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Views from the Choir Loft

Antiphons for the Dog Days of Ordinary Time

Andrew R. Motyka · August 14, 2013

WO WEEKS AGO, I attended the NPM National Convention in Washington, D.C. Despite some of the odd liturgical theatrics that have been hogging all the headlines since then, I found it to be an optimistic experience.

What makes me most hopeful for the future of American liturgical music was the renewed interest in the antiphons, from the basic “What are these antiphons in the new Missal?” questions being answered, to the closer looks at musical settings. There is a long way to go in our renewal, but even ten years ago ignorance of the very existence of these things we call antiphons would have been the norm.

What makes the renewed interest even more hopeful is that the publishers are getting on board with this movement, publishing several new settings of antiphons that I was able to browse while I was there. Normally, this kind of commercialization annoys me, but in this case I think it is a good thing. It shows that the publishers, too, are coming along for the ride.

Maybe it’s because the interest is so new, or maybe because it’s the logical place to begin, but I noticed that I have 30 or more vernacular settings of the propers for Advent, but I can count on one hand how many settings of the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time I have seen. Many composers start with Advent, since it is the beginning of the year, or with one of the seasons, but few ever even get to the ordinal Sundays of the Year.

Several years ago, as I was tiring of using the rotation of Eucharistic hymns in the hymnal my parish owned, I started composing vernacular settings of the Communios in the Graduale Romanum. Couple these with the psalms listed in the Gradual, and you have yourself a serviceable amount of processional music. Inspired by the phenomenal work being done on the Chabanel Psalms by my colleague here, Jeff Ostrowski, I started posting them online at the site:

LAUDATE DOMINUM COMMUNION ANTIPHONS

(That’s the ridiculously memorable domain “communionantiphons.org,” by the way.)

They’re free, and they include all Sundays of the three-year liturgical cycle, with accompaniments and practice recordings. They are compatible with the Gregorian Communios of the Gradual, and can be used in conjunction with them or singularly as Communion processionals. Have a look, and use some new music, with texts assigned by the Church, during these Dog Days of Ordinary Time.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It was thought important that the song should actually accompany the distribution of Communion. A Carolingian explanation of the Mass remarks that during the Communion “soft melody should touch the ear [of the faithful] so that hearing this sound they would busy themselves less with distracting thoughts and … their hearts would be moved to humble love for that which they receive.”

— Father Josef Andreas Jungmann

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