Dear Friends of Sacred Music,
Peace to you in the Lord! Lent is here, and with it a pretty stark contrast to the ordinary. The textual changes are evident, and the Church, through her patrimony of Sacred Music, is also quite distinct.
First, an important point is to be made here, one that is hopefully obvious and unnecessary to speak about too much about here at Holy Family. Chant is not inherently sad. Latin is not inherently sad. One parish I served over a decade ago would pull out the Gregorian chant and Latin every Advent and Lent (and via CD during Confession times!), only to return to "contemporary" (early 70's) music once Easter came. This parish made the strange leap of logic to believe that the only times to hear such music were when the Church bid us to "mourn our sins", as if both Latin and Chant were incapable of expressing joy. While the joy (and every other emotion) Gregorian Chant expresses is often more subtle, and sometimes focused more on the mystery of a particular feast (see the Introit for Easter Sunday), it is still very much there. Whereas with us, in our decadent culture, with our 'Big Gulp Soda Pops' at "72 ounces for just 99 cents!" containing 428% of our daily allotment of sugar, absolutely nothing is subtle. While there is nothing wrong with bold assertions of the reign of Christ, (the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah is a worthy example) there is also room for subtlety, a beautiful expression of the heart that can resonate (and not obliterate) with the sensitivities of those who are already very joyful AND those who are mourning a loss of some kind.
Hopefully this Lent provides you with ample opportunity to sense the beauty of God alive at work in the world and in the Church...
One more quick note: During Lent, the Church bids the use of musical instruments to largely decrease, including the organ (with the exception of Laetare Sunday/4th Sunday of Lent). We have opted to largely pull it back, meaning that it will only accompany hymns at the 5:00 PM and that nearly everything at the 9:00 and 11:00 AM Masses will be a capella (even the hymns!) when we have a choir singing. This has the wonderful effect of elevating the joyful nature of Easter when the organ comes back in full-form! Being that this is a wonderful singing parish, it seems quite doable!
PROCESSIONAL HYMN: The Royal Banners Forward Go (VEXILLA REGIS)
Written by Vernantius Fortunatus, (530 - 609) it is considered one of the finest hymns in all of Christian Liturgical history. He wrote it in honor of the arrival of a large relic of the True Cross being in Poitiers, France, given as a gift to Queen Radegunda by Emperor Justus II and his Empress Sophia. To help celebrate the arrival of the relic, the Queen asked Fortunatus to write a hymn for the procession of the relic to the church.
This hymn is normally sung on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross and is often associated with Good Friday. It seems to me to also be fitting to use it at the beginning of Lent. These hymns we often hear about "forty days" (and there are several!) are beautiful and helpful, but it is good to remember that the pains of our little-by-comparison Lenten sacrifices only have merit when united to Christ's on Calvary, the end-target of these forty days and the whole reason we commemorate this season to begin with.
OFFERTORY MOTET: Miserere Mei, Deus - William Byrd
No, it's not the Allegri - that's coming on Good Friday - but it's another strikingly haunting piece from William Byrd, the English composer who defied Queen Elizabeth's very hard-line stance against any Roman Catholic presence in her territory by writing this sublime piece that alternates between minor and major seemingly every few measures. 'Mercy' is a complex idea, musically speaking. It is sometimes expressed very mournfully, highlighting our great need for it due to our sinfulness. Other times it is expressed very joyfully, almost cheerfully (think any number of Mozart or Vienna School Mass Ordinaries) - highlighting the delight of the gift received. Often there is a sort of reverence, acknowledging God the Giver's great magnanimity. Sometimes it is expressed with a sort of melancholy, an almost strange mix of all of the above - God's ultimate act of undeserved goodness to us that indeed cost something - the sacrifice of love of Jesus Christ upon the cross for our sake. This piece seems to fit that mold. It is one whose power leaves a deep impression.
Here is a terrific recording of the work:
And here is an example of some of Fux' counterpoint styles on full display in his Requiem in C Minor:
And for something a little more toe-tapping, here is a Fux orchestral piece, starting with an Overture in a style that sounds a little French, a little Handel, a little something else - a very enjoyable listen! :)
COMMUNION MOTET: @ 9:00 AM: Scapulis Suis - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 - 1594)
We have looked at Palestrina in greater depth, but this is one of my favorites. Its text is taken right from the Propers and Psalm 91:4-5:
"He shall cover you with his wings
and you shall be safe under his feathers;
his faithfulness shall be your shield and buckler.
Recessional Hymn: The Glory of These Forty Days ERHALT UNS, HERR
This hymn tune is entitled Preserve Us Lord and was said to have been written by Pope St. Gregory I, though this is disputed. In any event, a large number of composers have written organ preludes based off of this hymn tune. In an effort to save him from being a "one trick pony," (from his Canon in D - ever heard of it?! :) here is Pachelbel's prelude on which this tune is based:
May God bless you and your families this first Sunday of Lent!
In Christ,
Jacob Flaherty