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Views from the Choir Loft

When Is The Sequence Sung? Before The Alleluia?

Jeff Ostrowski · January 2, 2014

899 Sequence O STUDENT of Gregorian chant needs to be told how sequences came into being, nor why they were always sung after the Alleluia. However, in 1969, things changed somewhat. Let’s take one thing at a time here … this subject confuses many.

So, first of all, when the (ancient) Gregorian Alleluia is sung, the Sequence comes after the Alleluia. If you don’t believe me, read the official Novus Ordo rubrics by clicking here. We provided three (3) different translations of the Ordo Cantus Missae, so there’s no doubt what it says.

However, the Ordo Cantus Missae makes no mention of the Gospel Acclamation, which can replace the (ancient) Gregorian Alleluia. For this, we have to look in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). When the GIRM was first published around 1970, it didn’t specify when the Sequence is sung. It merely said “Sequences are optional, except on Easter Sunday and Pentecost.” However, the postconciliar books moved the Sequence, placing it before the Gospel Acclamation. You can see this by downloading the 1975 Missale Romanum.

If you don’t comprehend Latin, just look at the following:

      * *  1-page PDF • scanned from the very first Lectionary, ©1970

By the way, notice that in the 1970s they included a prose translation in addition to the “poetic” translation which was plagiarized and then horribly mangled (see this article).

THE ODD THING IS, THERE WAS AN EFFORT at restoring the Sequence to its proper place in the most recent edition of the Roman Missal. The Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani (©2000) said in section 64:

Sequentia, quae praeter quam diebus Paschae et Pentecostes, est ad libitum, cantatur post Alleluia.

Fr. Robert Skeris, writing in Sacred Music (Vol. 128, No. 1), correctly translates this as:

The Sequence, which is optional except on Easter and Pentecost, is sung after the Alleluia.   [§64]

Again, to be clear, the GIRM is speaking of the Gospel Acclamation (not the ancient Gregorian Alleluia). You can read more here.

However, a few years later, in the official edition of the Roman Missal, this sentence was altered, and nobody knows why this change was made. Perhaps certain parties were unhappy that the Sequence would be restored to where it always had been, prior to 1969.

The end result is that the current GIRM has the Sequence before the Gospel Acclamation, whereas the 2012 Gregorian Missal continues to place the Sequence after the Alleluia … and they’re both right!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgical Sequences, Novus Ordo Lectionary Reform, Ordo Cantus Missae, Roman Missal Third Edition Last Updated: October 12, 2022

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    William Byrd • Simple “Agnus Dei” Canon
    Time flies! Back in July, I posted a PDF setting of a perfect canon by William Byrd (d. 1623) arranged as an AGNUS DEI for three voices. Last Sunday, we sang that arrangement with our volunteer choir. To hear a ‘live’ recording of it, click here (Mp3). In my humble opinion, this would be a perfect piece for a choir just beginning to experiment with polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It is clear the Church is facing a grave crisis. Under the name of “the new Church” and “the post-conciliar Church,” a different Church from that of Jesus Christ is now trying to establish itself: an anthropocentric society threatened with imminent apostasy which is allowing itself to be swept along in a movement of general abdication under the pretext of renewal, ecumenicism, or adaptation.

— Cardinal Henri de Lubac (29 August 1967)

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