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Views from the Choir Loft

A Polyphonic Kyrie During Lent

Jeff Ostrowski · February 3, 2012

HE FOLLOWING QUOTE has been attributed to St. Augustine: “The only thing you can take with you to Heaven is music.” Whether St. Augustine spoke these precise words or not, it is certainly true that Sacred music has an amazing ability to lift our hearts and minds to God. Sacred music reminds us in a powerful way of the purity of God and the unspeakable beauty of our Creator. Therefore, before I go further, let us listen to a short excerpt of the Kyrie from Messe de Nostre Dame by Guillaume de Machaut (†1377):

This beautiful recording was created by Matthew J. Curtis, who himself recorded all the vocal parts. Since 2010, Maestro Curtis has created more than 650 practice videos for polyphonic choral works, found at ChoralTracks.com. Corpus Christi Watershed has been blessed to collaborate with Maestro Curtis for several years now. Those who enjoyed the excerpt above will be interested in the PDF score, and are encouraged to listen to the complete recording by Matthew J. Curtis.

As the holy season of Lent approaches, many Catholic choirmasters will be searching for polyphonic versions of the Kyrie Eleison. As we know, the Gloria is not said during Lent, so musicians can “get away” with using a slightly longer Kyrie without risking a “heated discussion” with the Pastor after Mass (I wish it were not this way, but in many of our parishes, this is the case). An added bonus would be a Kyrie that also involves the congregation. Even better would be a relatively easy polyphonic setting, so that amateur church choirs could sing with confidence (as it is better to sing a simpler piece very well than to sing a more difficult piece poorly).

One good choice might be Kyrie cunctipotens genitor Deus (Trent Codex 90), which has polyphony for three voices as well as Gregorian sections for the congregation. I strongly recommend that anyone considering Trent Codex 90 read this fantastic article (PDF) by Dr. William Mahrt of Stanford. The article appeared in Sacred Music, Journal of the Church Music Association of America (Summer 2011, Volume 138, No. 2), and managing editor Jeffrey Tucker has done church musicians a tremendous service by providing hundreds of issues for free download in the CMAA archives. Getting back to the Trent Codex 90 Kyrie, Matthew J. Curtis has provided seven (7) practice videos to help your choir members master this piece. In addition to much other valuable information, Dr. Mahrt’s article also addresses possible ways to perform this piece.

Another beautiful choice (for SATB choirs) might be this Kyrie after Joan Brudieu (†1591). Just as in the previous Kyrie, a possible format for all three invocations would be: Cantor / Congregation / Choir (polyphony). Corpus Christi Watershed has provided five (5) practice videos to assist choir members who do not read music well.

The first two versions of the Kyrie presented above are based on Kyrie IV (see Dr. Mahrt’s article on this). This third version is based on the Requiem Kyrie, so this is the chant provided in the score. However, those who do not wish to sing the Requiem chant during Lent should realize that one could just as easily sing the “Lenten” Kyrie (Mass XVII):

Incidentally, all of these Kyrie chant melodies are provided in the Vatican II Hymnal, which contains more than 100 pages of Mass settings (English & Latin), more than 200 beautiful hymns, and the complete texts of the Sung Propers, readings, psalms, and Alleluias for Sundays and Holy Days during all three Liturgical years.

To go along with any of these versions of the Kyrie, choirmasters might consider this Sanctus & Agnus Dei (PDF). Both are based on the Ave Maris Stella of Guillaume Dufay (†1474), and are practically identical. Here is an audio excerpt: Audio Excerpt of the Sanctus (MP3)

Some might be interested to see how these versions of the Kyrie work in a “real” environment, so here (2010) is the Brudieu Kyrie sung by the Corpus Christi Cathedral choir (directed by Lee Gwozdz), and here (2009) is the Dufay Sanctus sung by the Corpus Christi Cathedral Schola Cantorum (directed by Jeff Ostrowski).

For those who wish to learn more about the phenomenal singing abilities of Matthew J. Curtis, I encourage you to look at Kevin Allen’s Motecta Trium Vocum, as Maestro Curtis provides 56 practice videos for the special collection of 3-voice motets. Kevin Allen recently released an SATB collection, as well, called Cantiones Sacrae Simplices, and Maestro Curtis has recorded more than 140 practice videos for these masterpieces. Watershed was honored when Dr. Mahrt included this Foreword, which is “required reading” for anyone who cares about Catholic sacred music.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 21, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“Père Joseph Gelineau represented everything that had gone wrong with the Church since the new liturgists had gained control.”

— Jean Langlais

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
  • “Participation” • Recovering its Receptive Dimension

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