Organ Processional for EF By J.S. Bach
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    For those of you who need Processionals for the EF, I submit that this is the greatest Processional ever written:
    Bach Processional Piece, BWV 572
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,945
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lrv1oR1WU4
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Great video !!!
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,694
    And this is specific to the EF because....?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    It is not specific to the EF, but I think most OF Parishes sing a Hymn during the Procession.

    My understanding is that Introit used to be sung (in EF) during the procession to the altar, but Pius XII ordered that it should begin when the celebrant reaches the altar.

    I would be grateful if others can clarify this.
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,945
    Jeff,

    Did Pius XII undo the reform of Pius X in the 1908 Graduale, whereby the latter pope restored the introit as something sung as the celebrant processed from the sacristy to the altar (before this reform, the introit was sung after the priest said the prayers at the foot of the altar)?
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,021
    My instructions are that the Introit starts as the Celebrant "enters" the Sanctuary. In a Missa Solemnis, he and the Deacon/Subdeacon begin immediately with the Prayers at the Foot. This JSB excerpt is just right for covering a procession from the front doors to the Sanctuary. In a simpler Missa Cantata, with only the Celebrant, he often enters carrying the veiled chalice, so he needs to approach the Altar before beginning the Prayers. I believe there is some room to fudge with all this - depending on the length and/or complexity (Graduale or Rossini) of the Introit and the timed length of the chosen chant/polyphonic Kyrie.
  • Joseph Mansfield
    Posts: 113
    Matthew, use of this or other worthy organ processional should be specific to the EF because the music is just so powerful that it might get a celebrant so focused on the austere reality of what he is about to do that he would do it reverently, and in the fear of the Lord, and with a sense of the sacred, and that sense of the sacred could start overflowing to the people, and ... and ... No, we can't risk letting the OF look sacred. No. Wouldn't do.
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,945
    Well, it's a work I've heard used in the OF with some frequency.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    A snippet of Bach at his noblest! But why anyone would amputate this snippet from a profound composition by Bach (or anyone else) and close it off with a fake cadence is beyond me. It isn't as if there were a lack of suitable processional music that makes such butchery needful. I can see this as processional music - but, if you want to play BWV 572 then play the whole thing for a long procession.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Can be found here

    http://www.greatjsbach.net/bachscore/bwv572_af.pdf

    (thanks for pointing out this piece JO)
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,945
    St Paul's in Cambridge MA.
  • Chrism
    Posts: 868
    [Deleted - failed attempt at humor]
  • Joseph Mansfield
    Posts: 113
    Liam, I have only a couple of minutes but I glanced at St Paul's, Cambridge, on the web and it appears to be one of those exceptional places like St John Cantius, Chicago, or St Agnes, St Paul MN, where there is a good musical and liturgical program in place. Pieces like our Bach here would be next to non-existent at most OF parishes, I think. But we may hope that will gradually change ... maybe ...
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    German Lutheran Baroque is not my favorite Catholic church music, but this composition fits nicely in both the EF and OF. I haven't played it in a while, so maybe it's time to get it back out of the files.
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,945
    Joseph

    I don't disagree that it's uncommon, but if the EF were to replace the OF entirely tomorrow, it would remain just as uncommon (and I would venture it was just as uncommon before the Council). It's not an issue of the Missal involved but of local culture. Right now, the EF is in the custody of communities that care deeply about liturgical praxis (although they can have very heated disagreements about it - for example, over the dominance of the Low Mass model).

    I am much more concerned about the prevalence of singing an entrance hymn and reciting the Gloria at Sunday Masses. Until we get the ordinary and dialogues and presidential prayers in order, debates about the propers/hymns and other things miss where the boat is and where it needs to get to next.
  • Joseph Mansfield
    Posts: 113
    Liam,

    The short of it is that I agree with you fully.

    My original comment is saying, indirectly, that in most places there is a serious lack of a sense of the sacred. As for what to address first, one could not do better than to be guided by the 1963 and 1967 documents which inform your comment.
  • newmanbenewmanbe
    Posts: 76
    It must be true; ChabanelPsalms.org says so.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    By the way, BWV 572 (as a whole) is a wonderful piece, and the tempo in the YouTube recording linked above is just about right.

    It probably is more convenient for the procession at the end of Mass than any other time.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    I ask in sincerity - why would given processional music be any different for the EF than for the OF. There are no rubrics in either stating specifically what music should be played at this point. The primary criteria for each, it seems to me, would be ecclesial fitness and length. It seems highly subjective to suggest that a certain piece, say BWV 572, is apt for one rite and not the other. Such high subjectivity suggests wrongly that one rite is inherently more worthy than the other.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    Oh, I think the original poster just had in mind that instrumental processions are (in practice) commonly used at EF Masses; and less commonly in OF Masses. The BWV 572 excerpt indicated above would fit as an entrance procession for a Said (Low) Mass.
  • Chrism
    Posts: 868
    Ooh. Start the Bach video at 0:05 and then watch this video muted starting at 0:27.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    Brilliant!

    The combination starts off as a stroke of comic genius, but moves on to show that almost any situation can be, if not fully redeemed, at least mitigated. Thank you.
  • Joseph Michael
    Posts: 254
    The volumes of Le Livre d'orgue de Montréal are never far from my side when playing for Holy Mass. The perfect music to "cover the action" before, during, and after the liturgy.

    http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/livreorgue/
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    JM

    We want that publication in print! Do you know who might have it????
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Yes we do want print copies!!!!
  • Joseph Michael
    Posts: 254
    I purchased my copies from the Archambault music store and bookstore at the corner of Sainte Catherine Street and Berri Street which is on the eastern fringe of the business district. (This neighborhood has become rather dicey over the years.) This is their website...which looks a bit confusing to me. Hope this helps. These books are "must haves".

    www.archambault.ca/
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    JM: Thanks!

    Is it engraved or autography?
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Looks like it is back ordered. Woe is me. Thanks for the link.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Keep me posted on its availability. I don't understand hardly a word in French.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    C

    there's a link for English at top
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,934
    Thanks! Old age and bad eyes. I didn't see it.
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