Choir only items / motets at the Preparation of the gifts

[johnquinn39]

Does anyone know of any short choir items for (needless to say) limited resources that are suitable?

John

[docmattc]

The purpose of any music at this point is to accompany the collection, the procession, and the presentation of gifts, particularly when these will occupy a considerable period of time. Sung texts need not speak of bread and wine, nor of offering. Texts expressing joy, praise, community, as well as the spirit of the season, are appropriate.

What are you thinking of when you say "suitable"? It seems to me that the world's your oyster here.

[johnquinn39]

What are you thinking of when you say "suitable"? It seems to me that the world's your oyster here.

Thanks docmattc, but I am looking for specific works that people have actually tried.

All the best

John

[Petrasancta]

I would recommend William Byrd's "Sacerdotes Domini" which perfectly captures the idea of offering gifts to the lord.

[johnquinn39]

I would recommend William Byrd's "Sacerdotes Domini" which perfectly captures the idea of offering gifts to the lord.

Thanks, Petrasancta - this looks ideal. (I have just printed it up from PDCL)

[johnquinn39]

What are you thinking of when you say "suitable"? It seems to me that the world's your oyster here.

When I say 'suitable', I am thinking of any short, easy song for choir only. - Any of the psalms - or any biblical quote.

John

PS At childrens Masses in my parish 'Take our bread' is always sung at the gifts!

[docmattc]

" The Lord is now about to enter his temple" 599 in Laudate is one I've been meaning to have a look at for a while. The harmonies are well east of Berlin, which usually means they're relatively straight forward.

[Southern Comfort]

If you accept the premise that choir-only items should not be sung during the Communion procession (cf. GIRM 86-87), then choral motets at the Preparation of the Gifts could include all those Ave Verum and other settings of eucharistic texts that have not been able to been used at Communion since 1969. Yes, I know some will say that these texts only make sense after the Eucharistic Prayer and not before, but yes, it's also possible to say that the "corpus" referred to may not only be the physical Body but also the Mystical Body. Additionally, what is taking place has been described as the "scene-change" or even the "entr'acte" between the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and one might therefore say that, as in a secular drama, "incidental music" is OK at this point as long as it refers to the Eucharist (rather than Mary, for example). It also enables people to watch the action that's going on, and to realise (hopefully) that the gifts that are being processed and presented symbolise themselves.

The only problem with Byrd's Sacerdotes Domini is that it specifically mentions incense. If you're not using incense, some would say don't sing this piece.

I'm sure I've set enough hares running for now.....

[presbyter]

I would recommend William Byrd's "Sacerdotes Domini" which perfectly captures the idea of offering gifts to the lord.

Thanks, Petrasancta - this looks ideal. (I have just printed it up from PDCL)

I've recently downloaded it from PDCL too - and the particular edition is very flawed. The editor seems to have known little about musica ficta or false relation and many corrections have had to be made. Having said that, this is the first piece I've downloaded from PDCL that has needed re-editing.

[presbyter]

The only problem with Byrd's Sacerdotes Domini is that it specifically mentions incense. If you're not using incense, some would say don't sing this piece.

I'm sure I've set enough hares running for now.....

Then did the priests make offering of incense and loaves to God and therefore shall they be holy to their Lord and shall not defile his most holy name. Alleluia

For what it's worth - not only incense should be used but it definitely seems to be a piece for a concelebrated Mass. It sure implies a plurality of priests - or in my circumstances tomorrow - bishops!

[mcb]

I'm sure I've set enough hares running for now.....

Lamest hares I've ever seen, SC. The passage you allude to from GIRM actually says:

In the dioceses of the England and Wales the options for the Communion chant are as follows: (1) the antiphon from the Graduale Romanum either with or without the psalm; (2) the antiphon with the psalm from the Graduale Simplex; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. It is sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people.

so it's a bit naughty of you to suggest it means what you say it does.

I'm struggling to find any source that suggests even obliquely that the music at the Preparation of the Gifts is an entr'acte. It accompanies a procession, and it is therefore as integral to the rite as the entrance song and the communion song.

Your suggestion as to settings of Ave Verum Corpus deserves the shortest of short shrift. It's the kind of proposal that gets the SSG a bad name among the jackals of the blogosphere. Your reasoning appears to put the cart before the horse - since in your view it's no longer appropriate to sing Ave Verum Corpus at communion, we should reinterpret the song to be about the Church, not the Eucharist, and that way we can sing it at the preparation of the gifts. This is a long way from what the hymn is unequivocally about, namely Christ's body truly present in the sacrament. The renewal of the insight into the nature of the Church as Christ's body that stems from the Council in no way undermines the centrality of the Eucharist as the source and summit of everything we do as members of that body.

I may agree with you if you feel that songs of Eucharistic adoration are not the most appropriate material for the communion procession, but that's different from saying that the communion procession isn't an appropriate place to have songs of Eucharistic adoration if you're going to have them anywhere. And I think it would be a thorough corruption of the true meaning of these songs if we suddenly made them out to be exclusively about ourselves. (And I'm putting that more politely than I want to!)

Of course, if I were to sing Ave Verum Corpus at my place of worship I'd use it as a song after communion. Cf. GIRM 37a.

[festivaltrumpet]

It [the music at the Preparation of the Gifts]accompanies a procession, and it is therefore as integral to the rite as the entrance song and the communion song.

This music does accompany the procession, however it is difficult to argue that its importance is equal to the other 'songs' you refer to. GIRM states that the music may be sung even in the absence of a procession, it is therefore not strictly a piece to accompany a procession. Our bishops, in their wisdom, state the opposite, the 'song' may be replaced by instrumental music whether or not there is a procession. Instrumental music is very different to a chant in which the faithful take part. Taken together, these appear to question the integrality of the piece. The ommision of model texts from any English OF missals suggests likewise.

Your suggestion as to settings of Ave Verum Corpus deserves the shortest of short shrift. It's the kind of proposal that gets the SSG a bad name among the jackals of the blogosphere.

Mcb is correct here, the argument trivialises the sacred and augments the 'community' feel.

I am amazed by the suggestions that Byrd's "Sacerdotes Domini" may only be sung if there is concelebration and incense. I assume your congregations are sufficiently fluent in Latin to spot the incense and the plural of priests. Is there a need to interpret the text so literally? If so, the ommission of 'wine' suggests it should not be used at all.

[gwyn]

We're a small satb parish choir, we often wheel out the following:

Jubilate Deo - Mozart
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/moz-jubi.pdf
the part lines to this are easily committed to memory.

Oculi Omnium - Charles Wood
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Ocul ... arles_Wood)
Needs a bit o' work to get to grips with but is a delight when its up and running.

Veni Jesu Amor mi - L. Cherubini
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/cher-ven.pdf
Very easy on the ear especially with gentle crescs and dims.

Locus Iste - Anthon Bruckner (this is particulaly appropriate I feel at the Offertory of the Mass)
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/b ... uc-lo1.pdf
We have basses helping out the tenors at bar 21-28 in case they go astray.

All are out of copyright, free to download and to print (I hope ...)

Settings of the "Cherubic Hymn" (of which Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is a metrical version) are more than suitable for this point in the Mass, we use one that's not too demanding harmony-wise, PM me if you'd like a copy and I'll e-mail it to you. It's the Rimsky Korsakov one.

Gwyn.

[Southern Comfort]

Of course, if I were to sing Ave Verum Corpus at my place of worship I'd use it as a song after communion. Cf. GIRM 37a.

I sincerely hope you wouldn't! ─ see GIRM 88:

When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest,
the priest and faithful spend some time praying quietly. If desired, a psalm or
other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.
(emphasis added)

We're a small satb parish choir, we often wheel out the following:

Jubilate Deo - Mozart
<snip>
Locus Iste - Anthon Bruckner
<snip>
Settings of the "Cherubic Hymn" (of which Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is a metrical version) are more than suitable for this point in the Mass

Now here's a true bit of wisdom ─ thank you, Gwyn ─ especially the bit about the Cherubic Hymn, which is what the Orthodox use at the procession of gifts.

mcb: I think my late-night tongue-in-cheek-ness obviously misfired here.

[Nick Baty]

If you accept the premise that choir-only items should not be sung during the Communion procession (cf. GIRM 86-87), then choral motets at the Preparation of the Gifts could include all those Ave Verum and other settings of eucharistic texts that have not been able to been used at Communion since 1969.

Surely this suggestion would make the Offertory procession a dumping ground for everything we like which we can't get in elsewhere. Look to the Offertory prayers for inspiration: "through your goodness we have this bread to offer".

In other words, we're bringing to you what we have given to us. It's not about "All that I am" it's about Him. On the other hand, the offertory procession is almost a second gathering rite as we shift from Word to Table. So I often go for an item which in some way brings us back to the day's Gospel.

The purpose of any music at this point is to accompany the collection, the procession, and the presentation of gifts,

Music to accompany a collection? Seems a tad odd to me. And at risk of getting myself into trouble as usual – and of staring a new thread – is there any way of shifting the collection from this point? Grubby money doesn't seem to fit in with the idea of offering to God what he's given to us. (Although I wouldn't say no to a sackful!)