Suggestions for Lent
  • As we are a fledgling Schola, can anyone recommend sugegstions of straightforward motets that, of course, sound beautifl and dignified for Lent, Good Friday and Easter Sunday that we could work on. We are singing for the liturgy regularly and aim to improve our skills all the time, so any suggestions of pieces to get us going would be greatly appreciated!

    Eamon
  • MISERERE Antonio Lotti; despite getting your men to nail the minor second initial dissonance that's immediately resolved, this is not that difficult a piece.
    O BONE JESU G.P. da Palestrina
    ADORAMUS TE CHRISTE Palestrina
  • Yes those are great.

    Here are some more
    O Vos Omnes by Croce

    Tenebrae by Anon. (this one is tip top)

    Domine non sum dignus by Vitoria, but voicing issues here: watch out, and ideally done by 4 men.
  • Jscola30
    Posts: 116
    Adoremus Te by Dubois from the Seven Last Words of Christ.
  • Jscola30
    Posts: 116
    if modern is ok, Out of the Depths (ps. 130) by Paul Manz is good.
  • WGS
    Posts: 297
    Some of the above suggestions require treble voices. If the fledgling schola is limited to men (or for that matter is limited to treble voices), consider the Ravanello collection of motets for three equal voices. You'll find a link to this collection to the right on the home page and several pages down all by itself under "Choral Music".

    Most or all these arrangements are transcriptions of works written for full choir, but inasmuch as they are for equal voices, the range is not too demanding. A purist might object to not singing the real thing, but this anthology has a lot of beautiful and comfortable music for a choir of limited facility.
    Thanked by 1R J Stove
  • mahrt
    Posts: 517
    Just for the record, O bone Jesu in four parts is probably not by Palestrina.
  • Sorry, Prof. Mahrt.....attributions in these forums are generally for brevity's sake, as opposed to the precision required when completing masters and doctoral degrees. I'll raise my goblet of Pinot Noir toward Stanford next time I hear "Bach's" BIST DU BEI MIR. ;-)
  • Look at:
    "In monte oliveti" ... Croce
    "Tenebrae facti sunt" ... Ingegneri
    "De profundis clamavi" ... C.W. Gluck
    For Good Friday the "Popule meus" of T. L. de Victoria or Palestrina
    Depending on your numbers, Casal's "O vos omnes" is unforgettable!
  • G
    Posts: 1,397
    Yes, that De profundis of Gluck is wonderful, that was our choir's "big" new work last Lent. A good change from.... well, I won't say what their favorite Lenten anthems have been. They are starting to have a little more faith in me and confidence in themselves.
    For English, there's a very nice O Faithful Cross by Englert, IIRC.
    Richard Proulx's setting of the Canticle from I Peter.
    And for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Croft's I Am the Resurrection.

    (Save the Liturgy, Save the World)
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    I'm in the process of organizing for Lent and came upon this useful thread. We are working on Lotti's Miserere Mei now and it is stunning.

    Would the following be suitable for Lent? Also, any suggestions for an SATB Stabat Mater? We sing Zoltan Kodaly's but I'm looking for a new one.

    O bone Jesu by Loyset Compere

    Score here on CDPL: http://www0.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/comp-obo.pdf (I can't get the link feature to work for some reason, or the italics.)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liWXRBsQ67o&feature=kp
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Also, I just found O Jesu Christe by Melle. Can't find a recording, but it looks very doable for a small choir.

    http://www.mipucpr.org/cantoral/wp-content/uploads/OJesuMelle.pdf

    Update: CPDL to the rescue again! Found a relatively simple but dramatic Stabat Mater by Juan Frances Irribarren (1698-1767)

    Score: http://www0.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/iri-stab.pdf

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxA2dAGEKEk
    Thanked by 1expeditus1
  • Palestrina's "O Bone Jesu" is a good one that doesn't take too much work.
  • Also, don't discount the value of singing Lenten hymns in 4-part harmony.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood R J Stove
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,935
    Maybe we could skip Lent and go right to Easter this year? It's a nice thought. (purple bold)
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    Tangential question. I am trying to distill some singers from my choir to dedicate exclusively to chant. This will require a bit of extra rehearsal of course, but I'm sure that my folks will enjoy it. I have truly gotten a few good pieces to teach from your suggestions here, but since I am in the formation stage, is there an optimal number of singers that I should seek to assemble? 
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    Lotti's "Adoramus te, Christe" is sterling. I both sang and directed this work several times in my younger days:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8qI23IrG-Y

    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Wow! I love it, Charles. It seems like Lotti was an incredibly diverse composer. Everything I've heard by him sounds completely different.

    I'm not having much luck finding a score. Did find this setting of an Adoramus Te, Christe in G minor by Lotti, though:

    http://www.ancientgroove.co.uk/pdfs/lottiadora.pdf

  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    Julie, I used a commercially published edition which, alas, I cannot seem to locate. If I could find the original source, I would transcribe it and make it freely available. In the meantime, you might try contacting one of the two or three groups that have posted performances of it on YouTube.
  • This has been the most inspirational thread I've read all week! We have 3 strong voices (including myself) right now as a fledgling schola. Can anyone recommend some pieces for 3 voices? I remembered I had downloaded "In Monte Oliveti" by Martini, and that will be coming out for Lent! I'd love to hear some others though!
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Charles, I've checked all the usual commercial sources as well to no avail, but hopefully it will show up somewhere, and I'll email this website which looks like it's current. They have a MIDI recording of it for their Spring Term 2014.

    http://www.klfc.org.uk/Page 8d.html

    Barnabus, I found some 3-part motets for Lent yesterday. I just have to remember where I saw them.
  • Barnabus, which three voices? SAT, ATB, ATT, or what?
  • Would this short motet by Lorenzo Perosi - only two voice-parts needed, I note, plus an organist - be of use? (Careful about copyright considerations.)

    http://sausage.whatbox.ca:15263/imglnks/usimg/2/24/IMSLP46794-PMLP99700-MS04.14_-_Perosi__Lorenzo_-_Justorum_Animae_a_due_voci_miste_con_organo.pdf
  • I recommend:

    God So Loved the World (from The Crucifixion) by Stainer.

    Ave Regina Caelorum, the chant followed by the motet for three voices by Dufay.
    Thanked by 2R J Stove JulieColl
  • Many thanks for drawing attention to these, Julie. I think I had encountered the O Salutaris before, but the others were definitely new to me, and I'm particularly taken with the Fux.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Yes, I love the Angelis Suis, too. It's taken from the Gradual of the first Sunday of Lent.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iN5tjWf0R4
    Thanked by 1R J Stove
  • Thanks for the recommendations! I'm focussing mostly on 3 equal voices, or TTB. I can probably adopt any arrangement for 3 men, but I'll go through these and see. Thanks again!