The 1962 Roman Missal allows for about four main options in its celebration: 1. The Low Mass; 2. The Chanted Mass (High Mass) with or without incense; 3. The Solemn High Mass, with deacon and subdeacon and highly choreographed; 4. The Solemn Sung Pontifical Mass with all the stops pulled out.
Only at the principle Sunday Mass in a parish would the Asperges be celebrated as a prelude to the High Mass.
At a sung Mass, depending on the ability of the choir and the taste of the pastor, there could be simple or more complex Gregorian Chant and polyphony. Other more "concert" oriented Mass parts could be chanted, but normally the propers would be Gregorian Chant, plain or complex.
With the Ordinary Form Mass, the distinctions between Low, High and Solemn High and Pontifical are nearly obliterated. Thus the tastes and desires of the celebrant, congregation and music director are far more intrusive.
With the latest reformed 1970 Roman Missal and depending on the desires of the celebrant, you can have the first experience of Mass which I post below which indeed is an Ordinary Form Mass celebrated with an EF ethos in style and chant. I doubt many would know that it is not an EF Requiem.
The second Video is our Christ the King Vigil Mass on Saturday. This is quite different than the Ordinary Form Requiem. I am able to chant and I do chant all my parts at all our Sunday Masses and have done this for so long that it is second nature to me. The congregational music selections are up to the Music Director. Only rarely would I ask her not to ever sing a particular piece again, although I have done that.
Her tastes are such, that she likes piano at Mass (I do too, but less so today than when I was younger). She likes more contemporary idioms, some a bit too 1970's for my tastes but are not objectionable for the Ordinary Form.
Thus you have it. The main problem with the OF is it is often a victim of personal tastes and preferences that go way beyond what would have been possible with the 1962 Roman Missal.
There is a bit of a multiple personality disorder at work in the Ordinary Form!
All Latin, Gregorian Chanted Ordinary Form Requiem Mass for All Souls:
All English, more contemporary vernacular music Ordinary Form Vigil Mass for Christ the King:
6 comments:
First, I'd like to congratulate your Music Director/musicians. To me, this is one of the most difficult positions to occupy as a lay person. It's obviously very public facing, requires a lot of preparation, is the first thing people will criticize if someone's having an off day, has a cold, a sore throat, is affected by seasonal allergies etc. Additionally, it is a profound commitment of time with the expectation that you are always available. I say this from practical experience. In sum, your music program at St. Anne's seems well developed and those who give of their time should feel accomplished at their craft.
I've sampled both videos. While the first EF style is easier on my ears (my preference), the second, with more contemporary music, is also done well. While I prefer the latter stylistically, the former is also a valid option, so I struggle with the notion of a split personality. If the Church felt that strongly about it, traditional chant would not have been mostly shunned over the last 50+ years despite numerous attempts at giving it pride of place.
I, also, offer a Byzantine respect for music directors and ministers. Yet it is all too common that music obviously intended to support the variable parts of the Mass of the day were chosen based on their title or a catchphrase in the lyrics only to reveal a competing theme when actually read and sung.l reminding me of when people say, “to thine ownself be true”.
My only criticism would be that the chant is sung too slowly for a parish setting. This was particularly noticeable in the Dies Irae. It's not the best way of getting people to appreciate the beauty of chant.
John Nolan,
Help me with this. I recall that when learning chant there were two different schools of thought: one school rendered chant fairly slowly whereas the other school had a lilting quality at a faster pace. Is my recollection on this correct?
TJM
The Carthusians, I'm told, sing the chant very slowly. However, those of us who sing chant do not do so in a monastic context. I have sung with a number of professional cantors and the tempi chosen by all of them is pretty consistent - fairly brisk and with a forward momentum. This enables the chant to be phrased properly and helps with breathing and ensemble. Ideally one should not breathe at the quarter-bar, and not overdo the lengthening at the episema. Nowadays the vertical episema on the salicus tends to be ignored.
John Nolan,
Thanks for your perspective.
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