Alternation between chant and choral verses
  • RocinanteRocinante
    Posts: 1
    I lead a small volunteer choir and we are considering singing Garau's Ave Maris Stella as a postlude after Mass. As a group we have a special fondness for the chant version of Ave Maris Stella, and I was wondering if it would be strange to alternate verses from the two (maybe transposing the chant to start on F).

    I was considering starting with the first verse in chant, then continuing with Garau's verses, then perhaps singing the doxology verse in chant and finishing with the choral "Amen." Or some variation of that.

    Playing it out to myself, it sounds nice to me... but I don't trust myself to know what is musically/liturgically/tonally appropriate. If this is a totally ridiculous idea, please forgive me. Any advice is appreciated!
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,883
    Alternatim is quite traditional in the office. Your plan sounds fine.
    Thanked by 1Rocinante
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,065
    My suggestion would be to use another chant of the Ave maris stella that better matches Garau's setting. It's customary to match the mode of the chant to the polyphony. To my ear it's awkward to go from "major" to "minor" mode and back again if you use the chant melody in the first mode. This melody in the 7th mode is not as familiar but fits the polyphony better in my opinion - though perhaps this defeats your purpose of singing the mode 1 version.
    Thanked by 3Charles_Weaver Roborgelmeister Rocinante
  • GerardH
    Posts: 557
    The second verse from Monteverdi's setting of the same text is in the correct mode and works rather well. The edition here has accompaniment and ritornellos, both of which could be omitted. My guess is that the SAB voicing of Garau is what makes you want to do that setting though - perhaps this is something to aspire to.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen rich_enough Rocinante
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