• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Solemn High Mass with Faure’s Requiem on All Souls’ Day

Fr. David Friel · October 23, 2018

ESS THAN two weeks from now, the Church will observe All Souls’ Day. This annual commemoration is an opportunity to pray for all the faithful departed, invoking God’s mercy upon them. In addition to its spiritual efficacy, the Requiem Mass has also been the inspiration for innumerable works of art. Not least among these is the musical genre of the Requiem.

One of the most well-known and beloved settings of the Requiem Mass is that of Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924). Of this Mass, the composer once wrote:

“Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.”

Fauré’s Requiem in D minor (Op. 48) even warrants its own Wikipedia page.

OR THE SECOND YEAR in a row, Fauré’s Requiem will be sung—not in concert, but within the liturgy—at an Extraordinary Form Mass held at the National Shrine of Saint John Paul II (3900 Harewood Road NE, Washington, DC 20017). The Mass will be offered Friday, November 2, 2018 at 7 PM. Whereas last year this Mass was a Missa cantata, this year it will be a Solemn High Mass. See the Facebook event page here.

The music for this Mass will adhere closely to the composer’s original instrumentation for strings, choir, and soloists. Readers who live in the greater Washington, DC area might consider marking All Souls’ Day this year at the JPII Shrine.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, Pope Saint John Paul II, Requiem Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The Church has always kept, and wishes still to maintain everywhere, the language of her Liturgy; and, before the sad and violent changes of the 16th century, this eloquent and effective symbol of unity of faith and communion of the faithful was, as you know, cherished in England not less than elsewhere. But this has never been regarded by the Holy See as incompatible with the use of popular hymns in the language of each country.”

— Pope Leo XIII (1898)

Recent Posts

  • 19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”
  • “Gregorian Chant Not In Danger Pope Tells French”
  • PDF Download • “O Salutaris” (Modern Setting)
  • Summer Ward Method Courses • CUA 2022
  • PDF Download • 2022 “Vespers Booklet” (99 Pages)

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.