Mix-n-Match Chant Masses?
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    I've encountered two schools of thought when it comes to chant mass ordinaries:

    1.) You use all the chants from the one collection because they belong together.
    2.) It doesn't matter because it is the TEXT which has primary importance.

    I admit to being of the latter school of thought. Take a closer look at Mass XVII, which seems to be the classic beginner's introduction to chant masses. You will find that the Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei were all written down in different centuries! The Kyrie is 11th Century, Sanctus 13th Century and Agnus Dei 12th Century.

    As much as people may argue that they've had at least 7 centuries of common usage together, I want to highlight the fact that Chant had largely gone out of use by 1750, and it wasn't revived until the late-1800s when various movements arose to take the church back to its roots (such as the Oxford Movement).

    I must note here that I regularly make use of the ICEL Chant Mass for the Assembly, which is essentially an English Adaption of Kyrie XVI, Gloria XV, Sanctus XVIII and Agnus Dei XVIII.

    For Latin Chant Masses I vary it thus:

    My "congregation" is readily familiar with Sanctus XVIII. Agnus Dei XVIII and Ad Libitum II are also well-known. Gloria VIII and to a lesser extent Gloria XV are reasonably well-known. I tend to keep Gloria VIII for bigger, more jubilant occasions and Gloria XV for Ordinary Sundays.

    Where things vary is with the Kyrie. Kyrie XVI seems to have become the standard, since Missa Primativa (1958) and Missa Jubilate Deo (1974) specified this particular Kyrie and it has made it a standard piece. To this, I have added Kyrie XVIII. During Lent and Advent is one of the few times I generally stick to one entire mass ordinary, because it does work well for the seasons. I have also starting using Kyrie XII generally for Marian Feasts and Memorials.

    Because I don't have a regular choir, I try to stick with chants that can be congregationally sung. I find that this collection of 3x Kyrie, 2x Gloria, 1x Sanctus, 2x Agnus Dei generally provides enough variation without taxing the memories or musical abilities of congregations.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,211
    For what it's worth, the Liber Usualis indicated (p. 78) that it was fine to mix and match parts among the Ordinary Masses, excepting the Ferial Mass; in addition, it was fine to use the "ad libitum" chants.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Thanks for that, Richard. Regarding the "Ferial Mass" part… what does that mean, exactly? Looking at the same Liber Usualis, it seems there are ferial days during Christmas (in which case you'd use Mass XV), Advent and Lent (Mass XVIII), and throughout the year (Mass XVI). Am I right here?
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    And hartleymartin, it looks like you've got a nice repertoire there… or at least the start of one! Now and then I think about how the introductory text to "Jubilate Deo" indicates that the chants therein were to be a "minimum repertoire" (emphasis mine). And the USCCB said similar things in SttL. It's nice to see a congregation go beyond the "minimum."
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,211
    Yes, Mark, that's how I read it too. (OTOH, I think of those specifications as recommendations, not hard and fast rules.)
  • Ruth Lapeyre
    Posts: 341
    My understanding is the century indication comes from the oldest manuscript in which the chant was found and that the chant itself could well be much older. Is this correct?
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    That's my understanding too, Ruth. Would appreciate hearing an answer from someone else.
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    I arrange music for feasts/memorials which fall outside of the usual Tuesday Sung mass at my college. The College Schola Cantorum sings polyphonic mass ordinaries for the most part, although we have been known to make use of chant. We especially make use of the Simple English Propers and the Anglican Use Gradual.

    If I am doing music for mass and do not have a schola, it is usually a Hymn substituting for the Introit, organ interlude for offertory, chant for communion (I usually print the chant in the liturgy guide) which may or may not also be followed by a hymn and either a Marian Antiphon or Organ solo at the end of the mass. I then typically rely on a basic chant mass ordinary.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,411
    As has been pointed out, the 'complete' mass cycles, as in nos. I-XVII, are rather arbitrary marriages of pieces from quite different centuries. They are not, thus, true 'cycles' in any meaningful sense of the term. Further, why should one deny oneself of some of the most beautiful settings of all: those rather passed-over ones in the ad libitum section?
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Ruth Lapeyre
    Posts: 341
    So who established the arbitrary Mass chant cycles we have in the Kyriale?
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