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Views from the Choir Loft

Getting More Mileage out of a Polyphonic Requiem

Patrick Williams · January 15, 2023

HILE IT IS PRAISEWORTHY for every Catholic choir to have a polyphonic setting of the Missa pro defunctis in its repertory, Requiems are of little practical use in comparison with other polyphonic Masses. Funeral Masses are often scheduled for weekday mornings, when it may be difficult to have an SATB quartet present, let alone full choir. Many choirs only have the opportunity to sing a choral Requiem Mass liturgically on All Souls’ Day—and some parishes don’t even offer that. At Mater Misericordiae in Phoenix, we have a Requiem High Mass annually for the repose of the soul of Fr. Kenneth Walker, FSSP, who was murdered here in 2014 at the age of 28. Requiescat in pace! Other than those two Masses in June and November, most of our Requiems are actual funeral Masses sung in Gregorian chant by the men’s schola alone, or sometimes by only a couple of cantors.

The Kyrie, Sanctus, and Benedictus of the Requiem Mass can be sung any day of the year. The Requiem Mass lacks Gloria and Credo, but it has an Agnus Dei with a different text than usual. Fortunately, dona eis requiem has only one more syllable than miserere nobis or dona nobis pacem; either text can easily be substituted in most settings. The final dona eis requiem would require a more thorough reworking, but that is unnecessary with the addition of a chant setting for one of the invocations. For my choir’s use during Lent this year, I adapted the Missa pro defunctis of Giovanni Francesco Anerio (1569–1630) as a Missa brevis. See what you think. I welcome reader feedback before I finalize this edition and upload it to CPDL. Feel free to sing, study, duplicate, record, rearrange, or imitate! I hope to be able to share a rehearsal recording in the coming weeks, perhaps with a comparison of my choir’s first rough read-through (about a quarter of the choir is new since November!) and a more polished version ready for Mass. In the meantime, you may be interested in the recording by the Westminster Cathedral Choir under the direction of James O’Donnell.

*  PDF Download • MISSA BREVIS adapted from MISSA PRO DEFUNCTIS by G.F. ANERIO (6 Pages)
—for SATB choir, a cappella

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 15, 2023

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Quick Thoughts

    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
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    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?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    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.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

If the homily goes on too long, it will affect two characteristic elements of the liturgical celebration: its balance and its rhythm. The words of the preacher must be measured, so that the Lord, more than his minister, will be the center of attention.

— Pope Francis (11/24/2013)

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  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
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