3rd Sunday After Easter
Processional hymn: On This Day the, First of Days, 945
Recessional hymn: Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain, 844
Kyriale: I, 696; Credo III, 776
Motet at Offertory: Urbs Beata Jerusalem, Pietro Pontio, 1532–1596
Motet at Communion: Ad cænam agni providi, Tomás Luis de Victoria
This Sunday following the proper chant for Communion, the choir will sing Ad Cænam Agni Providi by Thomás Luis de Victoria. The text is a setting of the Vespers hymn during Eastertide which dates to the 500s. Victoria composed the even verses of this hymn alternating with the ancient chant melody for the odd verses—a technique he often employed for other hymns. Each choral verse is unique from one another and doesn’t employ any repetition as one might expect in a hymn. Instead he crafted each line to portray the text being sung. In verse six, Victoria only composed for the Tenor, Alto, and Soprano voices as the text describes Christ rising from the grave and opening paradise so our ears hear only high tones. In the final verse, the Holy Trinity is invoked and the music changes to groups of three, while all voices sing the text in rhythm together making for a very effective three-in-one quality in musical form.
Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548–1611), along with Palestrina and de Lassus, is one of the greatest composers of the 16th C., famous for its ethereal polyphony. Ordained a priest at age 27, he lived in Rome for years, and assisted St. Philip Neri as chaplain of San Girolamo della Carità.
2nd Sunday After Easter
Hymn: Veni Creator Spiritus, 956
Recessional hymn: The King of Love, My Shepherd Is, 874
Credo III, 776
Antiphon during Confirmation: Confirma Hoc, John Mason
Kyriale: Missa Puisque J’ai Perdu, Orlandus Lassus (c.1532–1594)
Marian Antiphon: Regina Cœli, Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500–1553)
Communion Antiphon: Ego Sum Pastor, Heinrich Isaac (c.1450–1517)
Orlandus Lassus’s (c.1532–1594), Missa Puisque J’ai Perdu, is a polyphonic setting of the ordinary parts of the Mass. Lassus took the musical foundation for this setting from a chanson (song) by Johannes Lupi from which the Mass received its name.
In his four voice setting of Regina Cœli, Cristóbal de Morales uses this familiar melody with some ornamentation in the Soprano voice. The Alto voice echos much of the Soprano melody at a lower pitch while the Tenor and Bass voices have many moving notes throughout. He emphasizes the final alleluia by having each voice sing a series of ascending notes then drop to a lower pitch and repeat several times which lasts well over a quarter of the overall work.
Orlandus Lassus (c.1532–1594) is known for the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school. He wrote over 2,000 works in Latin, French, Italian, and German both sacred and secular. Lassus along with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Tomás Luis de Victoria are the most influential composers of the late Renaissance.
Low Sunday
Processional hymn: In Our Risen Lord Rejoice, 851
Recessional hymn: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, 933
Credo III, 776
Kyriale: Missa Puisque J'ai Perdu, Orlandus Lassus (c. 1532–1594)
Motet after Offertory: Surge, Amica Mea, Giovanni Matteo Asola (c. 1532–1609)
Motet during communion: Sicut Cervus, G.P. Palestrina
Surge, Amica Mea is text taken from the Song of Solomon 2:14: Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, who is in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice; for sweet is your voice, and your countenance is beautiful.
The motet Sicut Cervus by G.P. Palestrina is one of his most well known works and is regarded as the culminating example of Sacred Roman Polyphony. The text is taken from Psalm 41: As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
G.P. Palestrina (c. 1525–1594) is highly regarded for his contributions of Sacred Polyphony and development of counterpoint in the late 16th Century. In the post-Tridentine period he earned the reputation of the ideal Catholic composer for his success in reconciling the functional and aesthetic aims of Catholic church music. Palestrina wrote over 105 Masses and 250 sacred motets in addition to many other works.
Easter Sunday
Processional Hymn: Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today, 843
Recessional hymn: At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing, 848
Kyriale: Missa Brevis in G, K140, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Offertory Antiphon: Terra Tremuit, William Byrd (c. 1540–1623)
Motet after Offertory: Resurrexi, Msgr. Marco Frisina (b. 1954)
Communion Antiphon: Pascha Nostrum, William Byrd
Hymn at Communion: Ave Verum Corpus, Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
The Missa Brevis in G by W. A. Mozart has been given the title of the “Pastoral Mass” because of its lyrical and bright melodies throughout the work. As is common for Masses of this time, Mozart uses soloists in contrast to full choir to give variety to the composition and bring attention to the text of the prayer. For example in the Credo the full choir sings together until “descendit de cælis” at which point the music stops. Then a soprano soloist sings “Et incarnatus est” in a slower tempo with lighter accompaniment which emphasizes the solemnity of the Incarnation. The Agnus Dei is atypical for a Missa Brevi because it is uncharacteristically long. In some editions, Mozart cut about 25 measures from the “Dona nobis” portion of the movement. Today the choir will sing the movement in its entirety.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period and perhaps the most widely celebrated in the history of Western music. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works including Masses, symphonies, operas, and chamber works.
Palm Sunday
Recessional hymn: O Sacred Head Surrounded, 837
Kyriale: Mass XVII, 762; Credo VI, 788
Hymn after Offertory: Vexilla Regis, Chant
Communion Antiphon: Pater, Si, Heinrich Isaac
During Passiontide and on September 14, the hymn Vexilla Regis is sung during Vespers. This hymn was written by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609) who wrote it in honor of the arrival of a large relic of the True Cross which had been sent to Queen Radegunda by the Emperor Justin II and his Empress Sophia.
Pater, Si, set to music by Heinrich Isaac, derives the melodic material directly from the Gregorian antiphon. In the musical tradition of singing the Passion narratives, as we hear at Mass today, Jesus has the lowest voice. In this motet, which takes the text from Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane, the voices are all set lower than an average Communio by Isaac—perhaps as a connection to this tradition.
Heinrich Isaac (c.1450–1517) was a Renaissance composer from the South Netherlandish region. His output was rivaled only by Orlandus Lassus in number and variety of composition. Most notable of his collections is Choralis Constantinus which contains nearly 400 Gregorian chant based motets of propers for the Mass.