"Mass X (called 'Alme Pater')"

Just the plainsong of the Ordinary (without the Credo), sung beautifully by the Westminster Cathedral Choir.



HT Saturday Chorale:

This week's Sunday Playlist is the Missa Alme Pater, one of the Mass settings contained in the Kyriale. The Kyriale?

The Kyriale is a collection of Gregorian chant settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. It contains eighteen Masses (each consisting of the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei), six Credos, and several ad libitum chants. This collection is included in liturgical books such as the Graduale Romanum and Liber Usualis, and it is also published as a separate book by the monks of Solesmes Abbey. Alme Pater (for Marian feasts and memorials).

Source: Kyriale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Wikipedia page also notes that this setting is used "for Marian feasts and memorials"; Alme Pater - corresponding exactly to "Alma Mater" - means "loving father." (I think the more precise translation is "nourishing father"; Google translate offers "bountiful," "nourishing," "kind," "loving," and "fostering" as alternatives to "loving".)

You can find scores and music for all XVIII plainsong mass settings (along with some other standalone ordinary chants, and seven Credos), in Latin, at CCWatershed.  Get English versions - not all come with sound files - at MusicaSacra.