific date, as Westminster Cathedral did with William Byrd, and have already sung one of his Magnificats, with hopefully other pieces to follow, including organ voluntaries after Lent.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    And next year will be the 400th anniversary of Orlando Gibbons' death. Plan now.

    I think Beati quorum via is among the finest choral chestnuts of the 20th century, which is a century that is not at all poor in choral chestnuts.

    PS for folks who've never heard it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9zgq5qrNGw
    Thanked by 2Viola M. Jackson Osborn
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    @JacobFlaherty
    We sing Chant Ordinaries on around 3 Sundays a month. So the Congregation sing the Following Masses reasonably well,
    Mass I, Mass IX, Mass XI, Mass XIV and Mass XVII
    and Credo I, II and IV.
    We also use Mass II, and IV and Credo VI occasionally so the congregation do not know these as well. We sing Mass VIII only a couple of times a year and never on a Sunday, so they probably do not know it. Credo III is banned.

    The congregation sing the Asperges / Vidi Aquam, all the dialogs and the Marian Anthem, this is usually the simple tone but they do know the 'solemn' tones that we use on Major Feast Days.

    We really do not have time to sing a processional, with our crowded Mass schedule. Also we usually do not have a long procession. On Easter we will sing the Salve Festa Dies as a processional and would be able to sing one verse if they process the short way and 3 verses the long way down the main aisle.

    We have a tradition of always singing the Marian Anthem after Mass and so most of the priest process out as we sing this.

    Another problem is that we have no tradition of English hymn singing at our TLM, and the many converts and new families that have joined us also have no experience of what some people call traditional English Hymnody.
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