St John Passion, Dominican chant, NAB Lectionary text
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Note: The edition posted here has been superseded by the one posted further down this thread on 2015-03-16.

    Here is my adaptation and arrangement of the Good Friday Passion According to John, set to the Dombinican chant tone, using the English language Lectionary (NAB) text. In the past I have sung this several times (in the 1980s & 1990s), but with the RSV text, at St. Thomas Aquinas (the Dominican staffed parish for UVa). In response to a request, I prepared this version using the current Lectionary text, which will be chanted on Good Friday this year at St Patrick's in Hudson, Wisconsin, with Fr. Patrick McConnell singing the part of Christ and me singing the part of the Evangelist.

    This should be regarded somewhat as a preliminary edition, since I might wish to make a few minor changes as we prepare it for this coming Good Friday of the Lord's Passion. I've already sung through it a few times, though, and it reflects fairly well my prior experience with the older English language Dominican version (RSV text). So it can certainly be sung "as is" without undue difficulty.

    The enclosed score is set two ways: (1) with the tenor G-clef (treble 8vb clef), with middle C on the 3rd space, and (2) with tenor C-clef, middle C on the 4th line. In each case, C functions as the chant "Doh" for the purposes of any necessary transposition. At some point, I anticipate preparing a score in chant notation (neumes).

    Note: Updated 2015-03-10
    Thanked by 1nun_34
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    A minor update (2015-03-02, 8:54am CST): I just replaced the scores above with ones that correct some hyphenation and minor formatting issues.

    We will most likely use concert A pitch (or possibly B-flat) for Doh when we chant this Passion setting on Good Friday.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Here is something very close to the final version of the St John Passion for Good Friday set to the Dominican chant tone and using the NAB Lectionary text. The present edition corresponds better to the traditional Dominican setting in Latin. Rehearsals are underway for it to be chanted at this year's Good Friday liturgy at St Patrick's, Hudson, Wisconsin.

    The three printings attached are (1) in the tenor C-clef (C on the 4th line), (2) in the tenor G(8vb)-clef (C on the third space), and (3) a transposition (B-flat key signature) with the G(8vb)-clef. Also, a separate file has the cover pages (front and back), for those that wish to use them.

    Latest corrected upload: 2015-03-17 7:13pm
    St John Passion-cover pages.pdf
    617K
    Good Friday St John Passion-1.pdf
    191K
    Good Friday St John Passion-1-gclef.pdf
    191K
    Good Friday St John Passion-1-bflat.pdf
    191K
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,150
    Along with bumping this topic for the season, I'm attaching a C-clef (alto clef, C on the middle line) score for my setting of the St John Passion to the Dominican Chant Tone. I have yet to prepare a square note version, but any of these four stemless note editions should suffice in the meantime.

    Sadly, the associate pastor with whom I chanted this setting last year has been transferred and is now the pastor of his own parish elsewhere, and there is no one on staff who can (or will) chant the Passion this Good Friday. I hope that somewhere else somebody will chant it. It's too beautiful not to be chanted.
    Good Friday St John Passion-1-cclef.pdf
    190K
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