Chant from Solesmes, 1930

This is the "Monastic Choir of the Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes," singing a variety of chant from the liturgy (both the Mass and Office) - complete with scratchy-sounding vinyl.



This is from the YouTube page:

One LP of a two LP collection issued in the early 1960s on the RCA Victor Red Seal Collector's Issue label, catalogue number LCT-6011.

Images of the slipcase covers of what I believe are the original Decca recordings can be seen here: https://plus.google.com/108298623225603793041/posts/9bawRyCtPg8


Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes (Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes) is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes (Sarthe, France), famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guéranger after the French Revolution. It was originally founded in 1010 as a priory of the Benedictine Le Mans abbey. The abbey is noted for its crucial contribution to the advancement of the Roman Catholic liturgy and the revival of Gregorian chant. A documentary film on life at Solesmes was made in 2009 and focuses on the tradition of the chant at the monastery.

Here's Solesmes' website.

Sebastián de Vivanco: Magnificat Quarti toni

Here's a beautiful Magnificat; the chant verses are sung to Gregorian Tone 4.  Beginning sometime in the 15th Century, composers began writing this kind of chant/polyphony alternatim, in which all the odd verses are sung to either chant or polyphony - and then the even verses take the other style.   These were often based on the ordinary of the mass, but here, obviously, the text comes from the Vespers Canticle (part of the Ordinary of the Divine Office).

Sebastián de Vivanco was born in Avila, Spain, in 1551, and died in Salamanca in 1622. The performance is by the Orchestra of the Renaissance led by Richard Cheetham.  

Magnificat anima mea Dominum.
Et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.

Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies, timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in bracchio suo: dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles.

Esurientes implevit bonis: et divites dimissit inanes.
Suscepit Israel puerum suum, recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham et semini eius in saecula.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.


My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden;
for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me: and holy is his name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with his arms: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remebering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel.
As he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.
Glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Alleluia: Angelus domini

This comes, apparently, from the "Antiphonary tonary missal of St. Benigne" (also called "Antiphonarium Codex Montpellier" or "Tonary of Saint-Bénigne of Dijon"), H159.  I don't know who the singers here are, but it's certainly lovely.



Here's a screen cap of the page in the manuscript (link below) from which this music comes; it's found in the section Alleluia Tetrarda Plagalis.  (Tetrarda Plagalis means something like "Fourth Tone, Second Type"; there were apparently 8 different kinds of melodies - i.e., "tones" - but divided into four 4 groups of two.  This I believe came out of the Byzantine chant system called oktoechos.)

Although as far as I can tell it doesn't say in the manuscript - it's organized by tone, rather than feast - this is obviously for use on Easter or during Eastertide.  The texts come from Matthew 28 and John 18:

Angelus enim[autem] Domini descendit de coelo, et accedens revolvit lapidem, et super eum sedit. 

Respondens autem angelus dixit mulieribus: Quem quaeritis? Illae autem dixerunt: Jesum Nazarenum.

An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and rolled back the stone, and sat on it. 

And he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

This manuscript is known as "Codex H. 159 de la Bibliothèque de l'École de médecine de Montpellier."  IMSPL has what it calls a Preface, Directories (monochrome); this looks to be an add-on analysis and Table-of-Contents to the manuscript itself, here as a 4.5MB PDF.  It also offers the Complete Codex (color scans), in a 20MB PDF; both of these are courtesy of the Boston Public Library, it says.   If I'm reading this correctly, I'm gathering that this was part of the Solesmes chant research project during the 19th Century; Dom Andre Mocquereau was editor of the Preface.  Clearly I need to look more closely at that project, and to learn more about it.

Quite amazing, actually, to be able to casually download these things from a thousand years ago and look them over at home.

Wikipedia has an extensive entry on the Antiphonary of St. Benigne, too; I'm gathering that this means H 159 is rather important among chant manuscripts.   Here are some quotes from that article:

The Antiphonary tonary missal of St. Benigne (also called Antiphonarium Codex Montpellier or Tonary of Saint-Bénigne of Dijon) was supposed to be written in the last years of the 10th century, when the Abbot William of Volpiano at St. Benignus of Dijon reformed the liturgy of several monasteries in Burgundy. The chant manuscript records mainly Western plainchant of the Roman-Frankish proper mass and part of the chant sung during the matins ("Gregorian chant"), but unlike the common form of the Gradual and of the Antiphonary, William organized his manuscript according to the chant genre (antiphons with psalmody, alleluia verses, graduals, offertories, and proses for the missal part), and theses sections were subdivided into eight parts according to the octoechos. This disposition followed the order of a tonary, but William of Volpiano wrote not only the incipits of the classified chant, he wrote the whole chant text with the music in central French neumes which were still written in campo aperto, and added a second alphabetic notation of his own invention for the melodic structure of the codified chant.

....

This particular type of a fully notated tonary only appeared in Burgundy and Normandy. It can be regarded as a characteristic document of a certain school founded by William of Volpiano, who was reforming abbot at St. Benignus of Dijon since 989. In 1001 he followed a request by Duke Richard II and became first abbot at the Abbey of Fécamp which was another reforming centre of monasticism in Normandy.

Here's a bit more about this manuscript itself:

The Tonary of Saint-Bénigne of Dijon is organized in a very rare form of a fully notated tonary, which serves like a fully notated music manuscript for mass (gradual) and office chant (antiphonary).^[8]

The first division of the chant book is between the book's gradual (fol. 13r-155v) and an antiphonary fragment (fol. 156r-162v) which has the Matins for Palm Sunday, St. Blasius and St. Hylarius in the conventional liturgical order, but with tonal rubrics.^[9] The last leaf was added from another book to use the blank versoside for additions on the last pages written by other hands, chant notated in adiastematic neumes but without alphabetic notation and even diastematic neumes with alphabetic notation (fol. 160r-163r).^[10]

The gradual itself with proper mass chant is divided into six parts: The first are antiphons (introiti and communions) (fol. 13r-53r). The next three parts are chant genres which precedes lessons: alleluia verses for gospel readings (fol. 53v-69r), the benedictiones (hymnus trium puerorum) for prophetic readings (fol. 75r-76v), and the graduels for epistel readings (fol. 77r-98v). The last two parts are an offertorial (fol. 99r-151r) and a tractus collection (fol. 69r-74v; 151v-155v), dedicated to the genre which replace the alleluia verses during fasten time for all kinds of scriptural readings.^[11]

The third level of division are the eight parts according to the oktoechos in the order of autentus protus, plagi proti, autentus deuterus etc. In the first part, every tonal section has all introits according to the liturgical year cycle and then all communions according to the liturgical order. The whole disposition is not new, but it is identical with tonaries from different regions of the Cluniac Monastic Association. The only difference is that every chant is not represented by an incipit, it is fully notated in neumes and in alphabetic notation as well, so that even cantors who do not know the chant can memorize it with this tonary together with its tonus.

And this seems to be a page taken from the manuscript.   Here's a description:

As an example might serve the Introitus "Repleatur os meum" used as a refrain for psalm 70 during the procession into the church, at the beginning of the morning mass on Saturday before Pentecost. The introit was written in the first part of the antiphons and is quite at the beginning of the deuterus section (written as heading on each page), hence an introit in the 3rd tone or "autentus deuterus":

Here's another image from the manuscript.  Fortunately there's no information at that page about it, so I'm attempting to decipher the writing to try to figure out where it came from; that's part of the fun, after all.  (The first section definitely starts out with Puer natus est - so we're almost certainly looking at something for around Christmastime; the second starts with Adorate deum; that's currently the incipit of the Introit for the third Sunday after the Epiphany.  Those are some initial tantalizing clues to work from!)

I'm noticing some other very interesting links at the IMSLP page.  I'll definitely be back with some stuff about those - particularly if I can find some audio or video recordings of some of the music!

Learning about Gregorian Chant, from Solesmes

From the YouTube page:

Do you want to learn more about Gregorian chant? This highly pedagogical presentation by a monk of Solesmes, Dom Daniel Saulnier, is read by Sarah Moule and gives the amateur listener basic notions about the chant, its history, musical forms and genres, with a generous selection of examples culled from Solesmes recordings.

This seems to be the order of program on the video; I haven't watched it through yet.

History of Gregorian chant
1 Gloria With ringing of the bells
2 Gloria Ambrosian
3 Antiphon In mandatis & Psalm 111
4 Psalm Psalm 110
5 Psalm Psalm 111
PROPER OF THE MASS
6 Introit Nos autem
7 Gradual Concupivi
8 Alleluia Pascha nostrum
9 Offertory Lætentur
10 Communion Pascha nostrum
ORDINARY OF THE MASS
11 Kyrie III
12 Gloria IX
13 Sanctus XVIII
14 Agnus XVIII
DIVINE OFFICE
15 Antiphon Dixit Dominus & Ps 109
16 Antiphon Si offers & Magnificat
17 Response Credo
18 Hymn Lucis creator
19 Hymn Salve festa dies

http://www.solesmes.com/GB/editions/disques.php?

HT Chant Cafe.

"Music from the Thomas Gradual"

Here's an mp3 of a podcast from Harmonia Early Music, the website adjunct of a once-a-week radio program that seems to be a production of Indiana Public Media and perhaps also of Indiana University in Bloomington.  The podcast is mostly narrative text, but also includes some really lovely clips from two Gregorian Chant masses.

Here's the website itself - and below is the transcript of this podcast from that page.  The podcast is narrated by Janelle Davis, who's "a violinist and performer with period instrument ensembles throughout the United States. She is currently a candidate for the Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, Bloomington where she specializes in early music."

The thing at the end about Bach and "altissima" is very interesting to me!  I've wondered for a long time about his use of that word in the B Minor Mass, and here's a good explanation.

Music from the Thomas Gradual

Two fourteenth-century Gregorian Masses from the library of the Leipzig Church of St. Thomas have been recently recorded for a new CD by the ensemble Amarcord.  The two masses on this recording are both preserved in a manuscript known as the Thomas Gradual.

Gradual

A gradual is basically a song book, or a book of Gregorian chants used during the Catholic mass. But, if you didn’t already know that bit of trivia, one of the nice things about this recording from the Apollon Classics label, is that the CD comes with a handy and wonderful informational book, laid out in an approachable interview format.  So, if you want to learn about the history of the Gradual, while enjoying a gorgeous performance, this recording really puts it all at your fingertips.

Dedication Mass

Of the two masses included on this recording, one is a mass for the dedication of the church, and the other is a mass honoring the apostle Thomas.  The dedication mass is the only mass where the Offertory music is supplemented by two extra verses. Sung as solos, these verses served a functional purpose in the mass. The extra music extended the length of the movement giving churchgoers time to bring personal possessions, gifts and offerings forward to the Alter during this part of the service.

Mass for St. Thomas

The other mass included on this CD is a mass for St. Thomas.  Named for the patron saint of the Leipzig Thomaskirche, the Thomas Gradual was a book probably written and intended for this very church, and thus would have been a high point of celebration each year for the local parish.

J.S. Bach

The Thomas Gradual is a valuable source of German medieval liturgical music, especially so because the Reformation in Germany did away with many other liturgical manuscripts from this geographical area.  But the Thomas Gradual continued to be used even into the Protestant years at the Thomaskirche.  One famous cantor who was likely familiar with the Thomas Gradual in the Leipzig Thomaskirche library was none other than J.S. Bach.

And now that you’re thinking about Bach, here’s something to consider. The Thomas Gradualhas some additions to the liturgy that are not really found anywhere else. One of these differences includes the addition of the word Altissima into the Gloria text. And get this! Bach also used the additional altissima text in his b minor mass. Since this addition is not part of the Latin Missal (and, by the way, not allowed in the Catholic liturgy), it seems likely that Bach could have used the Thomas Gradual as source material when composing his b minor mass.

Photo: Eric Pancer (wikipedia)

The exterior of Thomaskirche

"Why Gregorian Chant Rocks"

Just for the sake of pure enjoyment, here's a nice article by Judy Keane, in The Catholic Exchange:

Today we can scarcely go to a clothing store, a health club or even a gas station without being besieged by a variety of thumping, agitating and jarring music blasting from speakers above. While I appreciate a variety of music, I have found that Gregorian chant stands in stark contrast to the fatigue of today’s popular tunes which tends to dominate music charts across the globe. By its very nature, Gregorian chant supersedes the entertainment value of music by allowing us to step out of our fast-paced world and instead focus on the sacred. Standing the test of time, this early Christian song continues to enrich our Catholic culture and rouse the soul with holy inspirations. Originating as a form of plainchant, this great treasure of the Church began under the auspices of Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) who referred to it as “the song of Angels.” Early art depicts Pope Gregory as a music loving saint who received the gift of chant from a dove, representing the Holy Spirit, who came to sit upon his shoulder and began to sing in his ear. Born in the Church, its lyrics come from the Latin Vulgate, Mass ordinaries, divine office hymns, antiphons, and responsories. For centuries it has been sung in Latin as pure melody in unison without musical accompaniment, meter or time signature. It is music composed for the soul in which the words of God are lovingly sung back to him.

Gregorian chant continues to be kept alive in monasteries, convents, and some cathedrals while also remaining a subject of study among a small group of dedicated academics. Over the past few decades, the world has seen a resurgence of chant. In the 1990’s, an album aptly named Chant, performed by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos (Spain) became the best-selling record of Gregorian chant ever. Emerging in 1994 as an antidote to the stress of modern life, Chant peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. Similarly, the Cistercian Viennese Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, also shot to the top of classical music charts with their #1 selling album which also hit number nine on the pop charts!

So why does Gregorian chant rock? One reason is that it conveys the sacred to the secular. Contrary to the agitating sounds of hip hop, hard rock and heavy metal, Gregorian chant is instead a soothing balm for weary souls and a source of comfort for unsettled hearts. Inspiring and edifying, simple and poignant, this music of paradise slows our racing minds, renews our vigor, and eases the tensions of a harried world. It ethereal quality elevates us from the temporal and transports us to the spiritual.

Dr. Alan Watkins, a senior lecturer in neuroscience at Imperial College London noted that “the musical structure of chant can have a significant and positive physiological impact,” and that chanting has actually been shown to “lower blood pressure, increase levels of DHEA and also reduce anxiety and depression.” Similar studies also suggest that Gregorian chant can aid in communications between the right and left hemispheres of the brain more effectively, therefore creating new neural brain pathways.

Benedictine nun, Ruth Stanley, head of the complementary medicine program at Minnesota’s St. Cloud Hospitals also says she’s had great success in easing the chronic pain of patients by having them listen to chant. “The body can move to a deeper level of its own inherent, innate healing ability when you play chant. It’s quite remarkable.” In a 1978 documentary called “Chant,” French audiologist, Dr. Alfred Tomatis, related how he was called upon to help the monks of a Benedictine monastery who suffered from fatigue, depression, and physical illness. He found that they usually took part in six to eight hours of chanting per day but due to a new edict, their chanting was halted. When Tomatis succeeded in re-establishing their daily chanting, the monks regained their well-being and were again full of life. His conclusion was that Gregorian chant is capable of charging the central nervous system along with the cortex of the brain thus having a direct effect on the monk’s overall happiness and health.

Aside from noted physical, spiritual and metal benefits, Gregorian chant may even aid in the conversion of hearts. It is believed that well-known author and philosophy professor, Peter Kreeft listed the angelic chant music of Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina as one of the reasons he is Catholic today. Beyond this, Gregorian chant inspires and instructs. It allows us to regain our strength, our clarity and our focus on what is truly important in life. In his letter read at the 100^th anniversary of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Emeritus Pope Benedict spoke about the vital role Gregorian chant has played in Church history along with countering the argument that Chant is a thing of the past. Instead he praised Gregorian chant as being “of huge value to the great ecclesial heritage of universal sacred music,” and that “Mass must convey a sense of prayer, dignity and beauty.” The Second Vatican Council also noted that Gregorian chant should be given “pride of place” in liturgical music. Unfortunately, finding a church where chant is still sung is a daunting task.

On a personal level, I listen to Gregorian chant regularly at home, at work and while driving. I’ve found the more I listen to it, the more I recognize its spiritual and mental benefits. It calms me and lifts my mind from the challenges of the day to what is above. I even noticed my pets are calmer and more relaxed when chant fills my home! A friend of mine says it peacefully lulls her baby to sleep. Still others find playing it at home creates a tranquil family atmosphere in which to converse, eat, pray and live. Like the rhythm of a calm heartbeat, Gregorian chant fosters peace within ourselves and those around us. It is not music for the sake of music – but rather prayer that inspires prayer.

If you’ve not yet had the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits of Gregorian chant, there are some great CD’s and downloads available including those mentioned in this article. Why not give it a try! In comparison to much of today’s music, Gregorian chant is music that aims for heaven, the greatest goal of all! And because of that – it rocks!

Not to toot our own horns, but we've talked about the health benefits of chant and the psychological benefits of worship before!

"Requiem Mass in Honor of Mary Berry"

From The Chant Café:

A Solemn Requiem Mass (in the Extraordinary Form) will be Offered for Dr. Mary Berry (Mother Thomas More, C.N.D.) on May 3, 2013 at 12.15 pm, and sung by the Choir & Choristers of St Stephen the First Martyr, Sacramento, California on the fifth anniversary of her death.

Dr. Mary Berry was an English Augustinian nun - and a musicologist and prominent scholar of chant.  Here's her Wikipedia entry:

Mary Berry, CBE (in religion Sister Thomas More 29 June 1917 – 1 May 2008) was an Augustinian canoness and noted choral conductor and musicologist. She was an authority on the performance of Gregorian chant.

Berry studied at Girton College, Cambridge with Thurston Dart as well going to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger. In 1970 she received her doctorate from Cambridge after submitting a thesis on the performance of plainsong in the late Middle Ages and the 16th century, and afterwards became a Fellow at Newnham College.

In 1975 Berry founded the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge for the study and performance of Gregorian chant. The Cantors of the Schola are a group of young, largely professional singers and have performed and recorded extensively under her direction, often working from primary sources. The Schola was one of the first ensembles to perform (and certainly the first to record) music from the Winchester troper after research by Mary Berry and others made the music accessible from the manuscripts.

Berry travelled widely to promote the teaching and singing of Gregorian chant, and organised and participated in many workshops and courses, including Spode Music Week, of which she was a patron. She was a particularly keen advocate for the use of Gregorian chant in its proper liturgical context. Her two introductory books, Plainchant for everyone and Cantors: A collection of Gregorian chants, encourage people to learn the chant, and are often recommended to beginners in the field.

In 2000 she was awarded the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, and in the 2002 New Year Honours she was appointed CBE.

New Liturgical Movement posted about her funeral five years ago, here.

"The Power of Gregorian Chant"

By Richard J. Clark at CCWatershed:

OME STYLES OF MUSIC do certain things better than others. I work in a parish that utilizes many styles from chant and polyphony to Gospel and contemporary. This is a product of three merged parishes, the preferences of the pastor, and the pastoral realities of an inner city parish. However, chant and polyphony are normative. They are present in some way at every liturgy.

While we do not process to the Introit propers from the Graduale Romanum, we often sing them as a prelude before mass in lieu of an organ prelude. This allows the congregation to enter into a prayerful state and meditate on the text which is provided on the worship aid.

Keep in mind, I am an organist who studied for many years with James David Christie, organist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I have a wonderful four manual, fifty rank pipe organ to play in an extraordinary acoustic. As I did not play any preludes or postludes during Lent (save Laetare Sunday), I am certainly itching to get back to letting the organ roar again!

However, I LOVE singing the Gregorian Introits as does my schola. They get EXCITED when we sing them. To forego an organ prelude on Easter Sunday speaks to the power of the Mode IV Introit, Resurrexi.

So this morning, something very blessed happened. Easter Sunday is filled with many people who are not regular churchgoers. Instead of griping about it, this is an opportunity to reach out and evangelize to those who do not attend church with any frequency.

As such, there was a standing room only overflow crowd of close to 1,000 people. There was a LOT of noise and talking before mass. It was certainly not a prayerful or reverent environment.

But then, amidst the cacophony the schola began to sing Resurrexi. By the time we got to the first “alleluia” there was a hush… The crowd slowly quieted down to a still silence. They listened through the antiphon, and the extraordinarily intimate verse from Psalm 139: “O Lord, you have searched me, and know me; you know when I sit and when I rise up.”  At the end of the last antiphon one could hear nothing—nothing at all. A crowd of nearly 1,000 people, many who don’t come to mass, many who may not prefer Gregorian Chant, many who know nothing about chant—fell silent.

I don’t know what was in their hearts and minds, but intuitively, a sense of reverence and awe prevailed. Perhaps for many it was a rare moment of stillness in a busy, noisy world. Perhaps it was an opportunity for interior prayer. Perhaps it was a moment to revel in presence of the Risen Christ—the Salvation of the World. My hope is that the ineffable mystery of the Resurrection shone forth in these words:

I am risen, and am always with you, alleluia; you have placed your hand upon me, alleluia; your wisdom has been shown to be most wonderful, alleluia, alleluia. v. O Lord, you have searched me and know me; you know when I sit down and when I rise up. Psalm 139: 18, 5, 6 and 1-2

Happy Easter!

“The Brothers of Clear Creek”

From the March issue of the magazine Oklahoma Today: 

“The Brothers of Clear Creek” portfolio by Tulsa photographer Shane Brown earns Oklahoma Today’s second Wilbur Award.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (March 9, 2012) – Oklahoma Today magazine was named a winner of a 2012 Wilbur Award from the Religious Communicators Council for the portfolio “The Brothers of Clear Creek” in its November/December 2011 issue. Tulsa photographer Shane Brown shot the portfolio during several visits to the Clear Creek Monastery near Hulbert, Oklahoma. Additional awardees this year include Entertainment Weekly, CBS News Sunday Morning, and the feature film The Help.

“What appealed to me about shooting at the monastery is that I was exposed to so much different cultural practice,” said Brown. “I’m an observer, and the camera is the perfect tool for that.”

One of the challenges Brown faced in photographing the Benedictine monks who live at Clear Creek, which is the only traditional men’s contemplative Benedictine monastery in the United States, was the monks’ de-emphasis on the individual. Many of Brown’s photos show the men’s hands engaged in various acts of work and worship―feeding sheep, creating icons, and stringing beads together for a rosary.

“We are honored to receive the Wilbur Award for Shane Brown’s beautiful portfolio of life at Clear Creek Monastery,” said Oklahoma Today editor Steffie Corcoran. “Shane’s photos speak eloquently to the quiet universality of faith.”

Brown holds a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Oklahoma. He has been a professional photographer for more than twelve years and also has worked as a cinematographer. In addition to Oklahoma Today, Brown’s clients include The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and This Land Press.

The Wilbur Award is given to secular media outlets for excellence in communicating religious ideals, issues, and themes and is awarded by the Religious Communicators Council. Past magazine recipients of the award include The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and Playboy. This is Oklahoma Today’s second Wilbur Award; the first was in 1998. Copies of the issue and a .pdf of the article are available at oklahomatoday.com.

Oklahoma Today, the Magazine of Oklahoma since 1956, focuses on the people, places, and culture of Oklahoma. A paid circulation magazine, it has subscribers in every state and many foreign countries. It is published bimonthly by the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department. For more information, visit www.oklahomatoday.com.

Clear Creek is a new monastery, and is still under construction.  I've written about the monks before; click the image on this page to see a video from about four years ago.  This is from the home page of their website:

Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in the diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1999 by Notre-Dame de Fontgombault, a French Abbey which belongs to the Solesmes Congregation, as does Clear Creek. The Patron Saint of Clear Creek Abbey is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the mystery of her Annunciation. See origins for a complete history.

Like the other monasteries of the Solesmes Congregation, Clear Creek Abbey belongs to those institutes of religious life entirely dedicated to contemplative prayer, without apostolic works. A particular emphasis is placed on the solemn celebration of the liturgy.

It is part of the Solesmes tradition to cultivate a solemn, public liturgical Office. The monks of Clear Creek Abbey celebrate God's glory in Latin, so appropriate to give an idea of God's majesty, a sense of the sacred. Thus the monks exploit the riches developed over centuries in the Church's liturgy and cultivate Gregorian chant.

Clear Creek, which attained Abbey status in 2010, is also offering a chant weekend this fall.  You can listen to some chant samples linked from this page, where some of the monks' recordings are available for purchase.

Here's an mp3 of the Christmas Responsory Quem Vidistis; here's the sequence hymn Ave Maria.

Christ the King, continued

Today's Festival Eucharist for Christ the King at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue was superb; I highly recommend listening. The music was magnificent, and a kind of compendium across the centuries of all kinds of "Christ the King"-ly music. Although in my opinion Coronation is certainly not the right tune for the opening hymn, "All hail the power of Jesus' name"; that would course be Diadem:


Sometimes the Methodists - and the Lutherans and the Mennonites - just have a better idea when it comes to hymns.

In any case, the choir sang, as the Offertory, James MacMillan's polyphonic setting of the introit/acclamation/chant Christus Vincit. Here's a video of this really gorgeous piece:




And here's a very nice video of the plainchant version, labeled "Medieval Gregorian Chant," from Corpus Christi Watershed. Below that is an image of the first page of the chant itself, from the (RCC) Parish Book of Chant (see it in this PDF starting on page 103):

This piece is, apparently, intended to be sung "In Honor of Christ the King" in the Roman Catholic Church. (I'm not sure whether that means it should be sung on the Feast Day or not - but it is, apparently, used that way at least occasionally.) Anglicans sometimes sing one of the various settings of Christus Vincit at Easter - but of course, if singing this plainchant version we'd (most of us, anyway!) excise the section of the plainchant dedicated to the Pope. EWTN titles the "Christus Vincit" text as "Acclamations VIII Cent., Ambrosian Chant (Variant)." It seems to have been used at various coronations - both secular and religious (i.e., the crowning of the Pope) - throughout European history (see this page for more about all that). New Advent has a bit about the chant, here, in a section called "Growth of liturgical acclamations" - and introduced by this sentence: "It seems highly probable that the practices observed in the election of the Pagan emperors were the prototype of most of the liturgical acclamations now known to us."

Almost contemporary with [the above acclamations] are the acclamations found in our English Egbert Pontifical (probably compiled before 769) which with other English manuscripts has preserved to us the earliest detailed account of a coronation in the West. The text is a little uncertain, but probably should read as follows:

Then let the whole people say three times along with the bishops and the priests; 'May our King, N., live for ever' (Vivat Rex N. in sempiternum). And he shall be confirmed upon the throne of the kingdom with the blessing of all the people while the great Lords kiss him, saying: 'For ever. Amen, amen, amen.'

There is also in the Egbertine ritual a sort of litany closely resembling the imperial acclamations just referred to, and this may be compared with the elaborate set of laudes, technically so called, which belong to the time of Charlemagne and have been printed by Duchesne in his edition of the Liber Pontificalis, II, 37. In these imperial laudes the words Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat (Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands), nearly always find a place. It should be added that these acclamations or some similar feature have been retained to this day in the Eastern coronation rituals and in a few of Western origin, amongst others in that of England. Thus for the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 the official ceremonial gave the following direction:

When the Homage is ended, the drums beat and the trumpets sound, and all the people shout, crying out: 'God save King Edward!' 'Long live King Edward!' 'May the King live for ever!'

Anglicans do not, in fact, officially celebrate Christ the King in the first place; for us, it's simply the Last Sunday after Pentecost. (Stephen Gerth of St. Mary the Virgin in New York explains the historical tradition of celebrating Christ as King at Epiphany; he says that "In origin, [the feast day of] Christ the King wasn’t about Christ; it was about the pope." There's more about that at the link; the holiday initially was set, in 1925, for the last Sunday in October, and the pope's encyclical stated that it was specifically in order to fight "anti-clericalism." I agree with Fr. Gerth that the compilers of the 1979 BCP did a really good thing by ignoring the origin of the Feast and moving the celebration of the Kingship of Christ to the last day of the Church Year - and without actually celebrating it as feast day. Nicely done indeed! It's a great day, I think - and I do like that Anglicans take the focus off the earthly "rulers," and put it entirely on Christ alone.) The current US BCP collect on this day is one that definitely focuses on the Christ the King theme:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hatchett's Commentary has this about the collect:

This is a somewhat free translation by Capt. Howard E. Galley of the collect of the Feast of Christ the King in the Roman Missal. Christ is portrayed as the king who frees those who are bound and unites under His gracious rule all who are divided.

Not sure at all who "Capt. Howard E. Galley" is, though! The original collect for this day - this one's from the 1549 BCP - is the "Stir up" collect now used, in amended form, on Advent 3:

Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people, that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.)

The St. Thomas Choir also sings a lovely setting of Dignus Est Agnus, the Introit for the day (I posted on that this past week), by Malcolm Williamson. That one's not on YouTube, so go have a listen to the service to hear it. You'll be quite happy, I predict, with Thomas Attwood's Anglican Chant setting of Psalm 100, too; it's the same tune as this one, used for Psalm 50.

And then of course, you really can't beat "Crown him with many crowns" to end the day - some of the very best lyric anywhere.  This video comes from Queen Elizabeth II's 50th Jubilee, and it's moving to think about her, a "crowned head" herself, having made this choice:  "Crown Him the Lord of Lords, Who over all doth reign."




You can find all nine verses here, but we sing only these four:

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.

Crown Him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious through the strife
For those He came to save.
His glories now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die.


Crown Him the Lord of Lords,
Who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word
For ransomed sinners slain
Now lives in realms of light
Where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night,
Their God, Redeemer, King.


Crown Him the Lord of heaven,
Enthroned in worlds above;
Crown Him the King to whom is given
The wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns
As thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns
For He is King of all.

I do adore the music and textual themes on this day. Yes, I do.

Puer natus in Bethlehem

Sung by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silo, Spain.



It's lovely, isn't it? The St. Cecilia Schola Cantorum says about this hymn that:

One of the many beautifully charming strophic chant hymns printed in the Liber Cantualis is Puer Natus in Bethlehem. Based on the text that begins the Christmas Day introit, this hymn tells the Nativity story in 14 full verses. The mp3 below records the Schola singing the first five. As you will hear, it is vigorous and exciting and suited for congregational participation.

Their mp3 is here. The video above includes only 4 of the 14 verses, these:

Puer natus in Bethlehem, Alleluia Unde gaudet Jerusalem, Alleluia, alleluia
In cordis jubilo, Christum natum adoremus, Cum novo cantico

Assumpsit carnem filius, Alleluia Dei Patris altissimus, Alleluia, Alleluia
In cordis jubilo, Christum natum adoremus, Cum novo cantico

In hoc natali gaudiio, Alleluia Benadicamus Domino, alleluia, alleluia
In cordis jubilo, Christum natum adoremus, Cum novo cantico

Laudetur sancta trinitas, alleluia Deo di camus gratias, alleluia, alleluia
In cordis jubilo, Christum natum adoremus, Cum novo cantico.

Here's an English translation of only those verses:

A Child is born in Bethlehem, Alleluia The reason for Jerusalem's joy, Alleluia, Alleluia
With joyful heart let us adore Christ's birth, With a new song

Taking flesh is the Son Of God the Father most high, Alleluia, Alleluia
With joyful heart let us adore Christ's birth, With a new song

For this joyful birth  Alleluia Let us bless the Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia
With joyful heart let us adore Christ's birth, With a new song

Praised be the Holy Trinity, Alleluia Thanks be to God that we may boldly say, Alleluia, Alleluia
With joyful heart let us adore Christ's birth, With a new song

Wikipedia offers 11 verses, with a different set of words and this English translation:

1. Puer natus in Bethlehem, Alleluia. Unde gaudet Jerusalem. Alleluia.
2. Hic jacet in præsepio, Alleluia. Qui regnat sine termino. Alleluia.
3. Cognovit bos et asinus, Alleluia. Quod puer erat Dominus. Alleluia.
4. Reges de Sabâ veniunt, Alleluia. Aurum, thus, myrrhum offerunt. Alleluia.
5. Intrantes domum invicem, Alleluia. Novum salutant principem. Alleluia.
6. De matre natus virgine, Alleluia. Sine virili semine; Alleluia.
7. Sine serpentis vulnere, Alleluia. De nostro venit sanguine; Alleluia.
8. In carne nobis similis, Alleluia. Peccato sed dissimilis; Alleluia.
9. Ut redderet nos homines, Alleluia. Deo et sibi similes. Alleluia.
10. In hoc natali gaudio, Alleluia. Benedicamus Domino: Alleluia.
11. Laudetur sancta Trinitas, Alleluia. Deo dicamus gratias. Alleluia.


1. A Child is born in Bethlehem; Exult for joy, Jerusalem! Alleluia.
2. Lo, He who reigns above the skies There, in a manger lowly, lies. Alleluia.
3. The ox and ass in neighbouring stall See in that Child the Lord of all. Alleluia.
4. And kingly pilgrims, long foretold, From East bring incense, myrrh, and gold, Alleluia.
5. And enter with their offerings, To hail the new-born King of Kings. Alleluia.
6. He comes, a maiden mother's Son, Yet earthly father hath He none; Alleluia.
7. And, from the serpent's poison free, He owned our blood and pedigree. Alleluia.
8. Our feeble flesh and His the same, Our sinless kinsman He became, Alleluia.
9. That we, from deadly thrall set free, Like Him, and so like God, should be. Alleluia.
10. Come then, and on this natal day, Rejoice before the Lord and pray. Alleluia.
11. And to the Holy One in Three Give praise and thanks eternally. Alleluia.

Translated by Hamilton Montgomerie MacGill, 1876

CPDL offers these 14 (15? - the et Angelus pastoribus stanza does not seem to appear in the English) verses, and the English translation - again by H.M. MacGill, below: 

Puer natus in Bethlehem,
Unde gaudet Jerusalem,
alleluia.

Refrain:
In cordis jubilo,
Christum natum adoremus
Cum novo cantico.

Assumpsit carnem Filius,
Dei Patris altissimus,
alleluia.

Per Gabrielem nuntium,
Virgo concepit Filium,
alleluia.

Tamquam sponsus de thalamo,
Processit Matris utero,
alleluia.

Hic iacet in praesepio,
Qui regnat sine termino,
alleluia.

Cognovit bos et asinus,
Quod puer erat Dominus.
alleluia.

Et Angelus pastoribus,
Revelat quod sit Dominus,
alleluia.

Reges de Saba Veniunt,
Aurum thus myrrham offerunt,
alleluia.

Intrantes domum invicem,
Novum salutant Principem,
alleluia.

De Matre natus Virgine,
Sine virili semine,
alleluia.

Sine serpentis vulnere,
De nostro venit sanguine,
alleluia.

In carne nobis similis,
Peccato sed dissimilis,
alleluia.

Ut redderet nos homines,
Deo et sibi similes,
alleluia.

In hoc natali gaudio,
Benedicamus Domino,
alleluia.

Laudetur sancta Trinitas,
Deo dicamus gratias,
alleluia.A child is born in Bethlehem,
Exult for joy, Jerusalem!
Allelujah.

Refrain (literal translation):
With an exultant heart,
let us adore the new-born Christ,
with a new song.

The Son of God the Father,
In the highest has taken flesh,
Allelujah.

By angel Gabriel announced,
The virgin has conceived the Son.
Allelujah.

Like a bridegroom from the chamber,
He proceeds from the womb of the mother.
Allelujah.

Lo he who reigns above the skies,
There in a manger lowly, lies.
Allelujah.

The ox and ass in neighb'ring stall,
See in that child the Lord of all.
Allelujah.





And kingly pilgrims, long foretold,
From East bring incense, myrrh and gold,
Allelujah.

And enter with their offerings,
To hail the newborn King of Kings.
Allelujah.

He comes, a maiden mother's Son,
Yet earthly father has He none;
Allelujah.

And from the serpent's poison free,
He owned our blood and pedigree,
Allelujah.

Our feeble flesh and His the same,
Our sinless kinsman He became,
Allelujah.

That we, from deadly thrall set free,
Like Him, and so like God, should be.
Allelujah.

Come then, and on his natal day,
Rejoice before the Lord and pray.
Allelujah.

And to the holy One in Three.
Give praise and thanks eternally.
Allelujah.

CPDL also has this to say about the song:

This Christmas hymn was especially popular during the ancient period. Its author is unknown. The oldest Latin text found so far is contained in a Benedictine book dating from the beginning of the fourteenth century. The Latin text, which is found in many different redactions ranging from six to twelve stanzas, has, very likely, been composed by several authors. Consequently, it has undergone many changes due to omissions, revisions, and additions. “Puer natus” was translated into German in 1439 by Heinrich von Laufenberg. Later on a number of German versions appeared. In the old German, Danish, and Swedish hymnals a translation in the vernacular was inserted immediately after each Latin stanza. It has been surmised that the choir sang the Latin and the congregation sang translations of the same. The German rendering most extensively used was that found in Val. Babst’s Gesangbuch, 1545: “Ein Kind geboren zu Bethlehem.” This contains ten stanzas with the German translation inserted after each stanza except the second. The English version included in The Lutheran Hymnary was made by Philip Schaff and was printed in his Christ in Song, 1869. There are at least eleven other English translations.

In regard to the third stanza, Skaar quotes from the hymnological works of Daniel: “On many early medieval paintings representing the nativity of Christ, as well as in Christmas hymns, are found an ox and an ass. This practice has been ascribed to a faulty rendering of the passage, Hab. 3:2: ‘In the midst of beasts make known’; for ‘In the midst of the years make it known.’ They concluded from Is. 1:3 that the two ‘beasts’ referred to were the ox and the ass: ‘The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib.’ These passages are taken to be the Biblical basis for the old Christmas stanza: ‘Cognovit bos et asinus, quod puer erat Dominus, Halleluja’ (The ox and the ass knew that the Child was the Lord).” Nutzhorn claims that the expression is rather. an “innocent desire for free poetic representation of the circumstances surrounding the nativity of Christ.” [Dahle, Library of Christians Hymns]

Here's the chant score:

Merry Christmas to all!

The Advent Prose

"The Advent Prose" is the English name for the Rorate Coeli ("Drop down, ye heavens"), a plainsong-ish hymn with texts taken from Isaiah and sung in the season of Advent.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour forth righteousness: let the earth be fruitful, and bring forth a Saviour.

Be not very angry, O Lord, neither remember our iniquity for ever:
thy holy cities are a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation:
our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour forth righteousness: let the earth be fruitful, and bring forth a Saviour.

We have sinned, and are as an unclean thing,
and we all do fade as a leaf:
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away;
thou hast hid thy face from us:
and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour forth righteousness: let the earth be fruitful, and bring forth a Saviour.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen;
that ye may know me and believe me:
I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour:
and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour forth righteousness: let the earth be fruitful, and bring forth a Saviour.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, my salvation shall not tarry:
I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions:
fear not for I will save thee:
for I am the Lord thy god, the holy one of Israel, thy Redeemer.

From this page:

The Advent Prose is a series of texts adapted from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and said, or more usually sung, in churches during the season of Advent. In its Latin form, it is attributed to Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, who lived in the fourth century. The English translation is traditional. It is most common in high church Anglican or Roman Catholic churches, but no doubt known elsewhere as well. There are several ways of singing it, but a common one is for the Rorate section, shown here with emphasis to be sung as a chorus, and for the choir to take the verses, with the chorus alternating. Although the English text says 'Drop down, ye heavens...', the Latin verb rorare actually means 'to make or deposit dewdrops', a fact which evaded me when I first came to the piece. Similarly, justum in the second line means 'the just man', rather than 'righteousness'.

Here's a version in Latin:



Here's the Latin text:

Roráte caéli désuper,
et núbes plúant jústum.

Ne irascáris Dómine,
ne ultra memíneris iniquitátis:
ecce cívitas Sáncti fácta est desérta:
Síon desérta fácta est:
Jerúsalem desoláta est:
dómus sanctificatiónis túæ et glóriæ túæ,
ubi laudavérunt te pátres nóstri.

Peccávimus, et fácti súmus tamquam immúndus nos,
et cecídimus quasi fólium univérsi:
et iniquitátes nóstræ quasi véntus abstulérunt nos:
abscondísti faciem túam a nóbis,
et allisísti nos in mánu iniquitátis nóstræ.

Víde Dómine afflictiónem pópuli túi,
et mítte quem missúrus es:
emítte Agnum dominatórem térræ,
de Pétra desérti ad móntem fíliæ Síon:
ut áuferat ípse júgum captivitátis nóstræ.

Consolámini, consolámini, pópule méus:
cito véniet sálus túa:
quare mæróre consúmeris,
quia innovávit te dólor?
Salvábo te, nóli timére,
égo enim sum Dóminus Déus túus,
Sánctus Israël, Redémptor túus.

And here's the chant score with Latin words, from the Liber Usualis:

More from New Advent:

(Vulgate, text), the opening words of Isaiah 45:8. The text is used frequently both at Mass and in the Divine Office during Advent, as it gives exquisite poetical expression to the longings of Patriarchs and Prophets, and symbolically of the Church, for the coming of the Messias. Throughout Advent it occurs daily as the versicle and response at Vespers. For this purpose the verse is divided into the versicle, "Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum" (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just), and the response: "Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem" (Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour"). The text is also used: (a) as the Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, for Wednesday in Ember Week, for the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin, and for votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin during Advent; (b) as a versicle in the first responsory of Tuesday in the first week of Advent; (c) as the first antiphon at Lauds for the Tuesday preceding Christmas and the second antiphon at Matins of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin; (d) in the second responsory for Friday of the third week of Advent and in the fifth responsory in Matins of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin. In the "Book of Hymns" (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 4, W. Rooke-Ley translates the text in connection with the O Antiphons:


Mystic dew from heaven
Unto earth is given:
Break, O earth, a Saviour yield —
Fairest flower of the field".

The exquisite Introit plain-song may be found in in the various editions of the Vatican Graduale and the Solesmes "Liber Usualis", 1908, p. 125. Under the heading, "Prayer of the Churches of France during Advent", Dom Guéranger (Liturgical Year, Advent tr., Dublin, 1870, pp. 155-6) gives it as an antiphon to each of a series of prayers ("Ne irascaris", "Peccavimus", "Vide Domine", "Consolamini") expressive of penitence, expectation, comfort, and furnishes the Latin text and an English rendering of the Prayer. The Latin text and a different English rendering are also given in the Baltimore "Manual of Prayers" (pp. 603-4). A plain-song setting of the "Prayer", or series of prayers, is given in the Solesmes "Manual of Gregorian Chant" (Rome-Tournai, 1903, 313-5) in plain-song notation, and in a slightly simpler form in modern notation in the "Roman Hymnal" (New York, 1884, pp. 140-3), as also in "Les principaux chants liturgiques" (Paris, 1875, pp. 111-2) and 'IRecueil d'anciens et de nouveaux cantiques notés" (Paris, 1886, pp. 218-9).