Easy (3-part) polyphony now available (by Kevin Allen)
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
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    Easy polyphony by Kevin Allen (with 56 FREE practice videos) is now available.

    Rather than have me EXPLAIN, please watch the video:

    VIMEO VERSION • YOUTUBE VIDEO • GloriaTV VERSION

    TO LEARN MORE, please visit: http://musicfortheliturgy.org/kevinallen

    (. . . and you can purchase scores & CD with a Credit Card --- you do NOT have to have a PayPal account).

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    Scroll to the bottom of THIS PAGE to see the practice videos.

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    EXCERPT:
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    PSALM VERSES (to make each piece longer or shorter, depending on the Liturgical action):
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    PSALM VERSES are also provided in Modern Notation (on the opposite page, in English):
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    . . . TO LEARN MORE, please visit: http://musicfortheliturgy.org/kevinallen
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,481
    woo hoo
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,481
    On further consideration, I have to expand my above comment:

    WOO HOO!

    You had me at "specially formatted to avoid page turns."

    These are beautiful compositions. Moreover, the practice videos make me think that I could actually do them with my small, not-very-good choir that only rehearses together for an hour (or less) right before Mass.

    This is exactly the sort of thing we need. I will be buying it!

    And if anyone wants to produce similar practice editions (and nicely formatted scores) of public domain work, I'd probably be interested in buying those, too.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Awesome!

    By the way, Adam, you noticed the 56 practice videos at the bottom, correct?

    They are provided at the bottom of: http://musicfortheliturgy.org/kevinallen

    Here's another way to get to the same information: MOTECTA TRIUM VOCUM CHANNEL
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Thanks Adam!

    I hope that these tracks help your choir and save valuable rehearsal time.

    There will be many more tracks of Renaissance public domain works coming especially this fall. I'm working on recording 75 to start in October. Stay tuned.

    Matt Curtis
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    yes, Matt. We are keeping our eyes on you. TRUST ME !!!

    Anyone who can do what you've done with the MOTECTA is going places.
  • Ralph BednarzRalph Bednarz
    Posts: 493
    Yesterday I decided to research Kevin Allen's music for the forthcoming season: and this falls in my lap. 7th, 9ths and parallel harmony, practice videos. There is already enough here for the entire season. Thank you!
  • Flambeaux
    Posts: 45
    If you know any homeschoolers, let them know about this. This is the sort of thing many of the homeschoolers I know (Catholic and Protestant) love to get hold of. I've passed it along to some of the good folks I know on the homeschooling end of things.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    This will be a big help for one of my choirs, which is learning Anima Christi and Desidero, mi Iesu. Thanks!
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Here's more information about this AMAZING collection that EVERY SCHOLA needs to purchase.

    Vimeo Version • YouTube Version • Gloria TV version

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    CLICK HERE to learn more!!! • | • http://musicfortheliturgy.org/kevinallen
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Absolutely beautiful. My congrats to Kevin, and to Matt, and to Jeffrey and Watershed. Bravo, all around.

    I'm trying, though, to wrap my mind around a statement on the front page of the website, namely: "Motets are appropriate at all times of the Liturgical year, so the pieces can be sung again and again."

    Yes, but these motets would always be substitutes for the propers (whether the chants or polyphonic settings of the same texts), right? Granted, as far as substitutes go, these are stupendous. But these texts aren't the same as any of the propers in the liturgical year (OF), as far as I can tell. So… when during the Mass ought these motets be sung? What should they replace? (And how often?)

    I really don't mean to be a stick-in-the-mud here. I'm aware that this use of "alius cantus aptus" is much closer to what's intended by that option than the vast majority of what we typically hear in parishes, week-to-week. But it's still a substitute, right?
  • BachLover2BachLover2
    Posts: 330
    mark m., i'm assuming these motets are to be used at offertory and communion....i've watched the videos several times, but i've never gotten the impression they would be appropriate (or intended) as propers.....99.99% of all choirs in the world sing something at offertory/communion.....i see no reason to doubt these pieces were intended for this.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Dear Mark M.,

    The pieces are meant to be sung at Offertory or Communion. They are NOT supposed to replace Propers.

    VIMEO VERSION • YOUTUBE VIDEO • GloriaTV VERSION

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    TO LEARN MORE, please visit: http://musicfortheliturgy.org/kevinallen
  • Flambeaux
    Posts: 45
    I'll add my voice to the chorus of "motets should not replace propers" in either form of the Roman Rite.
  • BachLover2BachLover2
    Posts: 330
    pardonnes, but who is saying motets should replace propers? in the whole histroy of christendom, this has never been done. who is saying this? NPM, perhaps?
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Dear Mark M.,

    The pieces are meant to be sung at Offertory or Communion. They are NOT supposed to replace Propers.

    Okay… so, these beautiful motets are to be sung after the Offertory or Communion chants (or other appropriate settings of the proper texts thereof)? Is there really enough time to do both?

    I'd certainly welcome these as an occasional use of "alius cantus aptus." (Again, these are absolutely wonderful!) I'd do so quite judiciously, though, as my preference is to keep the Propers as the norm.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    If I'm off-base here, please, please let me know.

    AND… let me suggest that I'd support a commissioning project whereby Mr. Allen might set the all (or many) of the Offertory and/or Communion proper texts, in similar fashion. (I especially like how Mr. Allen has provided the Psalm verses here, in both English and Latin.)

    As I recall from Aristotle's CPDL Google docs database, there are still a handful of Offertory propers for which polyphonic settings are seemingly unavailable. And numerous Communion propers aren't set to polyphony as well. There's a need to fill here!
  • Flambeaux
    Posts: 45
    In most of the suburban parishes celebrating the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite in which I have lived, there is plenty of time for these during the Holy Communion. In one of the OF parishes which I attend with some regularity, there is time for chanted propers in English and then a hymn. I see no reason why a worthy motet could not replace the hymn.

    In the EF, I wouldn't anticipate a problem with the timing, at least in my experience of sung masses.
    YMMV, of course.
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,048
    Mark M,

    I couldn't agree with you more on the priority of singing the propers, and agree again when you say that there is a need for new polyphonic settings of the offertory and communion propers. (Keep in mind that Aristotle's database covers only those pieces available on CPDL - a tiny fraction of what's out there.) However, you can understand that composers would be more attracted to texts that can be sung more often than once a year (as is usually the case with proper texts).

    As for time - I always have had time to sing a piece in addition to the offertory and communion propers - I've even seen the offertory procession and / or collection taken before the offertory begins, along with incensing afterwards - so there can be plenty of time for both proper and motet. And given the communion proper is usually very short, there shouldn't be a problem here either.

    Sam Schmitt
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Friends,

    I can only stress again that these pieces have nothing to do with replacing Propers.

    The Catholic tradition is to sing something (in addition to the Propers) at Offertory and Communion.

    These Kevin Allen Motets are PERFECT for this!
  • Heath
    Posts: 966
    Colleagues, I cannot say enough about how wonderful this collection is. Kevin gave me a copy a couple years ago, and I've cherished them ever since . . . these are stunning.

    We did a read-through last week at the Sacred Music Retreat with some gents, and you could see all their eyes light up as we sang through each.

    And the recording by Mr. Curtis is equally stunning . . . I listened to it twice in a row on my drive home from the retreat. Musical, flawless intonation, wonderful tone . . . tremendous.

    BUY THIS BOOK, I BEG YOU!
  • marymezzomarymezzo
    Posts: 236
    Jeff--

    That's exactly why I ordered a copy of Kevin's motets--to consider them for schola use at offertory or Communion after we sing the propers.

    Makes perfect sense to me!

    Mary

    P.S. Can't wait for the CD so I can hear them all!
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Thanks, everyone, for your responses to my concerns. I always learn a lot from everyone here.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    THIS NEW VIDEO has a nice message, but a bad actor.

    Vimeo Version • Gloria TV version • YouTube Version

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  • BachLover2BachLover2
    Posts: 330
    wonderful videos, wonderful voice....cannot wait for my copy to arrive...congrats, again
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    VIEW THE ENTIRE PDF BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO PURCHASE
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    Just listened to the CD. It is truly wonderful! I am going to run this project by some of our schola members, and see if we can't do this. I hope we do!
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    It really makes good public relations to chant the Communio and then, a bit later, sing something polyphonic. For those people having a problem getting their ears around chant, this can assure them that they get to hear things in a style that they are more familiar with than solo chant lines.

    These pieces are so far above the level of the St. Gregory Hymnal things.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Thank you, my friends !
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Thanks guys!

    The singing on this CD is not only for learning notes but an expressive, artistic guide of how to sing Kevin's music and music of the Renaissance. It is a culmination of the experience I have gained singing this music with Chanticleer the past year. It really is beautiful and great writing on Kevin's part, but must be performed well to bring out the actual music. I hope this CD does this.

    Matt
  • DougS
    Posts: 793
    Is there only one way?
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Of course not! That's part of the reason why Kevin's music is so great. I was speaking about syllable stress, word stress, phrase shaping, etc. The aspects more widely agreed upon.
  • PaixGioiaAmorPaixGioiaAmor
    Posts: 1,473
    Any chance of publishing an SAB choir version? I looked at the transposition suggestions ... too hard for me to wrap my mind around while singing/conducting. I know my singers would have trouble. It's one thing to see a D and sing a C ... but to sing two full steps below? I personally don't see that working. Publishing an SAB book of the same motets would be a WONDERFUL resource.
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