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Views from the Choir Loft

SATB “Alleluia” (Fr. Morales) • for both OF and EF

Jeff Ostrowski · November 13, 2017

UCH OF THE SACRED MUSIC SYMPOSIUM each year is spent discussing how choirmasters can survive in what is undoubtedly a very difficult profession. In the booklet each participant receives, we provide tons of scores with simple polyphony a volunteer choir can manage—and we meticulously describe ways of “sneaking polyphony into the Mass.” One of my favorite ways is to employ choral extensions. This can be done in the EF by mixing the psalm tones given on the René Goupil website with a polyphonic Alleluia like the one below. 1

Please pardon my screechy soprano voice, but I wanted to show how it sounds:

    * *  PDF Download • «ALLELUIA» by Cristóbal de Morales (d. 1553AD)

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice await you at #3982.

This Alleluia can also be used in the Ordinary Form—as explained. You could write your own Alleluia or grab one from a billion different plainsong sources. (Archbishop Bugnini’s Consilium had tried to eliminate from the Ordinary Form all foreign words—Amen, Alleluia, Hosanna, and so forth—but the Sacred Congregation of Rites was able to prevent that. So the OF still contains a few foreign words.) The Graduale Simplex (pdf) has some nice ones:

3962 ALLELUIA

A brief word about polyphonic Alleluia #3982: Francisco Guerrero (d. 1599) studied under Fr. Morales, and we often see his traits. For example, Guerrero loved to add variety to his works. The first section might begin with Sopranos, then Altos, then Bass, then Tenors. The next section might be revered: starting with Bass, then Tenors, then Altos, then finally Sopranos. Or he may begin each point of imitation with a different voice.

Fr. Morales often does the same thing in Alleluia #3982—and it’s truly marvelous.

Consider the .WAV files from my Rehearsal video:

3964 ProTools


The sheet music illustrates this even better.

(But the .WAV files are kind of cool.)



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Other examples include #7503 and #3524 and #4470 and #5050.

This Alleluia comes from a Mass by Fr. Morales (Benedicta es Caelorum Regina) based on a motet by Fr. Jean Mouton (d. 1522), who was also a Catholic priest.

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 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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    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?
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    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
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    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
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