Blown away by Missa Rex Genitor
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    We're singing Mass VI from the Kyriale for the month of August, and I can't get over how contemporary and fresh-sounding it is. What is it that makes these ancient mass settings instantly accessible to the modern age?

    Here's the text of the Agnus Dei and a recording by Matthew Curtis. There is so much musicality packed into each line. Perhaps it's the bistrophas and episemas that lend so much expression? All I know is that you can't help but feel the poignancy of this piece.

    You don't want to overdo it, of course, but there is a world of drama and emotion in these simple mass settings.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E98cHfy8Beg
    Thanked by 3expeditus1 CHGiffen Ralph Bednarz
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,190
    I agree. The EF wedding I played for recently had the missa "cum jubilo." I had not sung it in several years and when I heard it and sang it, it was this marvel of musical beauty. To be honest, I cried after the Sanctus because it was so beautiful. These gregorian masses have a beauty about them that cannot be overstated.
    Thanked by 4expeditus1 JulieColl CHGiffen Ralph Bednarz
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    Yes, well-rehearsed chant quiets the nervous system, so that a person's mind and soul can just rest in prayer.
    Thanked by 2JulieColl Ralph Bednarz
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    It's true, Kevin in Kentucky! Some of those Sanctuses really get me, too.

    If you think about it, just as the Missal is the priest's book, and the Liber is the schola's book, so the Kyriale is the book that belongs to the people. If Catholics are going to learn to sing the EF Mass as the Church indeed wants, then the Kyriale is the book that must be restored to the people in a real and meaningful way.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    If Catholics are going to learn to sing the EF Mass as the Church indeed wants, then the Kyriale is the book that must be restored to the people in a real and meaningful way.

    This ... and also this for the OF in Latin/Greek.
    Thanked by 2Ben JulieColl
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Yes. Forget singing the EF. The kyriale should be used for singing the MASS.
    Thanked by 1Ralph Bednarz
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    There should be a well-thumbed, slightly dog-eared Kyriale in every pew in every Catholic church.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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