OU Gregorian Chant Society

Final Mass of Michaelmas

2011-12-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

We have been asked to sing at the regular monthly Sunday Traditonal Mass at SS Gregory and Augustine's, which takes place on the third Sunday of the month. So last Sunday we sang the Mass Rorate caeli desuper, the 4th Sunday of Advant. The texts of the chants are very much focused on the mystery of the Incarnation, and the role of Our Lady in it.

We'll be back to sing in SS Gregory and Augustine again for Epiphany, at 6pm. Till then, a very happy Christmas to all our supporters!

More Masses of Michaelmas Term

2011-12-16T00:45:00.000-08:00

Our first Mass of the term was the LMS Oxford Pilgrimage, always a splendid occasion, this year for the first time it was in the Dominican Rite, and we had to sing Dominican Chant. The priestly gesture, above, is not something you see in the Roman Rite. We also accompanied the procession to the site of the martyrdoms of 1589, with a newly blessed statue of Our Lady of Walsingham.

The following weekend, we had our training day with a local chant expert, Chris Watson.
The day was concluded with a Sung Requiem in the stunning church of St Birinus, which has a rood screen.

Among the later Masses of term (which included the Remebrance Sunday Mass, in the post below) was one in Mapledurham, a historic Catholoic house with a private chapel. This chapel, and its more hidden predecessors, was the centre of Catholic life for the area for centuries.

You can see more about this Mass here.

Rembrance Sunday in Reading

2011-11-14T04:31:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the Schola sang Brumel's Missa pro defunctis in the Church of St William of York, for Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP. This was the regular 11am Traditional Mass celebrated in that chuch, which is always sung.

Readers from overseas may be surprised that a Requiem Mass can replace a Sunday Mass. It is by a special dispensation sought by the Bishops of England and Wales after World War I.

Fr de Malleray had a rather splendid catafalque, and we had the 'ablutions': we sang the very moving responsary Libera me, while the celebrant blessed the catafalque (basically an empty coffin, representing those for whom we are praying), first with holy water, and then with incense.

I hope to get videos of this Mass uploaded at some point.

Afterwards we had lunch in Reading's Loch Fyne Restaurant.

Freshers' Fair!

2011-10-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

We were there!

So were a lot of choirs...

The choral diversity of Oxford is a wonderful thing. The OUGCS certainly adds to it: along with some enthusiastic responses we had a fair number of complete bafflement. If we have introduced the concept of Gregorian Chant to a few freshers then our time was not spent entirely in vain! More to the point, however, we had a decent haul of people wanting auditions, and good luck to them!

Term Card: Michaelmas 2011

2011-10-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

Second Week

Sunday 16th: 12noon Sung Mass, SS Gregory & Augustine, Oxford

Sat 22nd Oct: Latin Mass Society Oxford Pilgrimage.
Solemn Mass 11am, Blackfriars
procession 2pm, from Cornmarket
Benediction 3pm, Blackfriars

Third Week

Sat 29th Oct Training Day
4pm Sung Requiem, St Birinus, Dorchester on Thames

Fourth Week

Wed 2nd Nov, All Souls: 6pm SS Gregory & Augustine

Sixth Week

Sunday 13th November, Remembrance Sunday: 11am, St William of York, Reading

Seventh Week

Sunday 20th November: 12 noon, SS Gregory & Augustine

Saturday 26th November, St Silvester: 11am, Mapledurham

Eighth Week

Thurs 1st Dec, Martyrs of Oxford University:
Solemn Mass, 11am St Anthony of Padua

Tenth Week

Sunday 18th Dec, 12 noon, SS Gregory & Augustine

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2011-08-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

The Schola accompanied Mass in SS Gregory & Augustine.

Gloria, from Morales, Missa de beata virgine

Gradual Audi filia & Alleluia Assumpta est

Sanctus & Benedictus, from the same Morales Mass

The Alleluia is the only ancient piece of chant in this Mass, all the others being newly composed following the Definition of the Dogma of the Assumption by Pope Pius XII in 1950. This work of composition was during the brief period (1945-1971) in which a new version of the Latin Psalter, the 'Pian Psalter' overseen by Cardinal Bea, was being used, and this version has found its way into the Gradual. It is often said that Cardinal Bea's Psalter is harder to sing; the 'Gallican Psalter' found in the Clementine Latin Vulgate is composed in a poetic and rythmical style which imitates the Hebrew.

The Gradual verse (sung by the cantor) used for the Assumption (Ps 44:14) reads:

Tota decora ingreditur filia regis, texturae sunt amictus ejus.

The equivalent verse of the Gallican Psalter is completely different. It flows much more easily:

Omnis gloria ejus filiæ regis ab intus, in fimbriis aureis.

More on Latin Psalters from Wikipedia.

Revamped blog

2011-08-02T03:32:00.000-07:00

We have just put in ten 'pages' giving information about the Schola, our history, repertoire, how to join and so on. We hope readers will find this easier to navigate and interesting to read.

This is designed to give all the information which may be helpful to those thinking about what choir to join in the new academic year. If you want to sing Chant and/or Renaissance Polyphony, we want to hear from you!

oxfordgregorianchant@gmail.com

Nuptial Mass

2011-07-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Schola was privileged to sing at the Nuptial Mass of one our our own members. The Mass took place in St Anthony of Padua, and was celebrated by the parish priest, Fr Aldo Tapparo.

Introit Deus Israel conjugat vos

Gradual Uxor tua, Alleluia Mittat vobis

Offertory, In te speravi (which is also used for the 11th Sunday After Pentecost), with its ancient verses.

Communion Ecce sic benedicetur, with Psalm verses.

More about this Mass here.

Sacred Heart

2011-07-28T03:39:00.000-07:00

We sang for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart at SS Gregory & Augustine.

It was the occasion both of a First Communion and an unusual thurible malfunction - see more on the LMS Chairman blog!

Introit, Cogitationes.

Gradual Dulcis and Alleluia Tollite

Backlog of videos

2011-07-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos from three recent Masses we accompanied in Oxford: SS Peter & Paul, Corpus Christi (more on this Mass), and Whit Thursday (more on this Mass).

Nunc scio vere: Introit of St Peter & St Paul

Gradual Constitues eos and Alleluia Tu es Petrus, for St Peter & St Paul.

Alleluia & Sequence of Pentecost

Gradual Confirma hoc, of Pentecost (sung on Whit Thursday at St Anthony of Padua), with the Offertory verses.

Introit Cibavit of Corpus Christi, & Palestrina Kyrie's from his Missa Lauda Sion

Here is the Gloria from Corpus Christi, from the same Mass setting by Palestrina.

Videos of the Juventutem Mass

2011-06-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Schola Abelis was privileged to sing at a wonderful Solemn Mass celebrated for the London Juventutem group, in the newly restored church of St Patrick, Soho Square.

The polyphonists sang Victoria's Missa O quam gloriosum.

Here is a taste of it: Victoria's Kyrie.

Victoria's Sanctus and Benedictus.

There are more photos and commentary on the Mass here.

Newman Termly Mass: and videos

2011-06-11T03:35:00.000-07:00

The President of the Newman Society this term is actually a member of the Schola, so it was appropriate that we sang for their termly Mass. It took place in the Oxford Oratory, and we had some splendid polyphony too - see videos below.

More photos.

A selection of pieces from the Mass. The polyphony was by Guillaume Dufay, with the exception of a Byrd motet at the Offertory. Dufay was a highly influential composer of the 15th Century; see his Wikipedia entry.

A Gloria by Dufay.

The Greater and Lesser Alleluias.

The Offertory, Stetit Angelus, followed by a motet, Byrd's Memento salutis auctor.

The Benedictus, also by Dufay, sung after the Consecration.

The Communion (Angeli Archangeli) followed by motet, Dufay's Flos florum.

St William of York, Reading

2011-06-10T07:12:00.000-07:00

We sang for the Fraternity of St Peter apostolate in St William of York, Reading, last Sunday.

Some more photos.

Term Card: Long Vacation 2011

2011-06-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Long Vacation 2011

July

Mon 11th July, Centenary of SS Edmund & Frideswide

Sung Mass 7pm, SS Edmund & Frideswide (Greyfriars)

August

Mon 15th, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

6pm Sung Mass, SS Gregory & Augustine

September

Thurs 8th, Nativity of BVM,

6pm Sung Mass, SS Gregory & Augustine

Polyphony for Our Lady and Bl J.H. Newman

2011-05-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

The schola sang for the Pilgrimage to Littlemore organised jointly by the LMS, Juventutem Oxford and the Oxford Newman Society. Here are some videos from Mass, which was a votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with variations for Paschal time.

The Mass propers are mostly modern, though as is usual they are based on earlier chants. The only one which appears in the 1908 Gradual is the first of the Alleluias.

Introit, and Brumel Kyrie

Offertory, Exsultavit, followed by a polyphonic motet, Brumel's Sub tuum praesidium.

Polyphony for St George

2011-05-10T02:12:00.001-07:00

At the Mass for the feast of St George we had a polyphonic Regina Caeli. This setting of the Regina Caeli is by Robert White (c. 1538 – 1574), an English Catholic composer.

Schola Abelis at the Spanish Place workshop with Dom Lelièvre

2011-05-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

Several members of the Schola Abelis were at the 'advanced students' sessions of this workshop in London with Dom Yves-Marie Lelièvre, Choirmaster at the Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, France. It was a great occasion.

More here.

The Schola Abelis at the GCN Chant Course

2011-04-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Six members of the Schola attended the Gregorian Chant Network's Weekend Chant Course directed by Colin Mawby, which took place last weekend (Friday to Sunday) at the Oratory School near Reading. Five of us provided a schola for the opening Mass.

The course was extremely successful, and we all learnt a huge amount from Colin Mawby's experience of singing and directing chant, which goes back to the 1940s, and his great sensitivity to it. He demonstrated in a quite remarkable way how small changes to tempo and emphasis can make a piece of chant sound quite different, and how groups of singers can respond to interpretative suggestions.

Colin Mawby is well known as a composer, and was Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral in the 1960s. For more on the course, see the Gregorian Chant Network.

Term Card for Trinity 2011

2011-04-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

This is a very exciting Term Card for the schola, including more events than we have ever had in one term before. We will be singing in Greyfriars in Oxford for the first time, and returning to the Oratory. We will be singing in the historic Catholic house of Stonor at the first Traditional Mass to take place there since 1970. We will be supporting two new walking pilgrimages organised by the Latin Mass Society and Juventutem Oxford, to Littlemore and to Our Lady of Oxford. Among the chants we will be singing the great sequences of Pentecost and Corpus Christi. And for the first time, we will be marking the Feast of St George, which does not usually fall in term time but has been displaced by the late Easter to 3rd May.

Practices as customary in Queen's College, at 8.15 on Wednesdays, unless otherwise arranged.

First Week

Tues 3rd May 6pm: St George
Ss Gregory & Augustine

Sat 7th May Pilgrimage to Littlemore
in honour of Bl J.H. Newman
2.30pm Sung Mass Greyfriars (Ss Edmund & Frideswide)
Followed by walk to Littlemore and Vespers

2nd Week

Sat 14th May Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Oxford, Oxford Oratory
Walk from Abingdon Abbey, Abingdon, departing 11am
Sung Mass, Oxford Oratory, 3.30pm

4th Week

Thurs 26th May 6pm: St Augustine of Canterbury
Ss Gregory & Augustine's

6th Week

Sun 5th June 11am: Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension
St William of York, Reading

Tuesday 7th June, 4pm: Newman Society Mass, Oxford Oratory

7th Week

Thurs 16th June, 11am: Whit Thursday
followed by blessing of lilies and veneration of a relic
of St Anthony of Padua
Church of St Anthony of Padua, Headington

8th Week

Sun 19th June 6.30pm Trinity Sunday
Stonor Chapel, near Henley-on-Thames

Thurs 23rd Corpus Christi
Sung Mass 6pm Ss Gregory & Augustine

9th Week

Wed 29th June 6pm: Ss Peter & Paul
Ss Gregory & Augustine

Friday 1st July 6pm: Sacred Heart
Ss Gregory & Augustine

Juventutem Mass in London, again

2011-03-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

We sang again for the Good Counsel Network and Juventutem London. We were singing from the back of the Church so the sound isn't very good (the camcorder was at the front!) but it was a good Mass. Our polyphonists sang Obrecht's 'Missa Fors seulement'.

Here's the Introit (Audivit Dominus: Friday after Ash Wednesday) and the Kyrie

The Gradual Unam petii

Obrecht's Sanctus and Benedictus.

See some photos.

Ash Wednesday in SS Gregory & Augustine, 2011

2011-03-12T10:01:00.001-08:00

We sang at Mass on Ash Wednesday, with a polyphonic Mass Ordinary: Morales, Missa Super fa re ut fa so la.

Here is one of the chants sung during the blessing of the ashes, Emendemus.

The Introit and Morales' Kyrie.

The Gradual Miserere and Tract Domine non secundum.

Offertory Exaltabo & motet: Antoine Brumel, O Domine Jesu Christe

Morales' Sanctus & Benedictus.

Morales' Agnus Dei.

Communion Qui meditabitur & motet: Cipriano de Rore, 'Miserere nostri Deus'

More uploading now!

Musical event in Oxford

2011-03-07T09:52:00.001-08:00

I've been asked to promote this.

YOUNG MUSICIANS' PLATFORM CHARITY CONCERT
in aid of Kianda Foundation, Kenya

Saturday, March 12th at 7.30pm

St. Michael and All Angels' Church,
Lonsdale Road, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7ES

Tickets at the door
£15 / £12 concessions. Refreshments included.

Featuring
Jay Boender,
David Mears,
Osman Tack,
Laurens PriceNowak,
Leo Appel & the Florentine
musicians: Giacomo Rossi
Prodi, Petra Cini, Sara
Palumbo, Simone Tavoni &
Francesca Orlando.

This is likely to be the programme with small alterations:
F. Chopin (1810 -1849) - Waltz no.14 and Prelude no.24, op.28F. Liszt (1811-1886) - from Grandes Etudes de Paganini "La campanella".F. Chopin (1810 -1849) - Fantasie Impromptu in C sharp minor op.66J. Brahms (1833 -1897) - Hungarian Dance no.1S. Rachmaninov (1873 -1943) - Prelude in C sharp minorR. Schumann (1810 - 1856) - Aufschwung op.12. Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945) - Suite op.14Allegretto, Scherzo, Allegro molto, Sostenuto
.Prokoviev (1891-1953) - Sonata n.3
F. Chopin (1810 -1849)- Study Op 25/1 Debussy (1862 - 1918) - The hills of Anacapri F. Liszt (1811-1886) - Consolation no.3
PianoE. Elgar (1857 - 1934) - Salut d'Amour op.1

Videos of the Feast of St Chad

2011-03-04T07:59:00.000-08:00

We were privileged to sing at the inaugral Mass of Juventutem Oxford, a new group for young people attached to the Traditional Mass. They are affiliated to Young Catholic Adults, who are the UK affiliate of the Juventutem Federation.

It was the feast of St Chad, a first class feast in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. His relics are kept in Birmingham's St Chad's Cathedral. We sang the propers, the Second Mass of a Confessor Bishop, and a polyphonic ordinary: Heinrich Isaac's Missa pro Confessoribus.

Introit Sacerdotes tui and Isaac Kyrie

Gradual Sacerdotes and Tract Beatus vir.

Offertory Veritas mea with verses.

Heinrich Isaac's Sanctus and Benedictus

Isaac Agnus Dei

Communion antiphon Beatus vir, followed by a polyphonic version of the vespers hymn for a Confessor, Iste Confessor, by Victoria.

See LMS Chairman for more on the Mass. More photos here.

Videos of the Pilgrimage to Caversham

2011-02-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday the Schola sang for the Latin Mass Society's annual Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Caversham. There was an important shrine to Our Lady in Caversham from before the Norman Conquest to the Reformation, and this was restored in 1958. Today it boasts a lovely medieval shrine image, a large, polychromed wooden Madonna and Child; Our Lady was crowned to mark the 50th Anniversary of the restoration of the shrine. This is the second year that the LMS has organised a pilgrimage there.

It was a Votive Mass of Our Lady (after Septuagesima). (When we sang there last year, it was the Ember Saturday of Lent, which was interesting.) Not having any polyphonists with us, we sang as a vested schola from the front of the nave.

Here is the Introit, with the Kyrie from Mass IX.

The Gradual Benedicta et venerabilis, and Tract Gaude Maria Virgo

The Offetory Felix namque est.

See the LMS Chairman blog for more on the Mass; see here for more photos.

Videos of Septuagesima

2011-02-25T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Schola was privileged to sing at a splendid Solemn Mass celebrated by a visiting FSSP priest at St William of York, Reading: Fr Alfaro had come all the way from the Fraternity mission in Colombia. For more about the Mass see here.

Intoit Circumdederunt

Gradual Adjutor in opportunitatibus, Tract De profundis

Offertory Bonum est confiteri

Communion Illumina faciem tuam

Videos of St Agatha Mass

2011-02-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

On 5th Feb we were in the Chapel of Milton Manor House, a historic Catholic house near Abingdon, where Fr Anthony Conlon sang Mass which we accompanied. The feast was St Agatha, who has special propers of particular interest: the Communion antiphon is highly unusual in not being from scripture, but instead refers to her legend, and in particular the miraculous restoration of her breasts which had been cut off during the course of her mistreatment before her martyrdom: 'mamilam meam meo pectori restituere'. The picture above shows St Peter curing her.

Our polyphonists sang Joseph Obrecht's Missa de tous biens pleyne.

Introit

Gradual & Alleluia

Offertory with Offertory verses

Obrecht's Sanctus & Benedictus

A polyphonic Ave Regina Caelorum, by Leonel Power.

For a report on this Mass see here.

Term Card for Hillary 2011

2010-12-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

Practices will be at 8.15 in Queen's College,
except for 3rd Week and 8th Week, when it will be on Thursday

First Week

Sat 22nd Jan 11.30am Sung Mass, SS Vincent & Anastasis
St Anthony of Padua, Headington

Third Week

Wed 2nd Feb 6pm, Sung Mass with Blessing of Candles:
Candlemas (Purification of Our Lady)
SS Gregory & Augustine

Sat 5th Feb 11.30am, Sung Mass: St Agatha
Milton Manor, near Abingdon

Fifth Week

Sun 13th Feb 12 noon, Sung Mass: 6th After Epiphany
SS Gregory & Augustine, tbc

Sixth Week

Sunday 20th Feb, Septuagesima
St William of York, Reading

Sat 26th Feb 11.30am Sung Mass: Votive Mass of Our Lady,
Shrine of Our Lady of Caversham, Caversham near Reading

Eighth Week

Wed 9th March, 6pm Ash Wednesday
Sung Mass with Ashes, SS Gregory & Augustine

Ninth Week

Sun 13th March 12 noon, Sung: 1st Sunday of Lent
SS Gregory & Augustine

Videos of First Sunday of Advent

2010-12-04T09:25:00.001-08:00

Here they are. The camcorder gave up after the Offertory for some reason, but we have here the Introit (and Kyrie: since we were unable to get the polyphonists together for this occasion we sang Mass XVII)

The Alleluia

The Offertory, with the Offertory verses. This is an interesting one because the verses in the Offertoriale do something rather odd - when the antiphon is repeated it is pitched higer. The Triplex suggests this is a mistake, but we sang it as printed.

The Schola Abelis at Bel and the Dragon

2010-11-28T06:56:00.001-08:00

We have sung our last Mass of the Trrm and the calendar year - and the fist Mass of the litugical year, complete with a Solemn Alma Refemptoris Mater, with the FSSP at St William of York, Reading.

We have repaired to a local restaurant named after one of the more colourful episodes of the Old Testament.

Videos (of the Mass!) to follow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

St Didacus at St Anthony of Padua

2010-11-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast of St Didacus, a great miracle worker of the 15th Century, a member of the Franciscan Friars Minor. Fr Aldo Tapparo sang a Mass in his church, St Anthony of Padua, in Headington, and we accompanied the Mass.

St Didacus is given the Common of Confessors, Justus ut palma. The ordinary our polyphonists sang was by Johannes Brassart (c.1400-c.1455), who was from the south Netherlands.

Here is the Introit Justus ut palma, followed by Brassart's Kyrie.

Here are the Gradual Os justi and the Alleluia Beatus vir.

Here is Brassart's Sanctus and Benedictus.

Here is the Offertory with its verses.

More about this Mass here.

First Masses of Term

2010-11-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

We have now sung in Blackfriars, for the LMS Oxford Pilgrimage, in St Birinus in Dorchester, for a parish requiem, and in SS Gregory & Augustine's, Woodstock Road, for All Souls.

The Pilgrimage Mass was in honour of Blessed George Napier, and before the Archbishop of Birmingham, who blessed a plaque in honour of the martyr whose fourth centenary it was. As well as singing at Mass, we sang the Te Deum, the Litany of the Saints and the Litany of Loreto on the procession, and at Benediction afterwards. Our polyphonists sang an unusual Ordinary, Nicholas Ludford's 'Missa inclina cor meum', and a motet by William Byrd, 'Miserere mei'.

At Dorchester we had a training day with Nick Gale, the Director of Music at St George's Cathedral in Southwark (ie the Catholic one!). We had a session with him before and one after lunch, and then sang a Requiem, again with polyphony. Nick Gale has his own approach to chant which will take time for us to absord and make our own fully, but was a fascinating day which had instant results. Nick's approach, based on the Graduale Triplex, is very much focused on the text (paying attention to the length of syllables in the text, as well as stressed syllables), attention to the dominant note (usually the 'reciting note'), and certain features of the neumes brought out in the Triplex. This all involves stressing and slightly lengthening certain notes, in ways which overlaps with, but is quite distinct from, the editorial suggestions found in the standard editions of the chant. Above all it rejects the rythmical system of 'twos and threes' created in the early 20th Century by some scholars, which attempts to bring the chant more into line with modern music.

We were lucky in our timetabling because we sang the Requiem again a few days later at SS Gregory & Augustine, allowing us to consolidate what Nick Gale had taught us. The next challenge is for us to apply his principles to a new set of propers.

At Dorchester and SS Gregory & Augustine's the polyphonists sang the Requiem of Antoine Brumel (c1460-?1512/3): Kyrie, Sequence, Sanctus, and Agnus.

Freshers Fair!

2010-10-06T04:41:00.001-07:00

We are Freshers' Fair, Exam Schools Room 11.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Term Card for Michaelmas 2010

2010-07-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

We meet every week of Full Term on Wednesdays at 8.15pm in The Queen's College.

All our Masses this term will have a Rennaissance polyphonic ordinary
and Gregorian Chant propers.

Second Week
Saturday 23 Oct: Mass for the LMS Oxford Pilgrimage
Blackfriars, Oxford, 11am

Third Week:
Saturday 30 Oct: Training day with Nick Gale followed by Mass
Requiem, St Birinus, Dorchester on Thames, 4pm

Fourth Week
Tuesday 2 Nov: All Souls
SS Gregory & Augustine, Oxford, 6pm

Fifth Week
Saturday 13 Nov: St Didacus
St Anthony of Padua, Headington, 11.30am

Sixth Week
Saturday 20 Nov: St Felix of Valois
Chapel of Mapledurham House, near Reading, 11.30am

Eighth Week
Sunday 28 Nov: First Sunday of Advent
St William of York, Reading, 11am

Eighth Week
Saturday 4 Dec, Immaculate Heart of Mary
Milton Manor, near Didcot, 11.30am

Videos of Milton Manor Mass

2010-06-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

The last Mass of term, and of the academic year, was at Milton Manor House on Saturday 19th August. We had a Votive Mass of Our Lady with a polyphonic Ordinary, Missa Sancta Mater, by Francisco Guerro.

Introit: Salve sancta parens

Gradual Benedicta et venerabilis & Alleluia Post partum Virgo

Offertory motet

Sanctus and Benedictus (before and after the consecration)

For photos of the Mass, see here.

Videos of Newman Mass

2010-06-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

I've been having a lot of trouble with camcorders and software, and now have a backlog of videos. Here are three of the Newman Society Termly Mass back in March 2010. This was a pontifical Mass celebrated by Abbot Brogan of Farnbrough. It was the Monday after the 3rd Sunday of Lent, a feria.

We sang from the front of the nave, vested, the first time we have done this. There would not be room in the sanctuary for a liturgical schola - certainly not for a schola of our size, there were eight of us.

Introit, In Deo laudabo

Gradual Deus vitam meam, and the Tract Domine non secundum, the latter of which is sung every Monday, Wednesday and Friday Feria Mass of Lent.

Offertory Exaudi Deus

A report on the Mass and the dinner which followed can be seen here.

First Masses of Term

2010-05-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

We have sung two Masses so far: for St Joseph the Workman in St Anthony of Padua -

and for the Ascension (on the Thursday!) at the Oxford Oratory.

Both went extremely well; we had polyphony for the first, Byrd's three-part Mass, and in the second we used for the first time the Medieval offertory verses which were reintroduced to the modern repertoir by the Solesmes research in the early 20th Century.

Technological problems and time constraints have prevented my from recording videos at these Masses but I hope to remedy this for future Masses.

Trinity Term 2010: Term Card

2010-04-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

1st Week

Sunday 25th April

SS Gregory & Augustine, 10.30am

1st Week

Saturday 1st May (St Joseph the Worker)

St Anthony of Padua, 11am

3rd Week

Thursday 13th May (Ascension)

Oratory 12.15pm

5th Week,

Saturday 29th May (Whit Saturday, Ember Day),

St Birinus, Dorchester on Thames, 11am

6th Week,

Thursday 3rd June (Corpus Christi),

Oratory 12.15pm

7th Week,

Thursday 11th June (Sacred Heart),

SS Gregory & Augustine, 6pm

Practices are as usual at 8.15 in Queens'.

Caversham

2010-03-03T09:09:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we sang at the LMS Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Caversham, an extremely interesting church where the medieval shrine, which had been visited and endowed from at least the Norman Conquest and destroyed by Henry VIII, was re-established in 1959.

Introit Intret oratio mea, and Kyrie

It was the Ember Saturday in Lent, so we sang the Mass Intret oratio mea. We used the forma brevior, which has a prophecy, an epistle and a gospel, and not the long form with a total of seven readings with Graduals in between them.

We had an unusal polyphonic ordinary: La Messe de Nostre Dame by Guillaume de Machaunt, the earliest complete Mass setting by a single composer. In the Kyrie was alternated Machaunt's melody with the Mass IV Kyrie, on which it is based, which is how it is usually performed.

Here is the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, just as a sound file.

The Gradual (Propitius esto Domine) and the Tract (Laudate Dominum) (they don't follow each other immediately in the liturgy of Ember Saturday, but I have cut out the part between them.)

Interestingly this Tract recurs in the Easter Vigil.

The Offertory and the Communion

There was no view of the Sanctuary from the choir loft to speak of, so I have experimented with still images, no images, and here just what the camera could see - the singers. I'm not sure what is the best way to present these recordings.

OGCS granted the right to use the Unversity name

2010-02-25T05:09:00.000-08:00

The Oxford Gregorian Chant Society can now style itself the

Oxford University Gregorian Chant Society

by kind permission of the Vice Chancellor of the University.

It is a bit of a mouthful but reflects the place of the Schol as a student society of the University, with a degree of longevity and stability.

Gregorian Chant Network launched

2010-02-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

A new organisation has been launched to promote Gregorian Chant: the Gregorian Chant Network. It will link Chant Scholas together for mutual support and organise training events: the first of these will be a three-day course, April 9-11th, with Nick Gale.

It was launched with the involvement of more than 20 scholas around England, Wales, and Scotland, including the Schola Abelis, and is supported by the Latin Mass Society, Una Voce Scotland, the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, and the Association for Latin Liturgy. This is a major development in the world of Chant, in which many feel isolated in trying to promote the Chant and bereft of the necessary resources and training opportunities.

The GCN website already gathers together an impressive array of on-line materials, recommended books and useful links.

Long Crendon and Ash Wednesday

2010-02-16T12:42:00.000-08:00

We had a splendid Mass with polyphony today in the church of Our Lady of Light, Long Crendon, in honour of Bl Thomas Belson and his companions. These men were executed for the Catholic faith in 1589 in Oxford; Thomas Belson was a resident of Brill, which is in the modern Catholic parish of Long Crendon.

The chants are of particular interest, if not merit, since they are unique to the Mass, and the Mass is unique to England and Wales. They were put together for the feast of SS Thomas More and John Fisher, and like most 'late' chant they use bits and pieces (texts and melodies) from elsewhere.

The Introit, Deus venerunt, followed by a polyphonic Kyrie: Cristobal de Morales, Missa Benedicta es caelorum

The Gradual, Effunderunt

Morales' Sanctus and Benedictus.

Offertory Noli meminisse

Communion, Sub altare Dei, followed by a polyphonic motet, the first part of Josquin's Tu solus qui facis mirabilia.

After Mass we had a very good meal at The Angel Restaurant, a gastro-pub down the road from the church.

Lent is now upon us, however. The Schola sang at the first Sung Ash Wednesday service for a number of years, in the Church of SS Gregory & Augustine, with the blessing and distribution of ashes.

Hymns and motets at Mass

2010-01-31T07:55:00.000-08:00

This interesting quotation has been found by someone on the NLM and is reproduced by Fr Z. It is interesting because it emphasises how many of the reformers of the Missal after the Second Vatican Council saw themselves as implementing the principles of the Liturgical Movement, and were presumably horrified to see what actually happened - in this case the 'four-hymn sandwich', which from being a tolerated abuse in 1962 became an almost universal rule after 1970.

Bugnini’s own Consilium in 1969 offered the following instruction, consistent with the Vatican II emphasis on chant over vernacular hymnody. As printed in 1 Notitiae, 5 (1969), p. 406

That rule [permitting vernacular hymns] has been superseded. What must be sung is the Mass, its ordinary and proper, not “something,” no matter how consistent, that is imposed on the Mass. Because the liturgical service is one, it has only one countenance, one motif, one voice, the voice of the church. To continue to replace the texts of the Mass being celebrated with motets that are reverent and devout, yet out of keeping with the Mass of the day amounts to continuing an unacceptable ambiguity: it is to cheat the people. Liturgical song involves not mere melody, but words, text, thought, and the sentiments that the poetry and music contain. Thus texts must be those of the Mass, not others, and singing means singing the Mass not just singing during Mass.

The singing of 'any old motet', let alone one of an endlessly recylced set of vernacular hymns, at Mass, is rejected in favour of the Mass texts: these, indeed, are the voice of the Church, and we seek to gild the lily at our peril. When people talk about the things which 'always happened in the old days' they should remember that 'the old days' was a theatre of conflict between the Liturgical Movement and people who did not take the liturgy so seriously. We may not want to be quite as rigid as this quotation suggests - isn't the Vespers hymn of the day sufficiently intwined with the theme of the Mass, or the Ave Maris Stella on a Feast of Our Lady? - but it is worth keeping the ideal in mind. The texts of the Mass are the Church's commentary on the liturgical occasion, and we must let the Church have the final say.

The reform of 1970 bears little resemblance to anything the Liturgical Movement in its prime might have anticipated or desired, because the reformers themselves seem to have forgotten the respect which is due to the immemorial texts and customs of the Church. Instead of saying. 'The Church teaches us through the liturgy, and therefore we must exercise extreme caution in changing the liturgy', they seemed to be saying 'The Church teaches us through the liturgy, so however different the reformed liturgy turns out to be it will by definition be ok'.

Feast of St Agnes

2010-01-23T08:59:00.000-08:00

On Thursday evening we accompanied a Mass at the church of St Anthony of Padua in Headington, for the feast of St Agnes, thanks to the hospitality of the Parish Priest, Fr Aldo Tapparo. This was a feast of considerable importance in former centuries, and had many chants composed for it, which are now also used for other feasts as well. There is a remarkable ceremony in Rome on this day of the blessing of the lambs, whose wool is then used to make pallia for archbishops; this year it was performed by Pope Benedict XVI.

Gradual 'Diffusa est' and Alleluia 'Quinque prudentes virgines'

Offertory 'Afferentur regi virgines' followed by the Vespers hymn Jesu corona Virginum, from the Common of Virgins.

Communion Quinque Virgines

At the end of Mass we sang the Alma Redemptoris Mater, to the Solemn Tone (the Roman version printed in the Liber: there are very similar Dominican and Sarum versions as well). All the camcorder showed was the back of the servers so I put in some still pictures.

For more on this Mass, and more photos, see the Chairman's Blog.

Term Card, Hilary Term 2010

2009-12-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

We have a busy and exciting line up of Masses this term.

First Week
Thursday 21st Jan, 7pm, Feast of St Agnes
St Anthony of Padua, Headley Way, Headington

Third Week
Tuesday 2nd Feb, 6pm,
Candlemas: SS Gregory & Augustine, Woodstock Road.

Fourth Week
Saturday 13th Feb, 11.30am,
Votive Mass of the Martyrs of England and Wales
Our Lady of Light, Long Crendon.

Fifth Week
Wednesday 17th Feb, 6pm
Ash Wednesday, SS Gregory & Augustine's.

Sixth Week
Saturday 27th Feb, 11.45am
LMS Pilgrimage (Ember Saturday of Lent)
Shrine of Our Lady of Caversham.

Eighth Week
Monday 8th March, 7.15pm
Newman Society Termly Mass (Feria of Lent)
Oxford Oratory

Friday 12
12th March, 6pm
Feast of St Gregory, patronal feast for SS Gregory & Augustine.

End of Term Masses

2009-12-14T10:17:00.001-08:00

The end of term has been exceptionally busy and I have been behind posting up photographs. What is worse is that the camcorder used to capture the singing has stopped working - with an inaccessable video on its hard disk.

Requiem, with the blessing of the catafalque, at the chapel of Milton Manor. More photos here.

We have had a very successful last few weeks, singing at a Requiem at Milton Manor, and then the First Friday of December at SS Gregory & Augustine. Since the end of term a group composed of schola members, plus a member of the St Gregory parish choir, sang at a special Mass at SS Gregory & Augustine to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the ordination of Fr John Saward.
Fr Saward has been a great supporter of the schola over the years and it was a privilege to sing at this Mass of thanksgiving. It was followed by a party with the parishioners in the parish hall.

Our termly dinner - or lunch - took place after the Milton Manor Mass, when we went to Didcot for an excellent meal in the new branch of Cibo there, with Fr Simon Leworthy, the celebrant of the Mass, and the serving team.

Next term's term card is shaping up nicely and will be posted up soon. This term has represented a great step forward for the schola, with the addition of polyphony and important input from Philip Duffy's day of training. We have never sounded better.

Plainsong and Medieval Music Society conference

2009-12-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

We have been notified of the 2010 conference of The Plainsong and Medieval Music Society to be held in The Old Library, Pembroke College, Cambridge on Saturday 13 March. The conference will feature presentations of research by current graduate students, followed by a roundtable on careers in Medieval Music.

They are calling for abstracts. Full details on their website.

Chant Course with Nick Gale

2009-12-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

Booking is now open for a three-day chant course (9th to 11th April 2010) with Nick Gale, the Director of Music at St George's Cathedral in Southwark. Active members of the Schola Abelis can attend the course for free by special arrangement, but the course is open to all. For more details see here.

Presentation of Our Lady

2009-11-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

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.

Two Chant Masses

2009-11-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

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

LMS Oxford Pilgrimage 2009

2009-10-25T07:08:00.000-07:00

The first Mass of the academic year was yesterday; it was the Latin Mass Society's annual pilgrimage to Oxford, in honour of the Catholic Martyrs of Oxford. This was the occasion for a splendid Solemn Mass in Blackfriars, and a very impressive procession through the streets of Oxford to the site of the martyrdoms of 1589. So addition to singing at the Mass, we sang the Great Litany, the Te Deum, and other things, on the procession, and finally accompanied Benediction.

Below is the choir loft at Blackfriars, with our polyphony group singing Byrd's Four-Part Mass.

Here is the Introit, Kyrie and Gloria.

The Gradual and Alleluia.

The Offertory and a polyphonic motet.

Welcome

2009-10-04T03:23:00.000-07:00

This is the website of the Oxford Gregorian Chant Society, the Schola Abelis. The Society exists to sing Gregorian Chant and Renaissance Polyphony to the highest possible standards in the setting for which this music was composed: the traditional liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.

This term we are singing in a Catholic Hall and in three Catholic parish churches around Oxford, and an historic Catholic house, Milton Manor, whose private chapel dates from before Catholic churches could be built openly. The Masses are organised in association with the Latin Mass Society.

The OGCS consists of an all-male schola for the singing of the chant and a mixed choir for the polyphony. Membership is by audition but all are encouraged to have a go. Few people coming to Oxford have significant previous experience of singing Gregorian Chant, in particular, so we don't expect you to have!

As well as singing at seven Masses in the course of the term we have a day with Mr Philip Duffy, an associate of the Schola Gregoriana who was Director of Music at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral for thirty years. He has done a number of workshops at Oxford in recent years.

Our student singers are paid a stipend of £15 per Mass (with associated practices). Membership is also open to non-students and to people of all faiths.

Contact us to join: oxfordgregorianchant@googlemail.com

President: Richard Craddock, Somerville
Secretary: Paul Kolb, Queen's
Treasurer: Andrew Crawford, Blackfriars
Senior Member: Dr Joseph Shaw, St Benet's Hall

Term Card, Michaelmas 2009

2009-10-04T03:05:00.000-07:00

Practices are every Wednesday, 8.15, Queen's College

2nd Wk Sat 24th Oct
Pilgrimage in honour of the Oxford Martyrs
Blackfriars 11am followed by procesion and benediction.

4th Wk Mon 2nd Nov
All Souls (requiem) Oratory 12.15

4th Wk Fri 6th
Votive of the Sacred Heart (First Friday), SS Gregory & Augustine 6pm

5th Wk Sat 14th
Master Class with Philip Duffy

6th Wk Sat 21st
Presentation of BVM, 11am St Anthony of Padua, Headington.

7th Wk Sat 28th
Requiem 11am Milton Manor, Didcot

8th Wk Fri 4th Dec
St Peter Chrysologus (First Friday) SS Gregory & Augustine 6pm

Bartolucci on the Solesmes Chant revival

2009-08-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

There is a fascinating interview with Monsignor Domenico Bartolucci, Maestro Emeritus of the Sistine Chapel, admirer, friend and collaborator of Benedict XVI on Rorate Caeli. The whole interview is worth reading; it mainly deals with the liturgical reform following Vatican II, which Mgr Bartolucci witnessed as an exceptionally well-informed and well connected individual. There is a section on the chant which deserves particular attention on this blog.

Maestro, what role does music play in this process?

It has an incredibly important role for many reasons. The affected “Cecilianism” to which certainly Perosi was no stranger, with its tones that were so mild and enticing to the ear had introduced a new romantic sentimentalism, which had nothing to do, for instance, with the eloquent and solid physicality of Palestrina. Some extravagant deteriorations introduced by Solesmes had cultivated a subdued gregorianism, which also was the fruit of a pseudo-restauring passion for the Medieval ages, which were so popular in the nineteenth century.

The idea of an opportunity to recuperate the archeological vein, both in music and liturgy, of a past, from which the so called “oxen centuries” (seculi bui) of the Council of Trent separated it ….. in short an archeology which has nothing at all to do with Tradition and which wishes to restore something which maybe never existed, is a bit similar to certain churches restored in the “pseudoromantic” style of Viollet-le-Duc.

What does it mean, Monsignore, when in the musical field you attack Solesmes?

This means that the Gregorian chant is modal, not tonal and not rhythmical, it has nothing to do with “one, two, three, one, two, three”. We should not despise the way people sung in our cathedrals and replace it with a pseudo-monastic and affected murmuring. A song from the Middle Ages is not interpreted with theories of today, but one should go about it as it was then. Moreover the Gregorian chant of another historical time could also be sung by the people, sung using the force with which our people expressed their faith. Solesmes never understood this, but we should recognize the learned and large philological work executed on the old manuscripts.

What is this 'subdued gregorianism' he condemns? It is the theory you will find set out in pre-conciliar school texts as well as scholarly books, developed by the monk of Solesmes Dom Mocquereau,which attempted to interpret the chant in terms of groups of two and three notes. This interpretation is still indicated in the standard Solesmes editions of chant by small vertical lines, the ictus, which gives the 'up' beat of a group. The shoe-horning and distortion of the chant this required is remarkable, and it has been rejected in academic circles and with most chant practitioners as well.

Solesmes is credited with the revival of chant, which (they claimed) had fallen into decay after Trent, by a massive project of manuscript research and the creation of new editions, and theories of interpretation to go with them. However Bartolucci seems to be claiming that the stilted interpretation they ended up giving the chant was part of the reason for its downfall, and in its rejection of the then-current practice in favour of a historical reconstruction is guilty of the 'archaeologism' condemned by Pope Pius X.

It should be noted that the new wave of Chant revival uses a more fluid approach to interpretation, with a greater respect for the text being sung. Bartolucci seems to be demanding also something more virile and forceful, in contrast to 'pseudo-monastic and affected murmuring'.

Corpus Christi video clips

2009-06-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Here they are at last. I've been having some trouble with Gloria TV but my persistence has been rewarded.

Introit Cibavit eos, sung by all.

The Gradual and Alleluia, sang by a smaller group of cantors. We also (all) sang the Sequence, but the camcorder couldn't cope with the sound of the organ which accompanied it.

The Offertory, Sacerdotes Domini, sung by the cantors.

The Communion, sung by all, in alternation with the verses of Psalm 22.

The Introit and Communion verses are, in fact, antiphons for psalsm, although the psalms are usually not sung any longer. It is still possible to sing them, however, and at communion there is usually time. The correct psalm (in the correct psalm-tone) for each Introit and Communion is given in a book 'Versus Psalmorum et Canticorum' (1962) which can be downloaded for free from the Church Music Association of America here, and bought hard copy (2008 reprint) from them via Lulu here.

The custom of singing the psalm with the communion verse seems an admirable one to me, and it has long been followed in Oxford; it is also done commonly at St Bede's Clapham Park and at the St Catherine's Trust Summer School - and no doubt other places as well.

Corpus Christi and Termly Dinner

2009-06-16T13:49:00.001-07:00

Corpus Christi at the Oxford Oratory was our last Mass of term, and of the academic year. The Oratory church is the largest at which we sing, and Masses on Holy Days can attract a congregation of a hundred. As has become the custom, this was the occasion of some First Holy Communions. Mass was celebrated by Fr Jerome Bertram Cong Orat.

After Mass we had our Termly Dinner, which I suppose can be at lunchtime, at the Old Parsonage, just over the road from the Oratory.

Video clips to follow. More photos of the Mass here.

First Friday of June

2009-06-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

This was Whit Friday, the Friday after the Feast of the Ascension (Whitsun). It was an Ember Day. Here is the Greater and Lesser Alleluia, and the Sequence. The Sequence and the second of the two Alleluias are the same as for Whitsun; they are repeated every day of the Octave until Sunday (which is Trinity Sunday).

The two Alleluias are sung by our cantors, but the full schola sings the Sequence.

Mass at Mapledurham, Vigil of Pentcost 2009

2009-05-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

Today we had a Sung Mass at Mapledurham House. I didn't have my camera or camcorder with me (for a change!) but we had a schola of 11, including our coach Adrian Taylor, the chapel was filled to capacity (which is forty people!), and it was a wonderful occasion. Mass was sung by Fr Simon Leworthy FSSP, who is based in Reading.

The weather was glorious. We had lunch in the nearby 'Pack Horse Inn' and returned to the house for a tour. It was a Catholic house continuously through penal times, and is still occupied by descendants of the Blount family who owned it then - the Eystons. Mr John Eyston having inherited it at the age of four, has spent a lifetime in a painstaking restoration. It is open to the public on Saturday afternoons in the Summer, and is worth a visit.

So you have something to look at, here are a couple of photos from my mobile phone, and a link to some much better one of our Mass in this chapel last year.

Chant Training Day

2009-05-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

On Saturday our annual public Gregorian Chant Training Day took place. The first of these was led by the late Dr Mary Berry; since then they have been led by Mr Philip Duffy.

Having a public event such as this is intended to stimulate interest in the Chant, especially among local Catholic singers, as well as providing an opportunity for Schola members to experience a nationally recognised Chant expert.

We rehearsed the hymns of Benediction (we attended the regular Benediction on Saturdays at 11am) and the Votive Mass of Our Lady, Salve sancta parens, with the variations for the Easter Season, with Mass IV. We had sung most of the chants before and Mr Duffy was able to focus on the interpretation.

A matter of particular interest in Tempore Paschale is where to stress the word 'alleluia'. Alleluia is added to many of the chants in the Easter Season, so we sang it again and again. The syllable marked as stressed is the third - allelUia - but Mr Duffy explained that there is a secondary stress on the first: ALlelUia. Or better, the second and the final syllable are de-emphasised. You can hear how we sang alleluia after a day of Mr Duffy's instructions!

The day concluded with Sung Mass at 3.30pm, accompanied by the participants, celebrated by Fr John Saward, who had very generously hosted the event in his church and hall.

'Catholic congregational music a laughing stock'

2009-05-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

James MacMillan, the Catholic composer, has sent a message to Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who just been elected Chairman of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and is being installed as Archbishop of Westminster tomorrow. It is about Church music. He says:

Liturgical "activists" have used the vacuum after the Council to push their own agenda of de-poeticisation, de-sacralisation, and a general dumbing down of the Church's sacred praise. Pope Benedict is determined to confront the problem. The faithful are fed up with sloppy practice, inappropriate, terrible music and the gradual drift away from Catholic standards in the liturgy. My hope is that Archbishop Nichols will give a clear lead in the pursuit of profundity in liturgy. This means a recognition that there were terrible mistakes made in the past few decades that have made new Catholic congregational music a laughing stock.

See The Times.

Worcester College Sarum Vespers

2009-05-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

We've been alerted to this event.

Join the Worcester College chapel community, on Wednesday 27th May, at 9.00 pm,
for a reconstruction of sung Vespers of the medieval Office in honour of St
Augustine of Canterbury. This will be the latest in a series of such services
which feature performances of medieval liturgical music, much of which has not
been heard since the Reformation, transcribed from local sources. On this
occasion the service is from the Denchworth Antiphonal, a manuscript used at the
parish of St James, Denchworth, near Wantage, which has many connections to the
College.

Several items from the early modern Denchworth parish library, now deposited in
Worcester, will be on display, including a chained volume and a commonplace book
for the use of the incumbents 'for ever'. This is a unique opportunity to see
some volumes perhaps intended for practical use in an early modern parish.

Ambrosian Chant

2009-05-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

A former Oxford chant singer (just before the formalisation of the current schola as a University society, in fact) has been spending time in Milan, and sends me this video which demonstrates Ambrosian chant notation. Fascinating stuff.

Perhaps the current Secretary would be able to demonstrate the chant of the Premonstratensians in a similar way? We should always bear in mind that we we do, with the Liber Usualis, is basically in the 'Roman' tradition, which is simply one of the traditions of Chant in the Latin Church, to say nothing of the Greeks, Armenians and other Rites!

St Joseph the Workman: the Schola Abelis on song

2009-05-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

This feast was created in 1955 as an antidote to the May Day events organised by Socialists and Communists. Here is us singing the Introit,

and the Greater Alleluia and Alleluia.

Since this is Friday of First Week, in University terms, we had very limited rehearsal time so we decided to sing Mass VIII, 'Missa de Angelis', which has a bad reputation in Gregorian Chant circles for being overused, and, because of the period in which it was composed, it is said to be influenced by Baroque musical style. The same is true of Credo III, which we also sang. Still, everyone knows these pieces, so minimal preparation is required. And the proper chants of the Feast of St Joseph the Worker fall rather into the same 'late' category, only more so!

They still sound pretty good if they are sung well.

We sang St Joseph the Workman last year, when it also fell on a First Friday; last year it was displaced from 1st May by the Ascension, and was celebrated on May 2nd.

Here's the Offertory (pitched a little high!), followed by the hymn Caelitum Joseph.

and the Communion:

Chant colloquium

2009-04-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

As part of the Graduate Students' Colloquia Series, there will be a lecture given on plainchant. Here are the details:

"Gregorian Imprints: Solesmes, Regensburg and the Battle for a French Plainchant", given by Katherine Ellis

Tuesday of 5th Week (26th May), 5.15pm

Denis Arnold Hall, Faculty of Music

Students, staff and general public are all welcome to attend. Refreshments beforehand and discussion afterwards.

Term Card, Trinity 2009

2009-04-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here are our events for this term:

1st Week
Fri 1st May: St Joseph the Worker (First Friday)
SS Gregory & Augustine, 6pm

4th Week
Thurs 21st May: Ascension
Oxford Oratory, 12.15pm

Sat 23rd May: Chant Training Day with Phillip Duffy
SS Gregory & Augustine, from 9.30am
Votive Mass of Our Lady, 3.30pm

5th Week
Sat 30th May: Whitsun Eve
Mapledurham House, near Reading, 11am

6th Week
Friday 5th June: Whit Friday
SS Gregory & Augustine, 6pm

7th Week
Thurs 11th June: Corpus Christi
Oxford Oratory,12.15pm

Practices are on Wednesdays, First week to Seventh Week, at 8.15 in Oriel unless indicated.

To join us please email oxfordgregorianchant@gmail.com

First Friday of March

2009-03-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was our last Mass of Hillary Term, the First Friday of March, which was the Friday of the First Week of Lent. Mass was sung by Fr John Saward in his church, SS Gregory & Augustine. Notice the 'Lenten array' which now covers the reredos and the panelling on either side: it is a large, patterned purple curtain.

Each day of Lent has its own Mass in the Traditional Missal. Outside Lent the Mass one gets on a given weekday will either be a votive Mass, a ferial Mass (ie the repetition of the previous Sunday Mass) or (most likely) the feast of a saint. During Lent there are Masses (ie a full set of propers and chant settings for them) for each day. Important feasts and votive Masses can still be said, of course, but these Lenten Masses are of great antiquity and beauty.

Fr John Saward accordingly said the Mass of the Friday after the First Sunday of Lent, which is in fact the Ember Friday of Lent. Like many days of Lent, this makes use of the Tract of Ash Wednesday. All the other propers, however, are unique to this Mass.

At the offertory we also sang the beautiful hymn to the Holy Name of Jesus, Iesu dulcis memoria, since First Friday Masses are a devotion to the Sacred Heart.

At communion, after the communion antiphon 'Erubescant, et conturbentur' we sang the Lenten prose, 'Attende Domine'.

The liturgical music essential to an understanding of the liturgy

2009-02-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

If we sing what the Church wants us to sing, the nature of the music presents the words to us in such a way that helps us to understand them. Another very interesting post on the New Liturgical Movement by Jeff Tucker:

Lent is a fantastic example of this, and this Sunday in particular, when the propers intrigue us with their form and structure. The Introit is joyful, and the Tract is too, but it is shockingly long, while the Gospel itself is short. The propers are uniformly from Psalm 90, which his highly unusual, and this happens to be the same Psalm that the Devil quotes during the period of temptation.

See the whole post.

Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge

2009-02-23T13:45:00.001-08:00

This is the schola founded by the late Dr Mary Berry, who directed the first Gregorian Chant Training Day I organised in Oxford. We have established mutual links and they have asked me to mention a very interesting-sounding event:

THE TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON EC4Y 7HL

Saturday 18 April 2009 at 7.30pm

Cantors of the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge

THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE

Music from the Templars’ Jerusalem Breviary

Mass at Milton Manor

2009-02-21T12:22:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we had a splendid Mass in the delightful 18th Century 'Gothick' private chapel of Milton Manor, which was consecrated by Bishop Challoner and has been occupied by the Catholic Barret (now Mockler-Barret) family ever since.
The chapel was quite full and the schola sang from an upper room which has wooden shutters opening into the chapel.

Mass was followed--as always at Milton Manor--by refreshments offered by the ever-hospitable Mockler-Barrets, after which we went for lunch in a nearby pub.

Here are two videos recording our singing:

the Offertory, Felix namque est:

the Gradual and the Tract, sung by selected members of the schola:

See the Oxford LMS events blog, where there are more photographs.

Residential Chant Coure

2009-02-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

A brand new and very exciting development is heralded by the announcement by St Catherine's Trust of a residential Gregorian Chant course to be directed by Nick Gale, who is the Director of Music at St George's Cathedral in Southwark. It will run Friday afternoon to Sunday morning, 26th-29th March, at Ardingly College, near Haywards Heath in Sussex.

All the active singers of the Schola Abelis will be able to attend this course for free, thanks to the schola's benefactors. For the general public the price is £50.

Please contact me to secure your place on this unique course. There is simply no similar opportunity in the UK to spend time on chant over three days:

oxfordgregorianchant@googlemail.com

For more details, see Oxford Events, which also announces the annual 'Chant Training Day' organised by the local Latin Mass Society, and directed by Mr Phillip Duffy, former Director of Music at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (ie the Catholic one). This is a one-day event, which will take place at SS Gregory and Augustine on Saturday 25th May.

Again, the Schola Abelis has an arrangement with the organisers and active singers will not have to pay to attend. Please note it in your diaries!

Rip up those carpets!

2009-02-13T10:28:00.001-08:00

There is a fascinating post by Jeff Tucker about church accoustics in The New Liturgical Movement.

Carpets kill the chant. Trying to combat the effect of carpets in churches by installing more and better loadspeakers and so on obviously won't help the Chant either - amplification can only be used effectively by pop-style music. One reason it is going to be difficult to revive the Chant - or any music in accordance with the Church's enormous and wonderful tradition - is carpets. They will make it sound awful.

Rip them out!

Candlemas

2009-02-04T13:19:00.001-08:00

Saturday practice and lunch

2009-01-31T12:55:00.001-08:00

Today we had a session with our professional coach, Mr Adrian Taylor, in preparation for Candlemass. Our practice was followed by lunch in the Senior Member's house.

Chant pdfs

2009-01-25T09:06:00.000-08:00

The Church Music Association of America have been scanning and making available free to the public an increasing number of extremely useful chant books and one-off bits and pieces. They aren't set out all that clearly on their website (scroll down and look on the right sidebar) so here they are. No doubt there will be more as time goes on. They are all pdf files, many of them extremely large.

Term Card Hillary term 2009

2009-01-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

As usual we will meet on Wednesdays at 8.15 in Oriel (in the Music Room: please ask at the lodge).

Our events this term:

3rd Week, Monday
2nd Feb (6pm): Candlemas
in the Church of SS Gregory and Augustine

5th Week, Saturday
21st Feb (11.30am), Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary
in the private chapel of Milton Manor House

7th Week, Friday
6th March (6pm), First Friday (Ferial Mass of Lent)
in SS Gregory and Augustine

Our venues this term:

SS Gregory & Augustine, 322 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 7NS

Milton Manor, near Abingdon, OX14 EN

Map of Scholas

2008-12-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

Establised by Musica Sacra of the USA. This isn't the first time I've tried to add our schola; let's hope it works this time!

Zoom in and out with your mouse wheel (or the little buttons bottom right); move the map by 'dragging'.

Final Mass of Michaelmas Term and termly dinner

2008-12-11T08:57:00.001-08:00

Our final Mass of term took place in SS Gregory and Augustine, which is undergoing some very positive renovations. The regular traditional Mass on First Fridays fell, this December, on the Feast of St Birinus, a feast unique to the Archdiocese of Birmingham. St Birinus brought the faith to Oxfordshire, basing himself in Dorchester on Thames, which was accordingly the seat of his diocese. Below is a medieval stained glass window showing St Birinus receiving his commission from Pope Honorius I, in Dorchester Abbey, which once housed his shrine. (At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was an Abbey of canons regular, but it was saved by the residents of Dorchester to serve as a parish church.)

A ten-strong schola sang the Mass to a very pleasing standard and repaired afterwards, in company with the serving term, to a splendid termly dinner in the house of the Senior Member.

Sacred Music in Rome: 'mediocrity and paralysis'

2008-12-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

Given the emphasis on culture of the present Pope, and the emphasis on Gregorian Chant of the Second Vatican Council, it is truly shocking to read such things from the respected Italian journalist Sandro Magister. It is reported and commented on by Fr John Zulhsdorf.

It is particularly interesting to hear that the Sistine Chapel Choir have earned the nickname the 'Sistine Screamers'. Oxford's Chant Schola may not be so far behind the centre of the Catholic world in the restoration of liturgical music.

Magdalen College Mass

2008-11-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

It was a great honour for the Schola to sing at this important Mass, which was widely anticipated and reported in the blogs and the press (see The Times). Magdalen College's own tradition of choral excellence was something to live up to!

The Mass went extremely well, under the direction of our professional coach, Mr Adrian Taylor. I managed to capture only part of the singing, but here is the 'Libera nos', sung before the blessing of the cataphalque, sung by a small part of the schola. The cantor in this instance was the excellent Mr John Simmonds, who joined us for the occasion.

Very helpful book on music in the Traditional Mass

2008-11-10T05:47:00.001-08:00

Psallite Sapienter: A Musician's Guide to the Extraordinary Form

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Religion Christianity music gregorian chant

Thanks and h-t to Jeffrey Tucker at the New Liturgical Movement.

All Souls at the Oxford Oratory

2008-11-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

Last week we benefited from one of the regular visits of our professional coach, Mr Adrian Taylor, who is based in London. Here is a picture of him with the schola at our regular practice session.
This was in preparation for the feast of All Souls, celebrated with a traditional Missa Cantata at the Oxford Oratory. We had a large schola for the occasion, which is helpful in such a reletively large church, especially since we sing from the choir loft at the back.
Fr Anton Webb, who has himself sung with us in the past, was the celebrant at the Mass. Other former singers were among the servers; we had the full ceremonies, with incense. About sixty people were present for the Mass.
The Oxford Oratory, like Westminster Cathedral, is full of scaffolding at the moment. The purpose, however, is not structural repair but the long-awaited restoration of the internal decoration, which was painted over in a fit of enthusiasm for 'noble simplicity' by the Jesuit guardians of the church in the 1950s.

Chant Day at Farnbrough

2008-10-27T14:13:00.001-07:00

Schola Gregoriana Sancti Nicolai

Gregorian Chant Workshop
St Michael’s Abbey,
Farnborough led by Dom Cuthbert Brogan, OSB - Abbot of Farnborough

SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2008: 10.00-16.30

This will be our third Farnborough Abbey Chant Workshop. The objects include improvement of skills, recruitment of new members, and increased enjoyment of Gregorian Chant and the Old Liturgy which is now encouraged and authorised by the Catholic Church Worldwide since the Moto Proprio of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough GU14 7NQ is situated within walking distance of the railway station.

Programme - 10.00 Registration Workshop Part I Office of Sext - chanted by the monks Break for Lunch Workshop Part II Office of None - chanted by the monks Break for coffee Workshop Part III 16.30 Workshop completes 16.45 Office of Vespers - chanted by the monks Syllabus - will include notation, modes, chant practice (including psalmody) - Chants to be covered - a. Ordinary - Mass IV Cunctipotens Genitor Deus b.

Propers for feast of St Nicholas: Introit - Statuit Gradual - Inveni Alleluia - Justus ut palma Offertory - Veritas mea Communion - Semel juravi

Materials - all being prepared by Fr Abbot Cuthbert

Fees: £15 (including tea but excluding lunch) Tea will be provided and sandwiches for lunch - at a small charge Contact: csavage@aquamar.plus.com or Tel: 01798-344541

First event of Michaelmas 2008: LMS Oxford Pilgrimage

2008-10-26T09:48:00.001-07:00

Our first event of the year was the Latin Mass Society Oxford Pilgrimage. Each year there is a Solemn High Mass, a procession to one of the sites of martyrdom in the city, and Benediction. This year Bishop Kenney, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, blessed a new plaque honouring the four Catholics executed in 1589, who were beatified by Pope John-Paul II in 1987.

The picture above shows part of the procession with Bishop Kenney, other clergy, and the Schola in front of them. (In accordance with the custom, the bishop was at the back of the procession.) We sang the Litany of the Saints, the Te Deum and other things as we walked along. After the procession we sang at Benediction in Blackfriars: picture below. There is more about the events of the day here and here.

Matins of the Dead, Worcester College

2008-10-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

We have received this email:

Dear Gregorian Chant Society:

There will be a sung Matins for the Dead on 1 November (Saturday of 3rd) at 11
pm in Worcester College Chapel. The plainsong has been newly transcribed from
the extant manuscripts of the liturgical use of York.

Some of your members may be interested in attending. If so, please pass on these
details; there is a link to a Facebook event below.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=41008063695

Freshers' Fair 2008

2008-10-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

Here is our stall, manned by our President, Richard, among the stalls of Oxford innumerable choirs. The lady in the straw hat behind him is at the Gilbert and Sullivan Society stall.

New Logo

2008-10-01T07:47:00.001-07:00

This is based on the rebus of our spiritual patron, Bl. Thomas Abel, which he carved on the wall of the Beachamp Tower at the Tower of London while awaiting execution by King Henry VIII.

The logo was drawn for us by the Catholic artist Daniel Mitsui.

Term Card for Michaelmas Term 2008

2008-09-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

Officers: Richard Craddock, Somerville, President
Alexander Morrison, Oriel, Secretary

Erik Tonning, Regent's Park College, Treasurer
Dr Joseph Shaw, St Benet's Hall, Senior Member

2nd Week, Sat
(25th October): Solemn High Mass 11am (Blackfriars), Procession 2pm, Benediction 3.30pm: LMS Pilgrimage to Oxford

4th Week, Mon
(3rd November): Sung Mass 12.15 (Oxford Oratory): All Souls

6th Week, Mon
(17th November) Sung Mass 7pm (Magdalen College Chapel):
Requiem for Cardinal Pole (450th anniversary)

8th Week, Fri
(5th December): Sung Mass 6pm
(First Friday, SS Gregory & Augustine, Woodstock Road)

Practices take place at 8.15pm on Wednesdays in Full Term (venue tbc)
NB session with our professional coach on Thursday of 3rd Week (30th Oct) instead of the Wednesday practice that week.

All these Masses are Catholic 'Traditional' Masses ('usus antiquior').

End of term Masses

2008-08-07T05:48:00.000-07:00

Somewhat belatedly there are pictures of the Schola's two Masses at the end of Trinity term: Mass in the historic chapel of Mapledurham House, 31st May, for the Feast of the Queenship of Our Lady, and the First Friday of June, 6th, which was the feast of St Norbert, celebrated in the parish church of SS Gregory and Augustine. The celebrant in both cases was Fr John Saward.

After the latter the schola had its termly dinner in The Anchor, Hayfield Road, with members of the serving team and the Senior Member's children...

More pictures and commentary on the Mapledurham Mass can be found on the Oxford Events blog here.

These Masses were the last of the Schola's events for the academic year. Thus ends a very successful year, the first full year of the Schola's existence. Next term we will be back in Freshers' Fair to recruit a new generation of singers, and already have lined up for the term participation in the unveiling of a plaque to Oxford's Catholic martyrs of 1589, All Souls in the Oxford Oratory, and a Requiem for Reginald, Cardinal Pole, in Madgalen College chapel, marking the 450th anniversary of his death.

For these and other forthcoming events, see the Oxford LMS Rep blog.

Chant Training Day

2008-05-26T01:54:00.000-07:00

The Schola participated in the Gregorian Chant Training Day organised by the local Latin Mass Society. It was hosted by Fr John Saward in his church of SS Gregory and Augustine, and led by Mr Philip Duffy. Some videos of the singing at the Mass which concluded the day can be found here.

Corpus Christi at the Oxford Oratory

2008-05-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Oxford Gregorian Chant Society provided the singing for this parish Mass at the Oxford Oratory, which was attended by more than 80 people, and was celebrated on the traditional date of the feast, the second Thursday after Whitsun.

Why is Chant making a comeback?

2008-05-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

Excellent post on the New Liturgical Movement blog here.

St Joseph the Worker practice videos

2008-04-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Introit Sapentia LU 1440

Offertory Bonitas Domini LU 1444

Communion Unde huic LU 1444

Trinity 2008 Term Card

2008-04-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

2nd Week: Friday (2nd May) First Friday: St Joseph the Worker
(SS Gregory and Augustine, Woodstock Road, Oxford: 6pm)

5th Week: Thursday (22nd May), Corpus Christi (Oxford Oratory, Woodstock Road, Oxford: 12.15)

Saturday 11.30pm 24th May Chant Training Day: SS G&A from 9.30 am; Sung Mass at 3.30pm (Votive Mass of Our Lady)

6th Week: (31st May) 11.30am Our Lady, Queen: Mapledurham House, near Reading

7th Week: First Friday (6th June), St Norbert, (SS G&A 6pm)

Sung Mass at Dorchester, pictures

2008-02-29T02:36:00.001-08:00

Sung Mass at Dorchester

2008-02-14T05:01:00.000-08:00

This took place on Saturday 9th February. The celebrant was Fr Nicholas du Chaxel. Some videos:

Introit: Salve Sancta Parens, Kyrie, Collect

Tract: Gaude Maria Virgo

Communion: Beata viscera

Mass VIII Sanctus

Salve Regina Caelorum

Chant videos for practice

2008-01-26T12:46:00.001-08:00

Hillary Term 2008 Term Card

2008-01-20T08:09:00.000-08:00

Every Tuesday and Thursday in Full Term:
6.30pm Sung Latin Vespers, St Benet's Hall: all welcome

Practices: Our all-male schola meets every Wednesday in Full Term at 8.15pm
in the Music Room, The Queen's College.

Public Masses this term: All welcome

3rd Week: Friday 1st Feb, 6pm: Sung Mass,
SS Gregory and Augustine, Woodstock Road.
Mass of St Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr.

4th Week: Saturday 9th Feb, 11.30am: Sung Mass,
St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames.
Votive Mass of Our Lady.

8th Week: Friday 7th Feb, 6pm: Sung Mass,
SS Gregory and Augustine, Woodstock Road.
Ferial Mass of Lent.

Notes:
All these Masses are according to the 1962 Missal;
for more on the 'Traditional Mass' in Oxford see here.
Our termly session with our professional coach will take place before Mass on 9th Feb.
Transport to St Birinus will be arranged; please contact us.

The Churches we singing at this term:

SS Gregory & Augustine
322 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 7NS

St Birinus
Bridge End, Dorchester on Thames OX10 7JR

Bl Thomas Abel

2008-01-15T05:16:00.000-08:00

The Oxford Gregorian Chant Society is under the spiritual patronage of Blessed Thomas Abel. He was a student of Magdalen College, a priest and a musician, and the chaplain and music teacher to Queen Katharine of Aragon. Like other opponents of Henry's divorce of Katharine, he was imprisoned and executed in 1540; he has been beatified as a martyr.

He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, in the Beauchamp Tower, and carved a rebus, or visual pun, on the wall: a play on his name, 'A-bell'.

Immediately below this carving is another, by Prior Lawrence Cook of the Carmelite Priory at Doncaster, another beatus who was executed in 1538, for his lack of enthusiasm for the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Many other Catholic prisoners wrote their names on the walls around the Beauchamp tower cell; the most famous was a later prisoner, and a saint, St Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel. You can in this picture see his name and part of the Latin motto he composed: 'The more we suffer for Christ in this life, the more glory we shall have in the next life.' After many years in prison he died there in 1595.

New officers

2007-11-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

At the last practice of term, we elected new officers for the Society, effective from the end of term:

Richard Craddock, Somerville, President

James Harland, The Queen's, Secretary

Daniel Kumar, St Annes's, Treasurer

Congratulations to them all!

Newman Society Mass

2007-11-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

I've done a long post on this here; a great triumph for the Gregorian Chant Society.

Coincidentally, I learnt this week that the University Proctors finally got round to registering the OGCS as an official student society on 18th November. Floreat!

OU Gregorian Chant Society

Final Mass of Michaelmas

More Masses of Michaelmas Term

Rembrance Sunday in Reading

Freshers' Fair!

Term Card: Michaelmas 2011

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Revamped blog

Nuptial Mass

Sacred Heart

Backlog of videos

Videos of the Juventutem Mass

Newman Termly Mass: and videos

St William of York, Reading

Term Card: Long Vacation 2011

Polyphony for Our Lady and Bl J.H. Newman

Polyphony for St George

Schola Abelis at the Spanish Place workshop with Dom Lelièvre

The Schola Abelis at the GCN Chant Course

Term Card for Trinity 2011

Juventutem Mass in London, again

Ash Wednesday in SS Gregory & Augustine, 2011

Musical event in Oxford

Videos of the Feast of St Chad

Videos of the Pilgrimage to Caversham

Videos of Septuagesima

Videos of St Agatha Mass

Term Card for Hillary 2011

Videos of First Sunday of Advent

The Schola Abelis at Bel and the Dragon

St Didacus at St Anthony of Padua

First Masses of Term

Freshers Fair!

Term Card for Michaelmas 2010

Videos of Milton Manor Mass

Videos of Newman Mass

First Masses of Term

Trinity Term 2010: Term Card

Caversham

OGCS granted the right to use the Unversity name

Gregorian Chant Network launched

Long Crendon and Ash Wednesday

Hymns and motets at Mass

Feast of St Agnes

Term Card, Hilary Term 2010

End of Term Masses

Plainsong and Medieval Music Society conference

Chant Course with Nick Gale

Presentation of Our Lady

Two Chant Masses

LMS Oxford Pilgrimage 2009

Welcome

Term Card, Michaelmas 2009

Bartolucci on the Solesmes Chant revival

Corpus Christi video clips

Corpus Christi and Termly Dinner

First Friday of June

Mass at Mapledurham, Vigil of Pentcost 2009

More videos

Chant Training Day

'Catholic congregational music a laughing stock'

Worcester College Sarum Vespers

Ambrosian Chant

St Joseph the Workman: the Schola Abelis on song

Chant colloquium

Term Card, Trinity 2009

First Friday of March

The liturgical music essential to an understanding of the liturgy

Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge

Mass at Milton Manor

Residential Chant Coure

Rip up those carpets!

Candlemas

Saturday practice and lunch

Chant pdfs

Chant Resources

Term Card Hillary term 2009

Map of Scholas

Final Mass of Michaelmas Term and termly dinner

Sacred Music in Rome: 'mediocrity and paralysis'