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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.”

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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

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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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President’s Corner

    2-Voice Arr. • “Creator of the Starry Height”
    Do you direct a choir consisting of women or children only? (Some call this a “treble” choir.) Download a two-voice arrangement of Creator of the Starry Height set to the tune of IOANNES by clicking here and then scrolling to the bottom. In our times, this hymn is normally used during ADVENT, and the Latin title is: Cónditor alme síderum. It’s important to say “cónditor”—placing the accent on the antepenult—because ‘condítor’ in Latin means “one who embalms the dead.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Equal Voices” Choir Pieces
    My colleague, CORRINNE MAY, has posted some delightful compositions for equal voices: that is, choirs consisting of all men or all women. Included there are settings of the “Ave Maria” and “Tantum Ergo.” They strike me as relatively simple and not excessively lengthy. (In other words, within reach of volunteer singers.) Even better, all the scores have been made available as instant PDF downloads, completely free of charge. Bravo!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The sun’s disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible.”

— ‘Dr. Almeida Garrett, professor of natural sciences at the University of Coimbra (1917)’

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