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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Staggering Canonic Setting • “Gloria” from Mass III

Jeff Ostrowski · January 14, 2016

HEN ABBOT POTHIER published the Editio Vaticana circa 1910, his work had a profound influence on composers like Claude Debussy, Nadia Boulanger, Marcel Dupré, Louis Vierne, Gabriel Fauré, Jean Langlais, and Camille Saint-Saëns. Famously, Maurice Duruflé was influenced by the Vaticana rhythmic markings of Solesmes—and he was not alone. Raphaël Mercier’s treatment of the vertical episemata in his ingenious (yet relatively simple) setting shows the influence of Solesmes:

    * *  PDF Download • “CANONIC GLORIA III” — (SATB Choir Score)

Organists will use this score.


Do you see how Mercier took the melodies of “Gloria III” and brilliantly combined them into canons? I was so impressed, I created rehearsal videos to help amateur choirs. (Please pardon the soprano notes—I did the best I could.)

REHEARSAL VIDEOS :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube   •   Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube   •   Audio

ALTO : YouTube   •   Audio

TENOR : YouTube   •   Audio

BASS : YouTube   •   Audio



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   This setting by Mercier came from a rare collection of Church music by Roman Catholic composers in France. At some point, I’d like to scan the entire thing and post it online—but many of the pages are in pretty bad shape and it’s missing the first 50+ pages. The manuscript appears to be handwritten (possibly a lithograph) and I’m told “in house” collections were common for cathedrals during of that time. Fr. Adrian Fortescue gave his organist scores written by hand, and I believe the Birmingham Oratory routinely used handwritten scores, which frequently were (eventually) printed for the general public.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Contemporary Sacred Music, Raphael Mercier Composer 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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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

“I have a great quarrel on with Dom Mocquereau over a very stiff book of his which we have translated & which a stupid American woman wants to be adapted to her understanding & terminology. It will be a little difficult to persuade the dear old man, for the lady is going to pay the piper. Truly money is at the root of all evils!”

— Dame Laurentia (talking about Justine Ward)

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