Thursday, April 21, 2011

Triduum

I was feeling pretty blah earlier this week, thinking about tonight, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday and all the liturgies that I have to do and the work the choir had to do, and especially about how little sleep I'm going to get on Saturday night! and so I was just sort of wishing that it would just hurry up and be Easter afternoon already!

But during Mass tonight (which was absolutely beautiful, btw, more on that later...) I almost began to cry several times, realizing that this will be my last Holy Week at St. P, and wondering where I will be next year. I honestly have NO idea. It's pretty scary.

I am pretty sure, that never again will I experience another church, where the congregation heartily sings the Latin chants of the Mass, where they sing six verses in latin of the Pange Lingua, where a parish of 500 families can produce a choir that can pull off Durufle's 6-part Ubi Caritas!

I am so blessed. I can't even begin to describe it. But, I will admit, it took work. I had four Holy Week's here before I've felt this way; weeks of anxiety and not-singing-anything-terribly-impressive lol.

Here's the lineup:

Holy Thursday:
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Gloria VIII
Psalm: Our Blessing Cup (a contemporary SSA arrangement)
Gospel Accl: Respond & Acclaim
Washing of Feet: (I wish we had more appropriate music to sing that reflected the proper texts for this time, but unfortunately everything that is in the hymnal of a "servant" character is either extremely trite, or else theologically questionably appropriate.)
Ah,Holy Jesus
Glory Be to Jesus
Offertory: Ubi Caritas (Durufle! woot woot! and they rocked!)
Ordinary: The usual
Communion:
Hoc Corpus
O Domine (Palestrina)
Humbly We Adore (Adoro Te)
Sing My Tongue (6 verses, Latin)

Good Friday
Psalm: Respond & Acclaim
Veneration of the Cross:
Reproaches
Psalm 51- Miserere (4-part chanted setting by some 20th century Italian, can't remember whom, alternating with chant)
Were You There (if needed)
Offertory (or whatever it's called): What Wondrous Love
Communion:
Pater, Si Non
Sing My Tongue (Picardy)

Easter Vigil:
7 Psalms (mix of R & A and CTK Psalms)
Gloria: chant
Psalm/Alleluia: R & A
Litany of the Saints (Becker, with REAL Saint names.)
Vidi Aquam
Offertory: At the Lamb's High Feast
Communion:
Pascha Nostrum
Worthy is the Lamb (Fishel)
Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol)
I Know that My Redeemer Lives (Duke Street)

1 comment:

Jon said...

Hi, Kevin Galbraith directed me to your blog. I can tell you that my friend, the music director at St. Phil in Battle Creek, feels much the same. She has been hiring me in for Advent & Lent for the last few years to support her bass section. She could probably do without me now, as she's finally built up the choir to a decent size. I recognize a lot of the pieces you've listed. The one I'm excited about singing this year is Billings' "Easter Anthem". Happy Easter!