New Kevin Allen Collection: CANTIONES SACRAE II (15 Latin Motets)
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Many people have written to ask "Where can I buy the Tantum Ergo featured at the beginning of the Colloquium Documentary?"

    You can now purchase this piece (Dec. 2010):

    Cantiones Sacrae II • By Kevin Allen

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    Cantiones Sacrae II • By Kevin Allen
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Does Matthew Curtis come with the book?!? Holy smokes, what a singer he is!
  • Heath
    Posts: 933
    This is wonderful, wonderful news! You guys can't publish his stuff fast enough!
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Thanks Adam! It is an honor to record this new, great music. I soon will have a website containing learning tracks of Renaissance polyphony and 20th Century sacred works. I'll be sure to post this upcoming choral resource when it is ready.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Maestro Curtis, if you have any tips to share about how to sing so perfectly in tune as you do (among many other extraordinary qualities)… well, I'm thinking a few of us would love to hear 'em!
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Wow, this is tremendously exciting. Kevin Allen is one of the great composers of our time. But it took Watershed to make the difference for him. I'm enormously excited about this.
  • mahrt
    Posts: 517
    How do we get Cantiones Sacrae I?
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Mark,

    Though this might sound cliche and "duh!" I find that complete connection to the breath and lack of tension allow for the most consistent in-tune singing. Read Richard Miller's "The Structure of Singing." It is my favorite source. It takes a very acute awareness of how your own voice works and some of your tendencies. This is easier for me in my tenor voice. With the other voice parts, I use a pitch editing software to help achieve near perfection. "The Structure of Singing" is great, though, for those who haven't read books about pedagogy.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Fantastic… thank you! (And everyone, here's a link to the book mentioned.)
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Also, as I just mentioned over at the Café, I must say that I am particularly pleased that many of these are settings of texts from the propers… and I hope that Mr. Allen will consider setting many more!

    Indications below are for the modern (OF) calendar:

    1. Oculi Omnium -- Gradual, Holy Thursday & Corpus Christi
    2. Sepulto Domino
    3. Intellige Clamorem
    4. Hodie Scietis -- Introit & Gradual, Christmas Vigil
    5. Hoc Corpus -- Communion, Holy Thursday
    6. Sanctificavit Moyses -- Offertory, 24th Sunday OT (A&B)
    7. Jerusalem Quae Aedificatur -- Communion, 4th Sunday of Lent
    8. Qui Meditabitur -- Communion, Ash Wednesday
    9. Juxta Vestibulum
    10. Scapulis Suis -- Offertory & Communion, 1st Sunday of Lent
    11. Gustate et Videte -- Communion, 14th Sunday OT
    12. Ave Regina Caelorum
    13. Tota Pulchra Es -- Alleluia, Immaculate Conception
    14. Tristis Est Anima Mea
    15. Tantum Ergo -- Hymn for Holy Thursday

    Those I didn't indicate here might be on the EF calendar (I haven't checked).
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Yes, read the book! The next step is spending thousands of dollars in voice lessons and a lifetime of applying it to your own voice. Isn't singing fun?!?
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,045
    Mr. Curtis,
    Kudos for having the guts to admit you used pitch-correction software. In a multitrack situation, it's the obvious solution, especially when singing in extreme ranges. And nobody can argue with the success of the results!
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Thanks, man, I am not ashamed at all. It is the way to go to make a good practice multitrack. Anything above soprano F and below Bass G I bend up or down.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    How do we get Cantiones Sacrae I?


    Cantiones Sacrae I is a huge collection that contains 36 motets.

    God willing, Watershed will publish this collection at some time.

    For the present, I think the best plan would be to ask Maestro Allen directly:

    http://kevinallen.info/

    Friends, thank you for all your support!
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Thank you Watershed and Jeffrey. This is incredible work. Many many people have been going bonkers for a very long time that this great composer has been obscured by the inavailability of his music. This collection is fantastic. Gratitude gratitude for your work here. This is really fantastic. History is moving forward thanks to your efforts.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,045
    1. Oculi Omnium -- Gradual, Thursday of 3rd week of Lent, Corpus Christi, 20th after Pentecost
    2. Sepulto Domino -- Responsory, Lauds of Holy Saturday
    3. Intellige Clamorem -- Communion, Wednesday of Ember Week in Lent and 2nd Sunday of Lent
    4. Hodie Scietis -- Introit & Gradual, Christmas Vigil
    5. Hoc Corpus -- Communion, Passion Sunday, Votive Mass for our Lord Jesus Christ
    6. Sanctificavit Moyses -- Offertory, 18th Sunday after Pentecost
    7. Jerusalem Quae Aedificatur -- Communion, 4th Sunday of Lent
    8. Qui Meditabitur -- Communion, Ash Wednesday
    9. Juxta Vestibulum -- antiphon, Ash Wednesday
    10. Scapulis Suis -- Offertory & Communion, 1st Sunday of Lent
    11. Gustate et Videte -- Communion, 8th Sunday after Pentecost
    12. Ave Regina Caelorum -- antiphon, Sunday at Compline, Feb.2-Weds. in Holy Week
    13. Tota Pulchra Es -- Alleluia, Immaculate Conception
    14. Tristis Est Anima Mea -- Responsory, Matins of Maundy Thursday
    15. Tantum Ergo -- Benediction hymn

    "Those I didn't indicate here might be on the EF calendar (I haven't checked)."
    So I did. No promises of accuracy or completeness...I was working from the LU index, and Bausano,Sacred Latin Texts (Greenwood Press, 1998)

    Just a suggestion for further publications though: These should have their EF/OF uses attached to them. Even Palestrina did that.
    Thanked by 1Mark M.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    Palestrina indexed for the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Forms?
    Wow, I knew he was ahead of his time....
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,045
    Smart a**... "In festo Purificationis Beatae Mariae" and the like. Besides, Palestrina did index for the ordinary form... the post-conciliar Mass.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    :)
  • Heath
    Posts: 933
    BTW, here's the list of pieces in the first volume of Cantiones Sacrae (from his website: kevinallen.info):

    Cantiones Sacrae (1989–1999)

    Thirty-six Latin motets SATB a cappella

    1. Alleluia – Ostende nobis, 1999
    2. Alleluia – Laetatus sum, 1999
    3. Jerusalem, surge, 1999
    4. Alleluia – Excita, Domine, 1998
    5. Alleluia – Veni Domine, 1999
    6. Hodie Christus natus est, 1996
    7. Alleluia – Gaudete justi, 1998
    8. Vidimus stellam, 1997
    9. Hoc corpus, 1999
    10. Improperium expectavit, 1996
    11. Domine, tu mihi lavas pedes, 1990
    12. Vinea facta est, 1989
    13. Angelus Domini, 1992
    14. Cognoverunt discipuli, 1990
    15. Confirma hoc Deus, 1994
    16. Viri Galilaei, 1997*
    17. Alleluia – Ascendit Deus, 1998
    18. O Rex gloriae, 1999
    19. Ave verum corpus, 1997
    20. Ave verum corpus, 1999
    21. Calicem salutaris, 1997
    22. O quam suavis est, 1993
    23. O sacrum convivium, 1996
    24. O sacrum convivium, 1999
    25. O salutaris Hostia, 1993
    26. O salutaris Hostia, 1996
    27. Sacerdos in aeternum, 1997
    28. Tantum ergo, 1991
    29. Alma Redemptoris Mater, 1998
    30. Ave Regina caelorum, 1991
    31. Regina Caeli, 1999
    32. Salve Regina, 1996
    33. Ave Maria,1992
    34. Ave Maria, 1995
    35. O Cor Jesu, 1999
    36. Da pacem Domine, 1999

    1. * Featured on the 2008 recording Restoration of the Sacred
    Thanked by 1Mark M.
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