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Views from the Choir Loft

Gregorian Chant in Star Wars

Veronica Brandt · May 17, 2014

St Michael the Archangel Chapel, Rookwood St Michael the Archangel Chapel, Rookwood Necropolis ODAY I WAS RUNNING LATE for a votive requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form for an extraordinary man. I entered to a familiar tune, which happens to be the same as the Canticles from the Easter Vigil Mass from just a few weeks ago. The small choir finished the tract and began the sequence – Dies Irae.

I hope most readers have heard of this piece of music. It is a 13th century hymn in 18, 19 or 20 stanzas, depending how you count them. Sometimes it is sung alternating each verse between two choirs. Every second verse sounds a little like an echo as the tune is repeated.

There are three tunes and the whole pattern is sung three times like this: A A B B C C A A B B C C A A B B C then the last three sections of two lines each bringing the whole to a close.

It is dramatic, sonorous, awesome, and it’s not just the liturgical enthusiasts who think so. Tom Allen traces the influence of the opening tune on music from the Classical period right through to modern movie scores at CBC Music

He gets a few things wrong. The dove dictating to Pope St Gregory the Great is definitely figurative and Gregorian Chant is not composed by Pope Gregory but standardized from music that was already in existence, and, of course, Star Wars is not set in the future but “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”. Nevertheless it is a lot of fun to watch.

Now you too will be hearing Dies Irae in just about everything!

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 Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(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

“The choir shall henceforth sing or say no anthems of our Lady or other Saints, but only of our Lord, and then not in Latin; but choosing out the best and most sounding to Christian religion they shall turn the same into English, setting thereunto a plain and distinct note for every syllable one: they shall sing them and none other.”

— 1548 Edict of King Edward VI (a heretic) for Lincoln Cathedral

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