HE SACRED Music Symposium offers the opportunity for participants to sing some of the greatest works in the sacred treasury of music of the Roman Catholic Church. This included Father Cristóbal de Morales’ astonishing Gloria form his Missa Ave Maris Stella. The famous Mode I chant is ethereal and haunting in its simplicity. True to its title, Ave Maris Stella — “Hail, Star of the Sea” evokes the transcendence of creation with Mary, Mother of God as our guide and merciful protector. Composed for the liturgy of the hours, the hymn is attributed to several authors from various centuries, but certainly appeared in manuscripts around the ninth century. Father Cristóbal de Morales (d. 1553) is among the most influential of Spanish composers of the Renaissance, along with Tomás Luis de Victoria. This setting illustrates why he inspired then and today nearly five hundred years later.
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Rehearsal videos for each individual voice are available at #41798 and #46215.
ABOUT RANGES
Set in five voices, the Gloria is divided into two parts, each with its own astonishing perfect canon. One must remember, such music was not composed for a modern mixed choir, but for boys and men. The actual starting pitches could vary quite a bit, and as such, so does the naming of parts in modern transcriptions. Such a sound with boys and men has an extraordinary resonance if sung, e.g., Ave Maris melody starting on D.
The middle “quintus” or tenor 1 voice is also easier in such a lower range. But placed in a higher range suitable for a mixed chorus, or even boys, (e.g., Ave Maris melody starting on F as sung at the Symposium) allows the soprano to soar beautifully. in a lower range, the “Alto” lines are quite safely in the tenor range as intended for men. The middle “quintus” voice is reasonably comfortable in a lower range, but requires a lithe tenor in a mixed voice setting. Regardless, the quintus is extraordinarily satisfying to sing, despite its challenges!
PART ONE
The soprano (cantus) in this first part quotes the Ave Maris Stella chant floating above a rhythmic counter-melody in the other four voices. Even with such similarity in the rhythm, there is a distinct perfect canon between the alto and the tenor at the fourth.
The chant melody in the cantus is complete and recognizable up until “Grátias ágimus tíbi” (we give you thanks”). What follows is beautiful imitation in all five voices while maintaining the canon between the alto and tenor — such mastery!
Among my favorite sections (of many) is the “Dóminus Deus, Rex cæléstis” (Lord God, heavenly King) intimate interplay between the quintus and tenor with “Déus Pater omípetns” (God, almighty Father) soaring in the soprano. Such overlapping coloring of words, again demonstrates Morales’ continuing mastery of counterpoint, still within the context of five voices and an ongoing canon at the fourth. “Domine Dues, Agnus Dei” (Lord God, Lamb of God) displays repeated notes in all voices in imitation building toward the final cadence of the first part. The perfect canon in the first part comes to a close with a long melisma on “Filius Pátris” (Son of the Father) — a pedal tone in the alto while the tenor completes the canon to a most satisfying cadence with a major third in the quintus. Again, the quintus, displays the most unusual lines, proving to be so much fun to sing, the most challenging, and the most colorful.
PART TWO
The second section begins, not atypically, with “Qui tolis peccáta mundi” (You take away the sins of the world). With a change of character congruent with the Gloria’s pleading for mercy, the tone is gentler, and relatively more somber and lyric. The middle voice – quintus — begins to recognizably quote Ave Maris stella and continues its angular and energetic character within a few measures. Like the first part, the other four voices display a countermelody that includes another perfect canon at the fourth between the alto and tenor in this section.
In this second part, melismas begin to play a stronger role in painting the texts, e.g., “deprecatiónem” receives a notably long melisma emphasizing the incessant invocation for mercy. “Sanctus” and “Altíssisimus” are notably emphasized with beautiful melismas as are “Christe” in the tenor, “Dei” and “Amen.” There are no accidents in such treatment — almost too obvious to our eyes — but masterful in emotional conveyance and resolution.
Each few measures are filled with gems of imitation such as the rhythmic and joy staggered entrances on “Cum Sancto Spiritu” (with the Holy Spirit) that leads to an extended drive towards the end of the canon. The pedal tone appears in the alto again as it completes its part in the canon bringing the Gloria to a close another beautiful cadence with a major third in the quintus.
Never dull with its stunning counterpoint, yet emotionally expressive with energetic forward motion, this work is to be studied again and again revealing new joyful treasures with time.
BEARS REPETITION
Upon singing it a first time, a choir may or may not fully appreciate all the wisdom it has to offer. This is such a work that bears repetition, not only for technical mastery, but for full musical and prayerful appreciation. To have sung this during the Symposium with those who truly believe these words is a great blessing. Dr. Robert Murrell Stevenson (d. 2012), whom my colleague Jeff Ostrowski has labelled “perhaps the most eminent musicologist of all time,” had this to say about Missa Ave Maris Stella by Father Morales:
An attempt at imposing a still tighter unity upon a Mass of plainsong derivation is made in Morales’s Ave maris stella. When Josquin wrote his Mass of the same title (Liber secundus, 1505), he ended with Agnuses, each of which boasts a canon—Agnus I between bass and tenor at the fifth, Agnus II between alto and soprano at a fourth, and Agnus III between tenor and soprano at an octave. This was insufficient for Morales, who insisted on going further: with a canon in every full movement, always at the interval of a lower fourth, and always between alto and tenor II. In the earlier movements, his canonic voices recall the plainsong rather fragmentarily, the outer voices carrying it instead. But in the Sanctus he even has the two canonic voices sing the hymn, and—as usual when he quotes plainsong— with the utmost fidelity to the Gregorian original. During the climactic final Agnus a 6, Morales elevates the original hymn to cantus firmus status in cantus I. Each incise is separated by a rest of several breves, and each ends with a clearly defined cadence. The cadences resolve thus: seven on D, four on A, and one on C. He spaces these symmetrically, with the longest rest in the plainsong succeeding the exceptional cadence on C. Symbolically the plainsong-like the star hailed in the hymn text-shines above a turbulent sea of churning voices. In the nether surge, the three “accompanying” voices continually pick up (for imitation) melodic fragments thrown out by the two canonic voices. The whole Mass is one of surpassing grandeur, comparable in peninsular art only with such achievements as the fifteenth-century Gothic nave of Seville Cathedral.
Morales remains an inspiration and a key influence, even now, four hundred and seventy years after his death.
Soli Deo gloria
