Jeff T. told me that this was going to be a lot of work, and it is.

In putting together my “guide for clueless panicked volunteer music directors,”I would like to assemble links to videos of relevant music for Advent. The idea is to have an explanation of the GIRM, then links to videos to the propers for each day, at least from Advent through Epiphany. This is indeed a lot of work, as I have spent perhaps four hours on the first two Sundays.

Excelsior, or whatever.

Don’t worry: links to the Simple English Propers are high on the priority list.

In any case, I cannot find satisfactory videos for the following chants. I would appreciate it if several of you could take a little time to do videos for each one. A solo performance is fine; a schola performance is fine. Giovanni Vianini in Milan has produced a whole catalogue of both Ambrosian Chant and Chant from the L. Usualis and Graduale Romanum. Some are just him; some are his schola. I have four or five good videos for some other propers, and the more the merrier, I always say.

YouTube is a little thin on women’s scholas, so anyone who wanted to do virtually any of the Mass Chants of Advent would provide a great addition.

If you haven’t done it before, good video cameras are easy to find. I would recommend getting a shotgun mic to pick up sound. If you are more adventurous, having something like a scrolling score helps a lot. (See this example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PqIlx5w_24 )

Post it on YouTube with a clear label. Chant Name, Advent Sunday, etc, preferably in Latin so it gets picked up internationally. I'm just putting together a list, but with a good label you will get hits from other people. Vianini has had over 3 MILLION hits--about half of those from me in the last few days.

Then if you wouldn’t mind emailing me at avoicethatsuits@gmail.com to let me know you posted it. No hurry, but don’t put it off. I am hoping for a slow October roll out but would like to get these two days put to bed.

The ones I could really use:

From the L. Usualis/Roman Gradual:
Advent 1, Gradual: Universi qui te expectant
Advent 2: Gradual Populus Sion, Communion Jerusalem Surge

From the Graduale Simplex: Anything that is different than the L. Usualis. (I don't actually have easy access to this yet--there is no copy that can be checked out on campus! So I am not familiar with the GS.)

Virtually all the Vespers antiphons are missing out there as well, so if you feel completist (-:

Blessings and thanks,

Kenneth