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Views from the Choir Loft

Hidden Gem: Crux Fidelis (attr. King John IV of Portugal)

Keven Smith · March 22, 2021

F YOU’LL BE SINGING HOLY WEEK with your full choir this year, consider yourself blessed. Many parishes are still using limited forces. Others are still under orders not to sing. Even if you’re one of the fortunate ones, you may still be rebuilding your choir program after a long, pandemic-induced layoff. 

In any case, some of your old favorite Lenten SATB selections may now be out of reach. Or perhaps you’re looking for a bit of variety. If so, consider the Crux Fidelis often (mis)attributed to King John IV of Portugal.

Crux Fidelis page on Choral Public Domain Library 

King John IV (1604-1656), who almost certainly didn’t write this motet, reigned over the Portuguese Empire’s high point. Although he was known for his compositional skill, nobody has found an original manuscript for this work. It was first published in France in 1869, and its style is that of a 19th-century motet.

Inside Crux Fidelis

Crux Fidelis isn’t quite what you might expect. The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s in major (my choir sings an edition in G major). Don’t get me wrong: around this time of year, I love Palestrina’s Super Flumina Babylonis, Byrd’s Ave Verum Corpus, and Victoria’s O Vos Omnes. But to have a major-key motet for Passiontide is a welcome change of pace.

Perhaps I’m digging too deep here, but I like to think this motet depicts the sweetness of the cross. Not only is it in major, but it maintains a legato texture all the way through. Even the climax is subtle. Harmonically speaking, not much happens. The composer (whoever he or she really was) tonicizes the dominant very briefly, but the piece never decisively modulates.

Despite all this, Crux Fidelis is anything but “meh.” It’s a motet that settles in on Mount Calvary and calmly tells its story.

What to Look and Listen for

What I love about this piece:

  • The music is in major, but the text is in minor.
  • It hasn’t been sung to death and gives congregations something new upon which to meditate.
  • It won’t tax the voices of a choir that may be approaching exhaustion from near-constant singing during Holy Week.

A few tips:

  • Have a clear idea about tempo. I hesitate to provide a metronome marking. But live with it for a while, and I think you’ll agree that there’s a fairly precise sweet spot for tempo. It doesn’t want to be lento, but it would also be a shame to make it sound as if we’re trying to get this little gem over with.
  • Figure out the length of every phrase ending. This was the thing my choir and I worked hardest on when we learned this piece about five years ago. So many phrases end on long notes, most of which end in consonants. We went through the incredibly tedious but ultimately essential process of having everyone mark that this “S” is on the “and” of beat four while that one is on the downbeat of the following measure. The real thrill comes when these details become ingrained and your choir members can cut off together simply by watching, listening, and carefully controlling the momentum of each note.
  • Try it on a hum, then on vowels-only. Some of the “bigger” Lenten motets supply their own momentum. It would be understandable to see a choir drop its intensity for a piece like Crux Fidelis—but a piece like this needs even more intensity, or it will flop. Consider having your choir hum through the piece to expose the breath control challenges it presents, and to fall in love with the subtlety of its harmonies.

Whether you’re fully back in action or planning scaled-down liturgies, I wish you the best in your liturgical and spiritual preparation for Holy Week and Easter.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: crux fidelis, Holy Week, lent, polyphony Last Updated: March 22, 2021

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About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(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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Impelled by the weightiest of reasons, we are fully determined to restore Latin to its position of honor, and to do all We can to promote its study and use. The employment of Latin has recently been contested in many quarters, and many are asking what the mind of the Apostolic See is in this matter. We have therefore decided to issue the timely directives contained in this document, so as to ensure that the ancient and uninterrupted use of Latin be maintained and, where necessary, restored.”

— Pope John XXIII (22 February 1962)

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