• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • Jeff’s Mom Joins Fundraiser
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Hidden Gem: Ascendit Deus (Dalitz)

Keven Smith · June 25, 2025

HERE ARE FEW THINGS more frustrating than finding out about the perfect motet for a particular feast day just days before that feast day arrives. Most church choirs need weeks to learn a motet. Finding a great Ascension motet on the Fifth Sunday after Easter won’t help you this year.

That’s why I’m letting you know today about an Ascension motet my choir has enjoyed for years. It’s joyful, it’s simple, and it doesn’t require a large choir because it’s in three voices. I’m referring to Ascendit Deus by Christoph Dalitz.

Born in 1967, Mr. Dalitz is a German musician with a rare knack for writing choral music that’s satisfying to sing yet relatively easy to learn. My choir has also sung his Tollite Portas during Advent and his Viderunt Omnes at Midnight Mass. Ascendit Deus is no less enjoyable than these pieces.

Inside Ascendit Deus

Mr. Dalitz’s setting is in C major. Rather than use the Offertory chant from the Ascension Mass as his template, he provides an entirely original composition in early baroque style. He takes just 17 bars to present Psalm 46, verse 6: “Ascendit Deus in jubilatione, Dominus in voce tubae. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”

On the second page, Dalitz gives us verse 7 on a psalm tone. After a 12-bar polyphonic Alleluia interlude, we then encounter verse 8 on the same psalm tone. The motet concludes with a repeat of the Alleluia interlude.

Here’s a recording by the Schola Cantorum of St. John XXIII Parish in Pittsburgh, directed by John Rokosz:

What to Look and Listen for

What I love about this piece:

  • It’s joyful. When I announce that we’re about to rehearse Ascendit Deus, faces light up. It’s a good motet to slip in at the end of a Thursday evening rehearsal after people have begun to droop. Who wouldn’t have enough left in the tank to sing Ascendit Deus?
  • It presents few vocal demands. There’s a time and place for testing the limits of one’s choir. The Feast of the Ascension comes on the heels of Easter and falls just over a week before Pentecost. Unless you have many professional (or professional-caliber) singers in your ranks, it’s wise to program Ascension motets that won’t tire anyone out vocally during this busy time of year.
  • It lets the altos enjoy the spotlight. I have been blessed with some very accomplished altos over the years, even though our alto section has never been large. Ascendit Deus begins with the altos singing alone. It’s a good, though brief, opportunity for them to practice singing soloistically.
A few tips:
  • Shape the chant carefully. The psalm tone passages look easy because everyone sings together. But ask your singers to sing lightly and precisely, and to taper at the midpoint and end of each line. Remind them that psalm tone should have a direction to it. Rather than singing every note of equal length and weight, they should drive towards the accented syllables and let the others be lighter. Also, consider having the low voices sing the first psalm verse and the high voices sing the second—or vice versa—just to lighten the texture a bit.
  • Sing with energy. Encourage your choir to consider the text carefully. God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet! I do favor a more energetic tempo than what you’ll hear in the lovely recording I posted above, but whatever you do, let your choir’s sound ring out.
  • Bring down the sopranos and tenors/basses in the last three bars of both polyphonic sections. As their voices ring out, your singers may not realize who has the melody at the end of the polyphony: it’s the altos. Encourage your non-altos to decrescendo immediately after landing on the third bar from the end so that the far more interesting alto line will come through.

Mr. Dalitz generously makes his compositions available online for download. You’ll find Ascendit Deus on Choral Public Domain Library and on Mr. Dalitz’s own website. And since I’m telling you about this motet now, you’ll have nearly a year to prepare it! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as my choir has.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: June 29, 2025

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 22nd in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 31 August 2025, which is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “The Worm That Dieth Not”
    My pastor asked me to write a column for our parish bulletin with reflections on the sacred liturgy and church music. In my most recent article, I discuss “The Worm That Dieth Not.” At this website, you can access it conveniently; simply scroll down to the one dated 31 August 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The council did not say Latin should be abolished. It said Latin should be used. […] While at Ecclesia Dei, I once received a letter from a chancery office in the United States, asking me if I didn’t know that the council had abolished Latin!”

— Cardinal Mayer, Prefect (1985–1988) of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship

Recent Posts

  • “Music List” • 22nd in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Brave Schola Director Posts ‘Live’ Recording
  • “Cracker Barrel & Catholicism” • Logos and Lessons
  • “Reform of the Reform” officially embraced by USCCB
  • “The Worm That Dieth Not”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.