Sung English Creed
  • BethE
    Posts: 14
    Are there any churches out there singing the creed in English? My parish is considering singing the creed and we're wondering what experiences others have had with this.
  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    I've yet to hear of one do so in English. I'd highly encourage you to do so though if your parish is currently just speaking it. What kind of setting is your parish thinking of using? Do you guys have a choir that could handle a polyphonic setting?
  • CGM
    Posts: 692
    an earlier thread about it here; see Daniel Sañez's Orthodox-style setting at the end, for a very simple and singable setting of the Creed. (Since that earlier posting, he has changed jobs, and can now be reached at dsanez@richmondcathedral.org .)
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,318
    We just started singing it in Latin a couple of weeks ago. Doesn't ICEL have an English version that closely mirrors Credo III? I think it's in the St. Michael Hymnal, 4th Ed.
  • We sing it at Walsingham every Sunday and Solemnity. I'm sorry to say that we only sing it recto tono (did you hear that, Adam?), but that's still gold, whereas saying it is always lead. At Atonement in San Antonio I believe they sing it always to the Credo I version in back of the '1940'. Perhaps in the future Walsingham will make this step.

    At St Basil's Chapel (Houston's UST) we sing Fr Columba's English version of Credo I at all masses of St Basil's School of Gregorian Chant.

    There is, really, no excuse, ever, not to sing the creed. It is The Great Song of Our Faith and is part of the ordinary of the mass. If you parish are contimplating doing this, by all means stop contemplating and actually do it!

    It would be helpful if all musical settings of the mass included the creed. It's really quite weird that they write these gaudy and tasteless and theatrical (and totally improper) 'great amens' but offer no creed.
  • Yes, my parish has been singing the creed since the new translation came out. . . every Sunday at every Mass. The pastor, choirs, (including the youth choir), and cantors learned it first and we rehearsed with the congregation a time or two before Mass. We use the ICEL setting for Credo I. As with anything new, when we first introduced chanting the creed there were a few grumblers, but not chanting it wasn't an option. Now our congregation chants the creed heartily. One tip: Keep it moving!
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,965
    The Creed hasn't been sung in English in my parish since the 1970s. It disappeared when the NO came out and no one has wanted to revive it. The usual reason given is it makes the mass longer.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,198
    In case it would be of interest to anyone, here is a proposed adaptation of Theodore Marier's "recto tono" Profession of Faith setting for the new text, in PDF form, together with a MIDI simulation.
  • I think this is on the earlier thread as well, but also check out Fr. Chepponis' revision of his Jubilation Mass, whereby he added the Creed to it, and it's a pseudo-psalm tone chant as well. It's in Worship IV, #341.
  • nun_34nun_34
    Posts: 66
    Our community has been singing the Creed for just under 3 years, sometimes in English, sometimes in Latin. For the English version we use the ICEL setting of Credo I.
  • Here's a great English setting, courtesy of Aristotle Esguerra.
    Thanked by 1HeitorCaballero
  • Sorry, I uploaded the document twice. It's the same thing.
    Thanked by 1Richard J Clark
  • Additionally, here's a wonderful setting in English by Jeff Ostrowski:
    http://www.ccwatershed.org/creed/

    As usual, Ostrowski provides a recording as well as scores in modern and Gregorian notation as well as an organ accompaniment.

    Thanked by 1HeitorCaballero
  • My parish uses the ICEL setting for Credo I. Don't get me wrong, I love chant, but I'm not a big fan of singing the Creed. I guess it would be different if our church musicians were really good, but when you have a small group of volunteers who have never sung chant before (and are unwilling to learn), it just doesn't work well.