Sunday after Ascension 2024
Processional hymn: Be Joyful Mary, Heavenly Queen, 847
Recessional hymn: Alleluia, Sing to Jesus, 936
Kyriale: Mass I, 696; Creed III, 776
Offertory Antiphon: Ascendit Deus, Christoph Dalitz (b.1967)
Hymn after Offertory: Ascendens Christus, Jacobus Gallus (1500–1591)
Communion Hymn: Jesu nostra redemptio, Tomás Luis de Victoria
Jesu nostra redemptio by Tomás Luis de Victoria is a setting of the an older form of the Vespers hymn during Ascensiontide. As with the other settings, the Gregorian melody is sung for the odd verses and the even are through composed. One technique Victoria employs in this work is the inclusion of a cantus firmus during the choral sections. A cantus firmus (literally “fixed melody”) is a pre-existing melody which acts as the foundation for a work of polyphony. In the case of Jesu nostra redemptio, the Gregorian melody is the cantus firmus; in verse two the Soprano voice sings the tune in a very elongated fashion which spans the entire choral verse, likewise the tenors do the same in the fourth verse. Those who sing the Divine Office regularly will recognize that the Gregorian melody is the same as the current Ascensiontide Vespers hymn, Salútis humánæ Sátor as well as the Vespers Hymn for the Transfiguration, Quicumque Christum quǽritis.
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.