MusicaSacra

The CMAA is pleased to make available the Ordo Cantus Officii - the complete schema for all the antiphons to be used in the revised Liturgy of the Hours, which was published in the Congregation’s journal, Notitiae, in May 1983. Volume 202. The introduction to this schema is in French.

Here is the complete document with introduction in PDF. (88pp., 4.2MB)

A new page has been created for chants for the ordinary of the Mass. It will be added to as Mass settings are rendered in the new English texts, with audio samples.

Also, for former students of CMAA programs, a new googlegroup now permits exchanges of messages and ideas. See our list page.

The CMAA is very pleased to have been named the publisher of the first-ever conference volume for the Byrd Festival this year. It is called A Byrd Celebration, and it features essays by the world top Byrd experts, writing about all aspects of his life and work. The volume will be available for those attending, but for those who are not going to be there, you can still order it in softcover and hardcover versions.

These essays are not what one would find in musicological journals. They are essays based on lectures given to flesh-and-blood attendees of The Byrd Festival over ten years. These are the writings of world-class scholars who are speaking to laypeople who are attending simply for the reason that they find Byrd’s music beautiful, fascinating, and important. So each essay is designed to reach people with a story that illuminates the life and work of this most fascinating composer of music in Renaissance England.

The contributor list is truly a who’s who of Renaissance music scholarship: Richard Marlow (Trinity College, Cambridge), Kerry McCarthy (Duke University), Philip Brett (1937-2002; King’s College, Cambridge), Joseph Kerman (University of California, Berkeley), William Peter Mahrt (Stanford University and the CMAA), David Trendell (King’s College London), Richard Turbet (University of Aberdeen), and Mark Williams (London).

They frankly deal with the liturgical and music issues of Byrd’s life, not only treating him as artistic genius but regarding him as inspired with a higher mission. Further, all the writers are very much aware of the roots of Byrd’s musical spirituality in the Roman Rite and its chant.

Editor Richard Turbet put all this together over years of work, and it was only completed this summer, when the last of the papers finally came in. Conference director Dean Applegate revealed that he wanted it available for this year’s festival, August 10-24, 2008, Portland, Oregon. The deadline has been met.

You can see a table of contents here.

This 210-page, large cover edition makes an enormous contribution both to the understanding of Byrd and to making his timeless music come to life in our own times. We do believe that you too will appreciate the scholarship and the inspiration behind these essays and the composer they celebrate.

Order from musicasacra.com/books

If you joined the CMAA while at the Colloquium or Chant Intensive, we presume you have already picked up your Summer 2008 issue of Sacred Music. If you are in that group of new subscribers and did not get that issue, please let us know. Otherwise, you can expect that the Fall 2008 issue will be our next mailing to you.

And to you non-members, please consider joining.

CMAA chant director Scott Turkington is directing chant for Juventutem at World Youth Day. He is a first image:

See Roseann Sullivan’s Image Archive of Colloquium XVIII

Here is Ave Maria by Anton Bruckner, sung as the recessional to the final Mass of the Sacred Music Colloquium XVIII, with 240 singers conducted by Horst Buchholz, sung at Madonna della Strada Chapel, Loyola University, June 22, 2008, recorded by Corpus Christi Watershed.

Here are more sound files.

Attention Colloquium composers!  The New Music Reading is scheduled for Saturday, June 21st, at 2:45 in Mundelein Auditorium.  Please plan to bring your scores of Mass settings, motets, and other choral music suitable for the Roman rite.

Composers should plan to bring 100 copies of each score; there will be many more singers than that in attendance, but photocopying is expensive, and we’ll share two to a score.  Because of the number of composers participating, please limit yourself to two scores (two motets, or two Mass movements), or one longer work.  Time is limited, and every composer will be heard, but depending on how many scores we receive, we can’t guarantee that both works will be read.

Please note that there is photocopying available at the Loyola campus, but it’s at the rate of fifteen cents a page.  Composers are strongly urged to copy their scores before arriving for the Colloquium!

Should you have any questions, or need further information, please contact David Hughes at music [at] stmarynorwalk [dot] net.

After reviewing many applications, the Church Music Association of America is pleased to have granted two scholarships to study chant at the Solesmes Monastery, in a study tour sponsored by Voci del Tesoro. You can see the flyer here. Voci del Tesoro also sponsors a 24/7 choral music radio station. Congratulations to the recipients!

Psallite Sapienter: A Musician’s Guide to the 1962 Missal, by B. Andrew Mills, addresses a critical need in today’s Catholic Church. In one volume, the author provides a comprehensive, authoritative, and easy-to-understand guide to providing music for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

It covers the types of sung Masses and and what is required of the organist and choir, and the expectations and needs of the full liturgical year, plus weddings, funerals, and Benediction.

It combines a simple explanation of the rubrics with the author’s own extensive experience with the 1962 Missal, which is particularly useful since the author understands the ordinary form as well and the differences. This one book does the work of a full library on the topic of the extraordinary form, telling musicians just what they need to know. There is nothing else like it.

The author is the organist and choirmaster at the Church of St. Agnes in New York, New York.

Order here.

Q: I’m a Catholic musician and I should know chant. I know that. I’m embarrassed to say that I can’t even read the notation!

A: That’s one of the reasons we hold the colloquium. Most participants don’t have prior experience in chant notation. We have classes that start at the very beginning. You will not feel intimidated at all. Quite the reverse: people here love to teach and inspire.

Q: Goodness, I don’t know how any of this music even goes. I’ve heard bits and pieces but I will know far less than everyone else.

A: This is a journey for all of us. There is way too much music for people to get to know in their lifetimes. In some way, all of our knowledge is spotty, and we all have to start somewhere. The experts at the Colloquium love nothing more than to teach.

Q: I’m looking at the musical lineup and I can’t fathom how I can sing this after just a few rehearsals. Forget it!

A: You won’t be asked to sing it all. There are 5 polyphony choirs and 5 chant choirs. We’ll divide up the work. Some people will more quickly master this material than others. But there is strength in numbers here. You will be surprised how quickly you will catch on. In any case, one reason for the Colloquium is to stretch what all of us can do.

Q: I know no Latin. I mean none, not even how to pronounce it. Surely this Colloquium isn’t for me.

A: Not so! To come and sing requires no prior experience in Latin. The classes work on pronunciation, and you will be surprised at how intuitive it is.

Q: I’ve been singing sacred music for 40 years, including chant and polyphony. There’s nothing for me to learn here.

A: You know how great the music is, so imagine being with hundreds of others who are like-minded, studying under great conductors, singing in fun rehearsals and solemn liturgies for a full week. This is the conference you always wanted to attend but could never find.

Q: At my parish, we sing what is often called praise music, and I really like it! I don’t want to be around anyone who will put down contemporary song.

A: That’s not the idea of the colloquium at all. We have a focus and that is the music specifically named in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. The goal is broaden our musical horizons to include music that is actually attached to the Catholic liturgy, and show that it is doable, beautiful, and central.

Q: I love chant. I love polyphony. I love sacred music. But I’m the only one I know. I’m all alone.

A: Actually you are not alone. There are multitudes that share your view, maybe not in your parish but you can learn enough to actually start something wonderful right where you are. It only takes a few singers to make the difference in a parish. You are being called!

Q: But I don’t know anyone else who is going.

A: That’s okay. Most people arrive not knowing anyone else. Everyone makes an effort to befriend people who come alone. You will not be eating or singing or walking by yourself. Sacred music people are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet.

Q: The music sounds pretty but I’m repelled by serious, frown-faced sophisticates who don’t know how to have fun. Isn’t Gregorian chant all about being solemn all the time?

A: The liturgy is solemn but the conference itself is fabulous fun, as anyone who has ever attended can tell you. The rehearsals are a blast while being very educational. There are prayerful times and times of hilarity. Through it all, you will make friends for life.

Q: This sounds dreamy to me but there is one touchy issue: I’m not Catholic. Is that okay?

A: We’ve had participants come from many faith traditions and they feel right at home. The music and the task at hand works to create a unity among us all.

Q: Listen, I would love to come but this conference is outside my budget.

A: Because the CMAA is an all-volunteer organization, we don’t have high salaries to pay and a big infrastructure to keep up. This allows us to drive down the price to the lowest possible level. Consider that the price includes tuition, materials, housing, and the best instruction in the world. It’s a bargain.

Send us any more of your questions. Programs@musicasacra.com

Few cities in America can boast the richness of Catholic heritage the way Chicago can. If you’re going to be in the Windy City for the Chant Intensive or the Colloquium, it will be well worth your while to do a little exploring on your own.

A good place to start is with the many, many beautiful churches that stand as a testament to the faith of the city’s citizens since its first days. Read more about them in author Denis McNamara’s acclaimed Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago.

Camera and missal in hand, your first visit might be to the liturgical oasis St. John Cantius. Founded by Polish immigrants at the end of the 19th century, today it thrives as a vibrant parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago that offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the Roman Rite in both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms, and is also home of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, a religious community of men dedicated to the Restoration of the Sacred.

Another must see, not far from St. John Cantius, is The Sanctuary of The Divine Mercy. By the way, EWTN will be broadcasting live from the Sanctuary on May 31, 2008 to witness the unveiling of the Iconic Monstrance (a nine foot tall Marian monstrance). You’ll be sure to want to go by for yourself to have a look.

Caffeinate your tour of the Catholic city with a visit to a new attraction for young Catholics: the faith based cafe called The Ark. It is very easy to get there from Loyola on the El, Chicago’s famed above ground public transportation system.

If you’re still downtown, getting hungry, and don’t want to spend a bundle - run, don’t walk - to the fabulous diner with the trendiest name going: Feed. Nowhere else in the city will you get the kind of down home Southern fare you’ll be served up by Donna and her crew. The men of St. John Cantius swear by her cooking. Don’t forget to tell her that the Church Music Association of America sent you.

Here is the most up-to-date version of the repertoire packet for Colloquium 2008.

Though it is a work in progress, it now includes a play list for every day. In addition to the chanted propers — which will be divided among the different scholae — and chanted ordinaries on days 1-3 of the Colloquium, you will be able to see what the polyphony choirs will be singing at each of the liturgies.
Please don’t be intimated in thinking that you will have to be responsible for singing every note of every Mass and every polyphonic motet in the packet. You are the best judge of what will make you happy - and you will be able to decide for yourself in which choir you will sing. Perhaps you will base your decision on repertoire alone, or your decision may take into account the desire to study under a particular conductor. The variety of selections is astounding - Morales, Palestrina, Victoria, Gombert, Di Lasso, Monteverdi - and each more glorious than the next.

The Parish Book of Chant is published by the Church Music Association of America as a unique resource for choirs, priests, families, and congregations who seek to sing and understand the universal musical tradition of Catholic people. It is a hardbound volume, 182 pages, with a very beautiful cover and outstanding print quality, available for $14 per copy. It has been developed with the hope of bringing to life what the Second Vatican Council called a “treasure of inestimable value,” which is our Gregorian tradition of song.

To here to read more about the book, go here. It will be available from Aquinas and Morein June 2008.

Here is a printable program for a Compline service in English that you can use. It was prepared by Richard Rice with the assistance of William Mahrt. It will be used for night prayer at the Sacred Music Colloquium.