In a Eucharistic Rut
  • Dan McGarveyDan McGarvey
    Posts: 59
    So in a recent effort to make our Eucharist more, well, Eucharistic, I've been tweaking the prepared music that my choir does during the communion procession. Typically we've done two pieces - a congragational hymn and a prepared choral piece that (theoretically) fits the theme/spirit of the day's liturgy. That prepared piece is now exclusively a Eucharist-themed text, and with that change I've made the disturbing discovery that the most appropriate pieces the choir knows is very limited in number. It's gonna get old pretty quickly. Even a scan of our considerable library yielded a limited number of ideas.

    So as I am wont to do every now and then, I like to take a great resource like this and poll my colleagues for choral pieces that fit the bill for my needs. We're open to styles - aything from early polyphony to present day. My preference is "concert-quality" pieces, but I'm open to considering any appropriate title.

    Thanks in advance for your thoughtful replies.

    Cheers,
    Dan
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,204
    If you take a look at the Gregorian Missal or the Graduale simplex you'll notice that the texts appointed by the Church for the communion rarely make a direct reference to the Eucharist or the act of receiving communion. With respect to the GM, generally there's a prevailing "theme" (hate that word, but it's the only one that comes to mind) established by the repetition of the same or similar texts from the psalms or other scriptures throughout the Propers of the day, often reflecting back on the Gospel reading. Have you considered using polyphonic settings of one of the Propers for the day in theGM or Liber Usualis?
  • Dan McGarveyDan McGarvey
    Posts: 59
    It was inevitable that someone was going to bring up the propers. I should have mentioned that we've got those covered with a schola. I'm going to be stubborn about wanting answers to my original, quite specific request. :)
  • don roy
    Posts: 306
    theres always mike laurance setting of o sacrum convivium published at cantica nova. that has gotten rave reviews . also keven allen has composed some eucharistic anthems if im n ot mistaken.
    of course theres always the remondi...
  • OlbashOlbash
    Posts: 314
    A few come to mind...

    Ave Verum Corpus - Byrd, Mozart, Elgar, Faure, Saint-Saens

    O Sacrum Convivium - Croce, Guerrero, Tallis, Victoria, Messiaen
    (in English, "O Sacred Feast," by Healey Willan -- short, simple, exquisite)

    Worth looking at:
    Draw Nigh and Take the Body of the Lord - Thiman
    O Taste and See - Vuaghan Williams

    Not quite concert-quality, but still well-crafted:
    Shepherd of Souls - Fedak
    O the Riches and the Wisdom - Wagner
    Draw Us In the Spirit's Tether - Friedell
    Day of Arising - Schalk
    I Come With Joy to Meet My Lord - Schalk
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    Any setting of Gustate et videte (e.g., Heinrich Isaac)
    Any setting of Ubi Caritas (Jean Langlais)
    Any setting of Adoro te (Pierre Villette)
    Any setting of Pange lingua (Mark Winges)
    Any setting of the Magnificat (Theodore Marier)

    There are so many of these to choose from, I can't imagine you'd ever run out. There are comparatively fewer polyphonic settings of the propers, but those may always be sun on their own or in addition to the chant.
  • Dan McGarveyDan McGarvey
    Posts: 59
    What a wonderful list!

    Regarding the settings of specific texts (very useful in and of itself), I'm curious which composer's settings you find most accessible to a choir of moderate skill. (By which I mean, doing the Et In Terra Pax movement from the Vivaldi Gloria was a stretch for them.)

    Some reciprocal input: One setting of Ave Verum that I did not see listed is the one by Javier Busto.

    Cheers,
    Dan
  • Donnaswan
    Posts: 585
    Adoro Te, devote/Jesus I adore Thee- a setting of the Plainsong by Stephen (sp) Carraciolo. It is in my top ten. Divided parts and terrible editing, but worth the struggle. He does not destroy the chant, but enhances it in a modern idiom to my mind.
    I second the setting of O Sacrum Convivim by Michael Laurence. SO simple, but so sacred.
    Can't say I care for the Healy Willan setting very much, but chacun son gout
    There is a very dramatic setting of the Ave Verum by Robert Lau- has some divided sop, but only a few meas. (Hinshaw.
    A another dramatic setting of O Sacrum Convivium ' by James Biery- Morning Star.
    A setting of 'Let all mortal flesh by Rutter with a wonderful spooky organ part and lots of Alleluias at the end.
    There are several settings of "Panis Angelicus' besides the oh so familiar one. I'm thinking there's one by Saint-Saens ? that's pretty easy.

    Donna
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,204
    Yes, you should have brought up the schola! Now I look like a "know-it-all"! ;^)

    The other recommendations are streets ahead of mine!
  • G
    Posts: 1,397
    Someone brought up the Magnificat - anyone know a setting by Nieland? (think I have the spelling right)

    Besides the prescribed propers, how about settings of the ad lib communios?
    Such as (can't vouch for all of this music, but,)
    Qui manducat,
    another, Ego sum panis, another,

    I'm only a composer, utility putter of notes on paper out of necessity so I started on it and trashed it, but I've often thought that a really valuable project for one of you real deals out there, (and one that you could probably make money on,) is a folio of Seven Simple Short Anthems, to those ad lib propers, (maybe SAB, but certainly within the range of average, samll church choirs,) I am the true vine, O taste and see, This is my body which is given up for you, You gave us bread from heaven having all sweetness, They ate and were satisfied, The bread which I will give is my flesh, He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, in Latin and the vernacular (maybe Douay to avoid the current fracas over the psalms and other translation issues?)

    Save the Liturgy, Save the World!
  • redsox1
    Posts: 217
    I would add the following:
    Viadana's setting of O Sacrum Convivium, and of course the Messiaen (though not for the faint of heart!)
    Another gem of a piece, but it is out of print, is Robert Powell's setting of Anima Christi in English. Absolutely gorgeous. I found a single copy on Ebay and received permission by the publisher to copy at will.
    Richard DeLong's setting of O Taste and See is worth a look, as well as David Hurd's setting of Love Bade Me Welcome (George Herbert text.)
    Of course, there are the two Durufle motets (Ubi Caritas and Tantum Ergo.)
    I second Biery's setting of O Sacrum Convivium-a very interesting piece. You might also look at his setting of Ubi Caritas.
    Has anyone on the list done Proulx's Jesu, the Very Thought of Thee (Jesu Dulcis Memoria?) Beautiful!
    Leo Nestor has a setting of Jesu Dulcis Memoria in Latin. Not easy, but a great piece.
    There is also a delightful SAB setting of Lauda Sion in English set to music by Mozart. It's found in a group of SAB anthem books published by ECS. I'm not sure if it is available as a single anthem.
  • SamuelDorlaque
    Posts: 318
    See also: "Verily, verily, I say unto you" ... Tallis; Byzantine Communion Motets ... Gerald Near; Panis angelicus...
    Richard Wappel (written for JPII's visit to STL in 1999); check the web sites of St. Clement in PHIL, Corpus Christi in NYC,
    St. Mary the Virgin in NYC, St Ignatius of Loyola in NYC, etc. I have found many wonderful ideas at their web-sites.
  • mahrt
    Posts: 517
    Pierre de La Rue, O salutaris Hostia. See the score and my article in Sacred Music, Spring 2009, vol 136, no 1 (available on this web site.)
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 781
    (sorry if this is "too off-topic" for some people, but) a couple people have mentioned the Saint-Saens Ave Verum.
    it seems to be that the most common one is this one: http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/5/52/IMSLP38972-PMLP85752-Saint-Sa__ns_-_Ave_Verum_in_E-flat__ca._1860_.pdf
    but my choir has a published version that I can't find anywhere online that is completely different, it's in Bminor, here's the only recording of it that I can find (but my version is SATB) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfuyt_-GYfk
    It's very haunting, and easy to sing!
    The soprano starts "d-a#-b-a-g-b-b-f#"
    has anyone else ever heard this version? Could it be misattributed?

    btw, what a great topic!
  • Donnaswan
    Posts: 585
    Redsox1 I second the Robert Powell 'Anima Christi' My copies are just about worn out. Glad to hear you pursued it with the publishers.
    Po9well as you prolly know was an Epicsopal Choirmaster/ organist for years in Greeneville, SC, (I think he's somewhere else now) and as such wrote a lot of nice pieces with his own choir in mind, thus not terribly difficult, but mostly decent and sometimes really beautiful music.
    Off the subject, but I am reminded that Biery has a delightful setting of "O Little Town of Bethlehem' his own tune. I think Morning Star.
    Donna
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,033
    Some "easier" Latin motets:

    Ave Verum Corpus - Josquin, Elgar
    Caro Mea – Andrea Gabrieli, Guerrero
    Cibavit Eos – Tye (attached)
    Ego Sum Panis Vivus – Esquivel, Palestrina
    O Esca Viatorum – Isaac, Bernabei, Croce
    O Sacrum Convivum - Bernabei (attached)
    O Sacrum Convivium – Croce
    O Sacrum Convivium - Viadana http://cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/via-osa1.pdf
    O Salutaris Hostia – La Rue http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/rue-osa1.pdf
    O Salutaris Hostia – Josquin http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/jos-osal.pdf
    Panis Angelicus – Casciolini and others

    English
    Verily, Verily I Say Unto You – Tallis

    Sam Schmitt
    O Sacrum Convivum - Bernabei.pdf
    314K
    Cibavit Eos - Tye.pdf
    144K
  • Dan McGarveyDan McGarvey
    Posts: 59
    Thanks for those scores! I don't see any editorial credits for these, however (J.G.P. isn't much of a clue), and I'm always interested in knowing who the editor is.
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,033
    Bernabei's O Sacrum Convivium comes from a Kalmus reprint ("Motets by Old Masters" or some such) of one of those old French collections dating from the late 19th century which in turn were probably derived from Karl Proske's great "Musica Divina." Proske's editions were "Urtext," but the Kalmus reprint doesn't give an editor.

    "J.G.P." refers to J. Gerald Phillips, a staff editor at McLaughlin & Reilly in the 1960s and a long time friend and colleague of the late great Dr. Theodroe Marier. They did some wonderful work at McL&R - including the little known gem, the hymnal "Cantus Populi." Unfortunately it was just at the time the entire liturgy changed overnight. The firm soon went out of business and was sold (along with all the copyrights of course). Mr. Phillips composed the first mass setting in English published in the US and is still composing and serving as a music director in Massachusetts.

    Sam Schmitt
  • OlbashOlbash
    Posts: 314
    Where is J. Gerald Phillips serving as a music director? It would be fun to meet him some time.
Add a Comment