24th & Last Sunday After Pentecost
Processional hymn: O God, Almighty Father, 877
Recessional hymn: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, 881
Kyriale: Mass XI, 740; Credo III, 776
Offertory Antiphon: De Profundis, Estêvão Lopes Morago
Communion Antiphon: Amen, Dico Vobis, John Mason
De Profundis is the Offertory Antiphon which repeats for the final Sundays after Pentecost. The text is from the beginning two verses of Psalm 129 and today’s setting is composed by Estêvão Lopes Morago. Though the motet does not have overt rhythmic or harmonic complexities, it conveys the message of the Psalm effectively by other means. One technique Morago employs is that each time a voice sings clamavi (cry) a neighboring voice sings the same phrase a little higher or stronger. Another intriguing aspect of the composition is how even though it does not use any melody from the Gregorian Antiphon, it is clearly in the same ancient melodic mode as the original chant.
Estêvão Lopes Morago (c.1575–c.1630) was a Spanish-born composer who studied, lived, worked and died in Portugal. He was a canon and choirmaster of Viseu Cathedral. Morago composed motets, responsories, psalms, Magnificats, and a Requiem. His work is considered to be highly innovative in the Iberian Peninsula.