Please has anyone advice on a suitable SATB motet for the Solemnity of the Assumption. Not too challenging as several of our choir members will be on holiday, but it is our patronal feast so we need to mark it appropriately. To give an idea, last year we sang the Arcadelt/Dietsch Ave Maria. Thanks in anticipation!
If you're willing to spend a few bucks, track down Alvez Barkoskie (is he on this message board at all?) and ask him for his Salve Regina setting. I had a small group do it at our evening Mass last Assumption, and it was both approachable and very pretty.
Thank you, that sounds like an interesting choice, though at the request of the bishop, we always sing the chant Salve (possibly the festal tone) at the end of Compline, which follows the evening Mass. Perhaps we could get away with doing both versions.
Also Sicut Lilium, Brumel, is easy and on the Matins antiphon of the day. It is short, we usually sing it interposed with extra verses from Song of Songs.
Ave gratia plena by Cornelius Verdonck is lovely and not too difficult. And the only copy is preserved in an engraving! (see this video recording of the work)
Stravinsky's Bogoroditse dievo is quite lovely, as is Ave Maria with its revised alto and an amen that I. S. likened to an ionic temple's patio. The 3 slavonic anthems are from the same period as his five-finger piano pieces, and the voice parts a similarly confined to 4-6 pitches each.
Thanks to all for taking the time to make these suggestions. Right now my husband and I, with three friends, are recovering from choir burnout on the Isle of Wight, a place I would heartily recommend. We attended Mass last Sunday at Quarr Abbey, and took part in the procession around the grounds, a wonderful experience. So I haven't had time as yet to look through all the suggestions yet, but I will on our return, and get our cathedral choir started on some. Thanks again.
To participate in the discussions on Catholic church music, sign in or register as a forum member, The forum is a project of the Church Music Association of America.