mahrt

How far does a ♭ extend?
In the case of the solemn Ave Regina Caelorum, the natural signs at Ex qua and Super are unnecessary, but may have been added, since the flat on Ave might be confused with a signature.

Comment by mahrt May 2022 permalink
Various Questions on modes
If you consider the essence of the mode those few notes which surround the final, then it is easy to see how a transposition of the final a fifth away does not affect the identity of the mode. The essence of modes 1 and 2 is a whole step above and b…

Comment by mahrt January 2022 permalink
Vespers - pitch relationships
I begin by placing the reciting tone of the mode on a; if this it slightly too high or low, I adjust it somewhat. Otherwise, the plagal modes will be too low or the authentics too high.

Comment by mahrt January 2022 permalink
Missa IV Inquiry
I surveyed the frequency of Mass Ordinary compositions in the tradition of manuscripts (as seen in the indexes of the students of Bruno Stäblein) and Mass IV was by far the most frequent.

Comment by mahrt December 2020 permalink
All are Welcome - USCCB Statement on Hymns
I think it is useful to speak of most of the disapproved pieces as "songs," as Nathan does. They are really not hymns. Anyway, why not begin to replace them with real Mass propers?

Comment by mahrt December 2020 permalink
Typical countryside Sunday Mass before Vatican II?
I grew up in a country parish in Washington State. We had a small choir, mostly women, which sang traditional hymns from the then standard Catholic hymnals, St. Basil, etc.; what we now call the four-hymn sandwich was alive and well there in the for…

Comment by mahrt July 2020 permalink
Gregorian symbol
I presume it is a liquescent note; in your examples, it comes at positions where such notes would be desirable.

Comment by mahrt November 2019 permalink
Sad news, grief, and a hymn
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat ei.

Comment by mahrt November 2019 permalink
Translation SC 116
Action is a very important word. The liturgy is, first and foremost the action of Christ. What we do are actions that support that of Christ. This is far more than "service."

Comment by mahrt June 2019 permalink
Losing my religion?
I have found, in the face of the routine of performing music, that meditation on the texts we sing, even prayerfully reading a commentary on it, can bring it alive in performance. This even works for choirs.

Comment by mahrt June 2019 permalink
Index of melodies in L Usualis
globalchant.org subsumes the Index of Gregorian Chant, and it is much easier to use. It gives direct reference to the notation of the Liber Usualis drawn from those on musicasacra.com.

Comment by mahrt June 2019 permalink
Victimae Paschalis for Octave Day of Easter
It is significant that before the council, the first Sunday after Easter was known as "Low Sunday," but in the reform afer the council, the Octave of Easter was made a most significant octave; thus the liturgy prescribes that elements from…

Comment by mahrt May 2019 permalink
Official Latin hymns already translated in the LOTH?
A new translation of the hymns of the Latin Breviary is being prepared by iCEL. These will be metric so that they can be sung to the Gregorian hymn melodies

Comment by mahrt January 2019 permalink
Colloquium 2019 - Philadelphia
Make airline reservations early, since this is fourth o July week.

Comment by mahrt January 2019 permalink
Favorite Parts of the Ordinary?
The strange thing about Credo IV is that in its original form it was mensural (q=quarter, e=eighth): q q q e e q-e-e q Pa-trem om-ni-po-ten- tem etc.

Comment by mahrt January 2019 permalink
Pérès vocal sonority
"One of the side-delights of heaven (if God willing we make it) will be to find out what chant and polyphony sounded like back in the day." If we get to heaven, we will be engaged by much more than finding out what was done. Dante describe…

Comment by mahrt January 2019 permalink
CPDL at 20 years!
This has been extremely useful; I use it all the time. I especially like the web site of Nancho Alvarez, who offers good transcriptions of all the works of Victoria, Morales, and Guerrero. Today I tried to access a piece on this site, it and got a m…

Comment by mahrt December 2018 permalink
Nick Gale
Thanks, David; I failed to check the date of the news item on Catholic Herald.

Comment by mahrt December 2018 permalink
Immaculate Conception
I favor keeping the conventions of the four Marian antiphons in season, and when we sing Vespers, we always conclude with the proper Marian antiphon. (Not everyone has noticed the rubric for Vespers in the extraordinary form, which prescribes singin…

Comment by mahrt December 2018 permalink
Immaculate Conception
At St. Thomas Aquinas, Palo Alto (St. Ann Choir): Organ prelude and postlude Gregorian propers, including gradual and alleluia Sung lessons Byrd, Mass for Three Voices Litany of Loretto for intercessions Offertory motet: Mouton, Ave Maria Communion …

Comment by mahrt December 2018 permalink
Responsorial Psalms: remnants of the Propers?
We need to reflect on the liturgical function of the responsorial psalm. The GIRM says its purpose is meditation. Thus purpose is well fulfilled by the gradual, but, given the drab melodies repeated rote bu the congregation, it is hard to imagine ho…

Comment by mahrt November 2018 permalink
Motets for Dec 8
Jean Mouton's Ave Maria has a unique sound, created by a canon by inversion between bass and alto, a true wonder. Its original text is a variant on our customary prayer, but on the Choral Public Domain web site, there are several versions, most…

Comment by mahrt November 2018 permalink
Scholarly articles - polyphonic vs. chant ordinary
I have read the comments on polyphonic vs. chant ordinary with great interest and would like to comment on several issues. First of all, please look for the forthcoming summer issue of Sacred Music, where Jared Ostermann makes his case for polyph…

Comment by mahrt September 2018 permalink
Survey (OF): Who chants the Propers, dialogues, Ordinary, Credo regularly?
We celebrate a novus ordo Mass in Latin, completely sung; all chant propers, including gradual and alleluia sun g by choir, all chant ordinaries sung by congregation, lessons sung, priest sings all his parts, except for intercessions (and sermon).

Comment by mahrt July 2018 permalink
How come no Glory Be at the end of psalms?
Historically, the offertory is a responsory, not an antiphon, since its verses are melismatic, not psalmodic, for which no Gloria Patri is foreseen. That old hand-missals and even the 1962 Liber refer to the offertory as an antiphon is only evidence…

Comment by mahrt July 2018 permalink
Polyphonic Gloria for the Easter Vigil
We sing the Gloria from Morales's Missa Caça. It is short and lively and has been very effective.

Comment by mahrt March 2018 permalink
Postlude disturbing prayer of thanksgiving
Concerning the postlude, it is useful to look at the structure of the classical Mass sung in Gregorian chant. For each processional occasion there is a chant in appropriate style to accompany it, introit, offertory, and communion in particular. But …

Comment by mahrt February 2018 permalink
Gradual Hodie Scietis
If you need modern notation, I have a Liber in modern notation, and could send you a scan of the page, if you would like. let me know. mahrt@stanford.edu

Comment by mahrt December 2017 permalink
Church music bloopers! What's your worst?
The first time I conducted a polyphonic mass with my choir, I was concerned to get to the organ to play the intonation of the Gloria for the priest. We completed the Kyrie and I rushed to the organ, played the intonation, rushed back to my music sta…

Comment by mahrt August 2017 permalink
Arguments for the NO Mass?
"the people have the right and the just obligation to sing the ordinary and the dialogues, etc., regardless of rite or use, AT MASS." Musicam sacram allows the choir to sing the ordinary, as long as the people are not excluded completely …

Comment by mahrt July 2017 permalink

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Username: mahrt
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