THE NEXT THREE PSALMS

You'll find them at


They are:

Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2/27/11)


Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time (3/6/11)


Ash Wednesday (3/9/11) and First Sunday of Lent (3/13/11)


Click each antiphon above for its description and links to the actual PDF's, print, sing, and enjoy!
Peace,
BMP

NOW THIS IS WHAT A SUNG MASS IN ENGLISH SOUNDS LIKE!

This morning, I made an almost split decision (is the other night "split decision" enough?) to take my wife and my daughter to the church that sets the standard and then some when it comes to liturgy and music:

ST. PAUL CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
home of the
BOSTON ARCHDIOCESAN CHOIR SCHOOL

The only disappointment is that the boy choir was on vacation (as the Choir School is on vacation this week). However, the Men's Schola did not disappoint my ANY means. Impressive is an understatement when it comes to the music that happens at St. Paul's. It's too bad I never got to attend Mass there when John Dunn was Music Director, or even better, the late Theodore Marier. But the new director, John Robinson, is just as good!

At the time of the 1984 edition of the parish's hymnal, Hymns, Psalms, and Spritual Canticles, Ted Marier was the director, and John Dunn was his assistant. The hymnal was Marier's brainchild. Better musicians may be familiar with his contributions to the Pius X Hymnal of the mid 1950's. Dunn contributed a sizable amount of hymn texts to the current hymnal. The hymnal is out of print. Perhaps a new edition with the new Roman Missal translation? Would be nice!

Let's just say for the first time, my wife and daughter got to experience a FULL sung Mass! Here is the music list:

Introit: Domine, in tua misericordia speravi (Graduale Romanum)
Entrance Procession: Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (Lobe den Herren)
Kyrie and Gloria from Missa a Simplicitate by Jean Langlais - in English
Psalm 103: Marier chant setting with Psalm Tone 7a from the parish hymnal
Alleluia for Sundays of the Year I by Theodore Marier
Credo II in English
Offertory: Intende voci (Graduale Romanum)
Hymn: Praise, my soul, the King of heaven (Lauda Anima)
Sanctus: Minor Mode by Theodore Marier - in English
Memorial: Christ Has Died (Marier)
Amen: Eucharistic Prayer Conclusion I (Major Mode) (Dresden, slightly altered)
Lord's Prayer: Marier chant
Agnus Dei from Missa a Simplicitate by Jean Langlais - in English
Communion: Narrabo omnia mirabilia tua (Graduale Romanum, with verses)
Recessional: We give immortal praise (Love Unknown/John Ireland)

One would be hard-pressed to find a music program THIS GOOD in southern new England. Probably St. John the Evangelist in Stamford, CT.

If this isn't the ideal when it comes to the Mass in English, it's DAMN CLOSE! Heavenly!
Peace,
BMP

THE PSALMS OF HOLY WEEK

Now showing on:

as part of the Psalm 151 project:

Four Psalm settings by yours truly, three of which were tried, tested, and gone over well in every parish I've worked at but one since the day I wrote these (that one oddball being the "Roundhouse" - those who know me personally know where that is):

PALM SUNDAY: My God, My God - originally conceived in 1995
HOLY THURSDAY: Our Blessing Cup - originally conceived in 1992
GOOD FRIDAY: Father, into Your Hands - originally conceived in 1992 as Father, I put my life in your hands, but reborn as Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit in 1998 to conform with the Lectionary changes at that time.

Those three have been successfully used in Woonsocket, Providence, and Tiverton, as long as I've been music director there. The only exception is the following, as it is mainly for cathedral use:

CHRISM MASS: For Ever I Will Sing - originally conceived in 1992

BTW, DON'T FORGET!!! If you don't find these Psalms right away on the front page, simply consult the Responsorial Psalm Calendar, which lists all the Psalms sorted in liturgical order.

PSALM 151, from Christus Vincit Music! In both NAB and RGP translations, and written with the organ, choir, and congregation in mind! Use them at any parish! I dare you!

Peace,
BMP

PSALM FOR NEXT SUNDAY

The Lord Is Kind and Merciful
for 2/20/11 - Sunday VII



Unlike most of my settings, which have chant-like Psalm tones in the verses, this one has more of a Gelineau flavor to it (that is, the style used by the late great Père Joseph Gelineau, SJ). The antiphon includes a descant.

PDF - New American Bible translation
PDF - Revised Grail Psalter translation

Peace,
BMP

PS: You can find more settings at my newest blog, Christus Vincit Music.

BRIDEZILLA THE BARBARIAN

RSCT (for those who forgot what that is, "Red Sox Cap Tip") to Argent:

As I pasted the "embed" link to this, I can't get over the length of the code used to embed, compared to YouTube. Anyhoo...

I, like Argent, have been pretty lucky in not having too many "bridezillas" at the Wedding Mass. I've had many more struggles with funeral music than with weddings. I think the last time I wanted to strangle someone over music is when I was up in a choir loft (circa 1984), and a guitarist was downstairs by the altar. The guitarist was lucky of the distance between her and me in the church as I wanted so desperately to take the guitar and wrap it around her freakin' neck. Her song at Communion: "Up Where We Belong", from An Officer and a Gentleman. Now any time the song comes on the radio, I can't change the station fast enough!

As for the funeral struggles, Argent mentioned how people will ask for inappropriate music and then mention that they've worshipped here for x-amount of decades, and other useless "blah, blah, blah!" My former pastor from the "roundhouse" I once played would excuse such bad music by telling me that they're "good Catholic people." AH HA! So I guess that excuses them from proper catechesis?

Peace,
BMP

iSNARK RECOMMENDS

The St. Michael Hymnal

I've read quite a few complaints (and right they are) about many of the new and revised Mass settings that will appear in major worship aids from the "Big Three". It seems that they're doing the same old grind - about 30% anything that resembles dignified vs. about 70% hanky-panky.

Well, with the St. Michael Hymnal, that hanky-panky is out of sight and out of mind! There are eighteen Mass settings to be published in the forthcoming fourth edition of the hymnal, and they're ALL good! Twelve in English, and six in Latin (Jubilate Deo, plus Masses VIII, IX, X, XI, and XVII)! That's the next best thing since Ted Marier's brainchild, Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Canticles.

Click here to check the English settings out. They come with sample pages and audio. You'll really like what you hear!
Peace,
BMP

YOU BE THE JUDGE

Which anthem is worse? Rosanne's or Christina's?

I say Christina's. To me, Rosanne's was comedy (or at least "attempted comedy"). Christina's was just bad music, not to mention a minute longer - like going to Mass and having to endure four of the worst "Glory and Praise" and "Gather" tunes ever written.
Peace,
BMP

PS: I should add, at least Rosanne got all the words right, and didn't try to scat sing!

Christina Aguilera


Rosanne Barr/Arnold/just plain Rosanne

IT'S NOT JUST PETS AND HUMANS THAT NEED A HOME!

Pipe organs need a home, too! Found this site just minutes ago:

www.homelesspipeorgans.com

The title is a hoot, but it's worth checking out. Right now there is only one pipe organ on the site, but if you keep checking the site regularly, you might find an update, or two, or three...

After all, pipe organs need a home, just like us humans and their pets. :)

Peace,
BMP

UPDATES ON THE CHRISTUS VINCIT MUSIC BLOG

Psalm settings for Advent I, II, and III (all three years of the rotation) now up using both the New American Bible AND the brand spankin' new Revised Grail Psalter translations.

Psalm settings for Advent IV (all three years), Christmas, and Holy Family (all three years) are up using the NAB translation, but will soon be updated to include the RGP translation.

Psalm for this Sunday coming (Ordinary Time II, years A and B) is up using both translations.


Also included:
Holy Angels Mass, which I boasted of just a few months back
Ave Maria, a hymn/motet-like setting I wrote when I was just barely old enough to drink. Offered in two keys (A-flat and F) with parts for string quartet.
Blessed Is He Who Comes, a translation of the Gradual appointed for Christmas (Mass at Dawn), which includes an antiphon for the people, and a brief motet-style verse written in SATB.

A work in progress! Enjoy!
Peace,
BMP

NEWS FROM CHRISTUS VINCIT LAND

Sorry it's been a while since I've last blogged here. Lots has happened as of late.

Let's go back to just a few months ago. My landlord, well, now ex-landlord, is what some like to call a "lying sack of shit". Last summer, on the weekend of my wife's birthday, he approached us and said "I have family coming in from California and I need to give them the apartment." Now, we had just moved there at the end of last February. Rent's paid up and he gives us that line of crap. So, he gave us until the end of August to pack up our duds and skedaddle on out.

We landed up leaving at the end of September and stayed at my mom's for about two weeks. Didn't work out. Long story that cannot be discussed in an open forum such as Facebook or this blog. Anyhoo, we went to my mother-in-law's instead and stayed there until just after Thanksgiving. (Incidentally, two days after we got to my mom's, my daughter Brittany discovered a "For Rent" sign in front of our old place. Thus, we caught our ex-landlord in a bold-faced lie!)

That weekend we got our own little "pot to piss in" (my mother would often say that - usually in contexts such as "How the hell can you afford that when you don't even have a pot to piss in?"). We're actually in an apartment building now, and it's quite nice. Heat's included in the rent (a major plus when you live in New England), and I'm paying $5 a month LESS than at our previous apartment where we had to pay for our heat.

Now that we've gotten established, and past Christmas in one piece (I hope you all had a happy and blessed one), and now that I'm caught up on another new project, I can finally post here.


Christus Vincit Music is finally available in blog form! YES YES YES it is! Easy to reach at christusvincitmusic.blogspot.com. My new Holy Angels Mass is posted there. My Psalm settings are getting posted there, feast by feast - yes, the very Psalms (some updated) that you can also find at the Chabanel site. I'm dubbing the my own Psalm collection by the name I had given it a decade and a half ago: Psalm 151. And with the Revised Grail Psalter being released in just one week, I can FINALLY get started on adapting the settings to the RGP translation. That last sentence alone truly excites me!

Well, off to do some more re-writing!
Peace,
BMP