ECHNICALLY, the country of Singapore is no longer part of Malaysia, but otherwise I couldn’t get the title’s alliteration to work—so hopefully our friends in Singapore will forgive me.1 Leaving geography aside, my colleague CORRINNE MAY has been accomplishing wonderful things in Singapore, and before too long I hope to share some of the English plain-chant adaptations she’s been making for her parish. (My understanding is that English is Singapore’s national language.) In the meantime, here is Corrinne directing Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi:
Technicalities & Tempo • The older I get, the less interested I am in technicalities. For instance, the feast of Corpus Christi is technically no longer called that. Starting around 1970, its name was changed to: “Dies Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Domini Iesu Christi.” However, in spite of what some claim, the purpose of language is communication. I don’t have an issue with people calling this feast by its traditional name: Corpus Christi. The same is true of “Palm Sunday.” In the 1950s, the Vatican tried to change the name of Palm Sunday to “Second Passion Sunday”—but only the most radical reformers (such as Father Frederick R. McManus) used that silly name:
The rest of Christendom continued to call it “Palm Sunday.” For the record, here’s how the feast of Corpus Christi appears in post-conciliar books:
Regarding the tempo Corrinne chose, it’s a bit slow for my taste. However, her choir sings in a big church which is quite resonant. Therefore, the tempo may be perfect for its venue.
1 As Maxwell Smart (“Agent 86”) would say: Missed it by that much!
