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Views from the Choir Loft

Hidden Gem: In Te, Domine, Speravi (Hassler)

Keven Smith · April 28, 2021

INGING THAT FIRST SATB MOTET can feel like a massive leap for a choir. The challenge for the choir director is to find a piece that’s straightforward enough to learn yet still satisfying enough to sing.

If you’re in this position, your first instinct may be to ignore Renaissance works. After all, when pieces are written in a contrapuntal style, each section must have the confidence to make entrances independently and carry the line. But if you choose a simple canon, you’ll make things easier for your choir. One piece that fits this description is In Te, Domine, Speravi by Leo Hassler.

In Te, Domine, Speravi on Choral Public Domain Library 

Inside In Te, Domine, Speravi

In Te, Domine, Speravi pulls its text from two verses of Psalm 70. The sentiment is simple, and so is Hassler’s setting. We begin in verse 1, with the basses leading a canon at the fifth. After each section has made its entrance—from the bottom up—the basses lead us into verse 2. We then encounter a recapitulation using verse 1. It’s about 90 seconds of music, and it couldn’t be simpler. But it’s full of life and hope.

 

What to Look and Listen for

What I love about this piece:

  • The text is from Psalm 70. It’s always in season, and it reminds us that we are totally dependent on God.
  • It’s one of the first pieces I brought to my choir. When I took my job in early 2014, our program was in transition. Some veteran singers had recently moved on. Some of the younger singers were still learning the ropes. Much of the choir’s old repertoire began to feel “out of reach.” I sensed a need for some quick wins—pieces that they and I could quickly learn together as we learned each other. It worked.
  • We produce a full, confident, joyful resonance on this piece. And your choir will too. If you’re new to SATB, the resonance may not happen right away. But be patient and it will come. You’ll then look back with fondness at the days when this motet was a huge step forward for you.

A few tips:

  • Implore your singers to listen, listen, listen to the other lines. It’s easy for an experienced choir to underestimate a piece like this and stop listening, leading to imprecise entrances and artless phrasing. Regardless of your level, you may need to remind your singers to be aware of when they have the melody and when they should be handing it off to the next section.
  • Make sure the basses begin with presence. The typical church choir is perpetually short on men—but without them, this motet can’t even get off the ground! Coax a confident sound out of them. Convince them that everything depends on them—because, in this case, it does.
  • Polish it up with pulse-singing. If you’re not familiar, pulse-singing is when your choir sings the motet on text, but pulsing, staccato, on short note values. If you’re in 4/4, you’d typically have the choir pulse quarter notes. So on the first bass entrance of In Te, Domine, Speravi, your basses would sound like: “Ee…ee…een…te…Do…o…o…o…o…o…mee…ee…neh…eh” and so on.

    Why pulse-sing? At first blush, it seems like a good way to solidify rhythm, and it is. But I’ve found that it also helps clean up pitch and even the shapes of vowels. Think about it: when you’re singing legato, you can get away with sliding into notes or singing unintended diphthongs on your vowels. When you’re pulse-singing, you have only a split-second to sing that note, so you’d better be dead-on accurate with pitch and vowel.

    Don’t overdo the pulse-singing; you’ll tire out the choir. Do it for a bit and then return to legato. If you’ve never tried it before, I think you’ll be amazed at the results.

I hope you’ll have a chance to try out this motet soon. It’s nice and light for the hot weather ahead—and an excellent fit for choirs that are slowly rebuilding their forces after returning from lockdown.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: canons, hidden gems, motets Last Updated: April 28, 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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Quick Thoughts

Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

On 12 March 1908, Feast of St. Gregory the Great, the complete publication of the “Graduale” was issued by the Vatican Press. That very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement “pro aliquibus locis”—the Introit of the new Feast of Our lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.

— A witness of the papal audience writing circa 1915

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