Chant for the Acto Penitencial (El Confiteor)
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    Would anyone know where to find the chant for the Acto Penitencial? I can't seem to find it anywhere on the Internet. OCP helpfully has the all the other options except El Confiteor.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    OCP ... has the all the other options except El Confiteor.


    Do you have a theory as to why this might be the case?
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    No theories. I just remembered I have the new Ignatius Pew Missal for the Spanish Mass. it also doesn't have music for El Confiteor. Since I'm going to Spain later this year for my friend's wedding (his fiancé is Spanish), I'm going to ask to see the altar Missal afterwards. Perhaps it might be found there.
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,403
    Is there music in the English-language edition of the Roman Missal? (No.) Why not? Because there is no music in the Latin edition of the Missale Romanum.
    Thanked by 1Liam
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,090
    I've been wondering what the source is for the notated Confiteor, as it appears, for example, in The Parish Book of Chant. As far as I can tell, it's not notated in the 1974 Graduale or the Ordo Cantus Missae or the 1961 Graduale.

    Today I came across a model for it in the 1955 Graduale from Quebec, which provides a Confiteor for pontifical Masses:

    image

    So at least it seems that the chanted Confiteor has a basis in previous usage.
    Confiteor.png
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  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,908
    The Confiteor is on page 120* of the Graduale Romanun 1924 No. 696
    This edition was updated several times with pages being added and other pages removed.
  • Incardination
    Posts: 832
    ...which provides a Confiteor for pontifical Masses...

    The confiteor is chanted by the deacon at a Solemn Mass as well as in the Pontifical High Mass in the EF.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,627
    The confiteor is chanted by the deacon at a Solemn Mass - the third Confiteor IF there are communicants. Which makes it strange that the chant is usually omitted from the books.
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    Ah! Thanks for the reply Richard. I see where my query was unclear. I'm looking for the Spanish chant for El Confiteor.
  • MysticiCorporis
    Posts: 10
    Hey Matt, the Spain missal doesn’t have a chanted setting for the confiteor but it does for the other two opctions, I have the audio if you need it.
  • Richard R.
    Posts: 780
    I should think it would be a supplement in the current Spanish Missal.
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  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,627
    mattfong - you were clear enough, we were just searching around for reasons why we did not know of anything.
    I suggest that the OF Confiteor is a direct take from the EF prayer at the foot of the altar. And that had no music because at a sung Mass there would be other singing going on while the priest and ministers/servers made their confessions. However that does not explain why the chant was not taken from the deacon's chant at the third Confiteor, which did exist, or why that chant is obscure.
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  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    Hi everyone -- this has been super informative. I think I might just set it myself, and bring the results back to this thread for a double-check. Thanks to chonak for the reference.
    Thanked by 1chonak
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    ... And the present Gregorian chant for Latin text provides *the* exemplar.
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 495
    The tone for the Confiteor in Latin may be found in the Liber Usualis on p. 110. See the scanned edition on musicasacra.com.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,464
    Of course, the text of the Confiteor is different in the OF vs EF missals.
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  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    Hello everyone! Merry Christmas! And our Lord's blessings be with you all!

    I've finally gotten around to set the El Confiteor to the Latin chant melody. Other things were seeking attention first, and the Christmas holidays has thankfully granted some free time to work on this.

    I would appreciate feedback on this setting, as well as insights of eliding in Spanish. I'm not a native speaker by any means, and have bare-bones working knowledge from high school ...

    Update: Uploaded v1 with corrections
    El Confiteor v1.pdf
    30K
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    ... I already see the error on the second hermanos ... that's been fixed.
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    Hi everyone! Here's another variant, which retains more of the Latin melody, but I'm not sure at what expense to the text. Thank you in advance for feedback.

    Update: Uploaded v2 with corrections.
    El Confiteor v2.pdf
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  • CatherineS
    Posts: 690
    Is the idea for the congregation to chant this?

    How do you mean the 'y' to be sung where you've put it in italics?
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    Hello Catherine. Yes, the idea is for the congregation to chant this. The elisions, like the y, are sung as part of the next neume. Instead of y an-te, it would be sing as yan-te.
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  • CatherineS
    Posts: 690
    I think you could just give the 'y' it's own note, to make it easier for the people to chant. They already know the words with the 'y' not elided, and this kind of chant 'melody' is a recitation of a text which can be shortened or lengthened to fit the text. You don't have to fit the text to a certain number of syllables/notes.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,913
    The elision is something that happens in ordinary speech, so an extra note doesn't make things easier for Spanish speakers, rather the opposite: 12345 "Yo con-fie-soan -te". The second y could be a puzzle: I think "palabra/obra_y /omisión" "y_a /ustedes" & "por mí/ ante Dios" would be correct, while I wonder about "ruego a" "que intercedan" & "y_an-te / ustedes".
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  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    @RichardMix, appreciate the input. I'm also getting some help with the elisions from a Dominican brother who is a native speaker ... and I don't know if various Spanish speaking countries have different rules ...
  • mattfong
    Posts: 16
    @RichardMix, I'm still waiting for feedback from my friend. I think you might right about the ruego a, and que intercedan. I've also added mi ante. Here's the latest, and thanks to @chonak, I've got the underties in to give a visual cue on how to sing the elision.
    El Confiteor v2.pdf
    54K
  • btodorovich87
    Posts: 110
    BUMP - This morning I set the "Yo confieso" according to a simple chant tone. Would anyone be so kind as to offer criticism or suggestions? I've also attached the Latin tone that I used as the basis for the Spanish chant.
    gregorio68e3d5a567d292.08981027.pdf
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    Untitled.gabc
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    1c61b673d08412620dbf515d29c213 10.44.32 AM.pdf
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  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 508
    @btodorovich87 the only thing I would change is the "mucho". I would keep it all on the same note because the way you have it changes the accent to be emphasized in a way that sounds funny to the spanish ear. Everything else looks really nice though.
  • TLMlover
    Posts: 75
    I speak fluent Spanish. I don't mind the "mucho" at all - I didn't interpret it as the second syllable being stressed, but rather the first. Every Sunday I cantor a verse of the psalm and the offertory antiphon in Spanish. I fully sympathize with the difficulties involved in fitting the Spanish into an existing chant melody. I often have to simplify and re-write melodies to accomodate the Spanish, because sometimes it just doesn't work. The stress can be on the wrong syllable. You did a good job though!
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