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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Pope Leo XIV Has Announced…”
    My pastor asked me to write brief 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 most recent article speaks about the recent announcement by Pope Leo XIV, which does have an impact on church musicians. Scheduled for publication on 2025 08 10th, it’s called: “Pope Leo XIV Has Announced…”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Chants” • 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
    All the chants for 3 August 2025—which is the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)—have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (from the book of Wisdom) is stunning. That feast website has been called “the best kept secret of Church music.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Corn” From Heaven?
    The Westminster Version of the Sacred Scriptures was produced by Roman Catholics in England and bears a 15 March 1958 IMPRIMATUR from the Archbishop of Westminster. Its IMPRIMI POTEST was given by the director of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Sometimes words chosen by translators sound funny to American ears. For instance, one of our Responsorial Psalms has as its refrain: “The Lord gave them bread from heaven.” But the British version has “The Lord gave them corn from heaven.” Feel free to examine this with your own eyes. (It comes from Psalm 77.)
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders”—is that English idiom? “For the Nazis, and all the Germans, except they say Heil Hitler! meet not in the street, holding their lives valuable”—is that English idiom?

— Monsignor Ronald Knox

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