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Views from the Choir Loft

Sanctus/Benedictus: Should It Be Divided At Mass?

Jeff Ostrowski · October 29, 2014

741 Sacred Mass HROUGHOUT the Church’s history, there have been various schools of thought regarding “breaking” the Sanctus-Benedictus. (When broken, the second half is sung after the Consecration.) Pope Pius XII took a “via media” in his 1958 document, declaring:

(27d) The Sanctus and Benedictus, if chanted in Gregorian, must be sung without a break; otherwise the Benedictus is to be sung after the Consecration.

Certainly many compositions are written in a way that clearly suggests being broken. An extremist might be bothered by this. After all, didn’t Pope Pius X make the following declaration in 1903?

(11c) In the hymns of the Church the traditional form of the hymn is preserved. It is not lawful, therefore, to compose, for instance, a “Tantum ergo” in such wise that the first strophe presents a romanza, a cavatina, an adagio and the “Genitori” an allegro.

We must guard against looking at music the same way we look at speech. Someone who does might exclaim, “When we speak the Sanctus, we don’t break it, so neither should we when singing it.” Such an approach is faulty; for example, some melismas in Gregorian chant have more than 70 notes on a single syllable; that’s because it’s music not speech. To learn more, please read Thoughts on Englishing the Gradual.

Medieval Catholics avoided the SING AS YOU SPEAK error. Often, they would use a chant melody as cantus firmus and “let the chips fall as they may.” In other words, the various sections would not take into consideration individual words, so a word like BENEDICIMUS might be broken in one voice: “BENEDI” for one movement, and “CIMUS” for the next. Some people have suggested those lines were played by instruments, but scholarly opinion differs on whether this was the case.

At the same time, I would never suggest we do something merely because it happened during the Church’s history. After all, some silly medieval Church composers had multiple languages sung simultaneously! 1

Oregon Catholic Press recently sent me a book that tries to revive this custom. It is a book of hymns with Spanish and English lyrics. The editor of the book suggests that those who know Spanish sing the hymn in Spanish, while those who know English sing the hymn in English … at the same time!



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   A secular chanson in French might be placed on top, a Latin religious text in the middle voice, and so forth.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Sanctus Benedictus Split Broken Divided Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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

    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).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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It would be contrary to the Constitution to decree or even to hint that sung celebrations, especially of the Mass, should be in Latin.

— Annibale Bugnini attacking “Sacrosanctum Concilium” (§36)

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