Alleluia then Sequence, how?
  • bgeorge77
    Posts: 190
    In a NO parish, singing Alleluia and Sequence:

    I am singing the Alleluia as per the Alleluia in the Grad Romanum p 197, but with the verse in English plain psalm tone mode 7.

    Then the sequence, Victimae Paschali, in Latin or English depending on whether other people get their act together.

    So help me out here, please:

    How to combine the short alleluia, the long alleluia+jubilus, the verse and the sequence?

    Do I sing the alleluia three times first (short, short, long) then the verse, then the sequence?

    Or is it like: short-long-verse-long-sequence?

    I have seen rubrics (can't remember where) that indicate that there's no alleluia between the verse and the sequence.

    Last year we had the Sequence first, THEN the alleluia in some poppy version.
  • Erik P
    Posts: 152
    .
  • In the EF, you don't go back to the Alleluia but rather proceed directly to the sequence. A simple transposition might make it less clunky with what you have.
  • dvalerio
    Posts: 341
    The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says (as Erik P. already mentioned) in § 64: «The Sequence, which is optional except on Easter Sunday and on Pentecost Day, is sung before the Alleluia.»

    However the 1974 Graduale Romanum (reproducing the rubrics from the Ordo Cantus Missae) says in § 8 (my translation): «The Sequence, if it be the case, is sung after the last Alleluia (...) ommitting the Amen at the end.» I believe this is the order you are to observe, since you are singing the Mass and even using Gregorian chant.

    That is also the order observed in the Extraordinary Form, in which the following (taken from Psallite Sapienter § 144) is observed (as already mentioned by Michael O'Connor): «On Easter Sunday (...) the Alleluia is begun in the usual way, but after the verse alleluia is not repeated, and the Sequence is sung; the verses are alternated between two groups, both singing together the final Amen and alleluia.»

    While you can do the same in the Ordinary Form, if you want to carefully observe what the 1974 Graduale prescribes you will have to sing the Alleluia, the verse, repeat the Alleluia, and only then sing the Sequence, ommitting the final Amen and of course the Alleluia that follows it in books for the Extraordinary Form. Actually books for the Ordinary Form no longer have the Amen or the Alleluia.

    Transposing either the Alleluia or the Sequence so that the latter begins in the note where the former ends (as suggested by Michael O'Connor) is most reasonable. (A choir I belong to will sing it thus next Sunday.)

    PS --- Concerning the intonation of the Alleluia (short vs. long), notice that:

    * in the Extraordinary Form, the Alleluia «is intoned by the cantor(s) as far as the asterisk; there the symbol ij indicates that what they have just sung is to be repeated by the full choir, who then continue beyond the asterisk to conclude the word with the jubilus (the long melisma on the syllable “a”)» (Psallite Sapienter § 51);

    * in the Ordinary Form, while you can do the same (which is often very practical), if you want to carefully observe what the 1974 Graduale prescribes, «the Alleluia with its neum is sung entirely by the cantors, and is then repeated by the choir. If it seems good, it may also be sung only once by everybody» (§ 7, my translation).
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    Graduale Romanum (GR) published 1974.
    Graduale Triplex (GT) published 1979.
    General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) published 2000,
    plus USA additions published 2003.

    I think the more recent instruction prevails.
  • dvalerio
    Posts: 341
    > I think the more recent instruction prevails.

    It is reasonable to say so, though it can also be argued that when chant is used the rubrics from the Ordo Cantus Missae should be followed, since they are not superseded by the GIRM. There are people well versed in liturgical matters supporting both interpretations. I am not qualified to offer an authorative opinion!
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,021
    Thanks to the discussion here, I formulated my approach to the Sequence-Alleluia, and then did it Sunday for my 3 Masses.
    I treated the 2 pieces as one, even though they are now in a reverse order. After all, the Sequence had its origins as an extension of the Alleluia verses. I coached the cantors beforehand, and even had a teaching moment with one of their families. We sang the Sequence, with congregation, all the way through in D minor. Then, without the slightest pause, not even an organ introduction, went into the mode VI triple Alleluia in F major.
    I think it worked quite well.