Saturday 21 November 2009

Presentation of Our Lady

2009 11 21_5048_edited-1
We sang for this feast in St Anthony of Padua, of modern church in Headington (see here). The propers, Salve Sancta Parens, are the same as for Votive Masses of Our Lady; our polyphonists sang the Missa de Beata Virgine by Josquin des Prez.
2009 11 21_5039_edited-1


Saturday 7 November 2009

Two Chant Masses

2009 11 02_4823_edited-1
We've had a busy week: on Monday we accompanied a All Souls at the Oxford Oratory, and on Friday evening (yesterday) we accompanied a Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart in SS Gregory & Augustine's, for the regular 'first Friday' Mass. Both were purely chant (no polyphony), for different reasons. We'll be doing more polyphony later in the month.

The organ loft at the Oratory. We had thirteen singers on Monday, including Fr Anton Webb of the Oratory.
2009 11 02_4825_edited-1

Here's a video of the Gradual and Alleluia of the Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart. These are difficult pieces composed specially for the Mass in the 1920s, under Pius XI, who reformed the Mass and Office of the feast. Older editions of the Liber Usualis have different propers for the feast, which was approved for certain dioceses in 1765 and added to the universal calendar (the Friday of the week after Corpus Christi) in 1856.


The Offertory, a particularly tricky one.


2009 11 06_4819_edited-1

For more on these Masses, see the LMS Chairman blog.