Fourth Sunday of Easter

Jesus Christ is Risen Today
All People That on Earth (Old 100th)
You Satisfy (Gift of Finest)
O Breathe on Me (St. Columba)
The Strife is O'er

Third Sunday of Easter

Open: Good Christians All Rejoice (Gelobt Sei Gott-not sure if the congregation knows it, but...oh well...)
Sprinkling: a cappella Vidi Aquam (myself or choir members also)
Gloria: Lee
Prep: Easter Alleluia (O Filiae)
Sanctus: Mass of Creation (blah...just a few more weeks...)
Mem. Acc/Amen: introducing a cappella Latin! (The Jubilate Deo one?)
Communion: Alleluia Sing to Jesus
Alleluia, Give Thanks
Send: Christ the Lord (Llanfair)

New translation.

After hearing about this whole new Mass translation thing, and being able to read snippets of it and being aware of and impressed with the increase of...sacred language? less banality? anyhow, I've been excited and looking forward to being able to read the whole thing. When it appeared in the Catholic blog world a couple days ago, I was quite happy. It lived up to my expectations, and I'm just so excited with the reverence and the beauty of the language that it conveys, and the respect of the Mystery of our Faith.

so, I was so excited about this, I just had to share it with my roommate. note, she is a relatively devout Catholic, traditionally leaning, but not someone who keeps on top of all the latest liturgical happenings. Basically, a good example of a typical pew sitter who is also a good Christian.
So I asked her if she was aware of this new Mass translation, and she wasn't, so I explained that a little, then I was so excited, I just had to read parts of the translation to show her what I meant about it being more reverent and less banal. So I read her a little bit, and she just kind of shrugged, "I like it how it is now...?"

ah! If she, who is intelligent, college educated, and not narrow-minded, can't appreciate the beauty of these words, how will other average church-goers?!

how to begin Mass...

I'm still trying to figure out the difference between the "introit," and "entrance antiphon," and where to obtain something that is actually antiphonal, and how to include the congregation in what the Church says we should use as an entrance for Mass...

say a prayer for me...

tomorrow I'm meeting with my boss to discuss my increase in job responsibilities since I'm graduating, and, as a result, increase in salary.
Talking about money is NEVER fun...
pray it goes well...

Easter Vigil

the only awful thing that happened, from my perspective occured with the Gloria.
So I knew in advance that they would be ringing the church bell during it. Fabulous. We did John Lee's repetitive chant-like Gloria with the handbells. However, I failed to take into consideration the fact that the handbells and the church bell are actually musical instruments with PITCHES. Which, as it turned out, are NOT in tune with eachother. (Someone had told me a while ago that these particular handbells were not in tune with anything else, so they always have to be used alone. Fine with me, I never really planned on using them with the organ.) The Gloria kind of revolves around an F, G, and Bb. The church bell is a G. Of a very different tuning. So we started the Gloria with the handbells, then the church bell came in. Not only were we then fighting its tuning, but the rest of the choir was standing away from the four of us ringing the handbells, and couldn't HEAR us b/c the bell above them was so loud! So they were basically just trying to watch my lips! I wonder what would have happened if I had stopped the handbells-would the singing have migrated to match the church bell? Had I thought of this in advance, it might have actually been cool to try the Gloria with JUST the church bell-it's simple enough.

Then on Easter, at the chant Mass at St. T's, we forgot (I TOTALLY should have remembered!) that there is a sprinkling rite! And we need to sing something for that! Literally TWO minutes before we had to start the introit, someond reminded us. One of the girls kind of knew Asperges Me, so she did that. I've intended before to learn Vidi Aquam, knowing it might be useful someday, but I never actually have. grr. That whole Mass was just kind of stressful, b/c the previous Mass went so long, that we couldn't even find parking much less get in the church until 12 minutes before our Mass! But, my priest/boss came to hear us! I had mentioned it to him so that he could get ideas for us to start using at our church. He left before it was over, so I didn't get to ask him what he thought.

the anguish of being a church musician on Easter Eve!

A couple of my close friends are becoming Catholic tonight at two different Easter vigils, none of which are at my church.
And I, for obvious reasons, cannot celebrate with either one of them.
Not only can I not attend either of their Vigils, but I can't go to any "after-parties" either!
It's not just that I have to get up and go to Mass and could come home and re-rack, it's that I have to get up at 6:45, LEAD music for 2 Masses, then sing some difficult music for a third one, then go immediately to celebrate Easter with the fam for the rest of the day.
sigh.

but I am otherwise quite happy. One of these conversions, I have been personally praying for almost daily for FOUR years!
which makes the inability to celebrate it immediately even more difficult.
But perhaps that is for the better, for now at least.
There will likely be much more time later to celebrate. :-)

and today

only one bad thing happened, at least from my perspective.
Of course during all the craziness I didn't go over with Father (we don't have a deacon) his, "This is the wood of the cross..." I didn't even think of it as being something I should have made sure he had down, but when he sang it, he went back down to the opening pitch on the word "on," instead of staying on the same note he had just sung for "cross," so he ended it way lower than it was supposed to be. So here I am, up in the choir loft, and now we're in some weird mode, so I had to decide if I should start the choir on the same note he had ended on (which was the wrong note, but everyone knows they're at least supposed to start on the same note as the priest ended!) or should I jump back up to the right pitch and put us back in the right mode/key. I did decide to just stay on the same note, and the people's response ended pretty weird and was also in a confused mode, and this happened all three times.
I afterwards explained to Father what he had sung wrong, and he was surprised, "I practiced it!" So I added going over it before the service to my list of things to do differently next year, (also including things like: have twice as many songs prepared for the veneration of the cross-yikes! And even though it's not necessarily called for and we are already doing a lot of singing, it wouldn't hurt to have another song while the collection is being taken up and the altar is prepared.)
But the choir DID successfully sing everything a cappella, which added a loverly simplicity-reverent atmosphere! And my cantor nicely got through the psalm, which was the only thing I was actually worried about doing unaccompanied.

one down, two to go!

I love this week!

ok, funny (to me at least) story from tonight:

We've been using the basic chant Agnus Dei, and so I always play the note (G) and then start the chant, and then everyone joins in. Tonight, however, I knew I had to play a G on the organ, and then I was supposed to start singing something, but I could NOT remember how to start it! (finally, Father bailed me out...)

quick Triduum rundown for those who care...

Holy Thursday:
Lift High the Cross
Psalm by K. Blaney (for 3 women)
Feet Washing: Lord Whose Love in Humble Service, What Wondrous Love
Offertory: Where Charity and Love Prevail
Communion: Choir sings little Pange Lingua ditty by Rossini
Humbly We Adore Thee
At that First Eucharist
Transfer of Eucharist: Sing My Tongue (Pange Lingua)

Good Friday:
Psalm from Respond and Acclaim
Veneration: Were You There
O Sacred Head Surrounded
Jesus Walked (if needed)
Communion: Surely He Has Born Our Griefs (R. Holtz)
Sing My Tongue (Picardy)

Easter Vigil:
Pslams: mix of Respond and Acclaim and contemporary (but reverent!) composers
Litany of the Saints: Becker (but with variations as in the names of actual Saints!)
Sprinkling: Baptized in Water (Bunesson)
Offertory: O Sons and Daughters (O Filiae...)
Communion: same little ditty by Rossini from Thursday
Alleluia Sing to Jesus
Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks
Close: The Strife is Over


And also-possibly of some interest to those who are still reading this-I am getting to be more interested in having a more complete compliation of blogs/websites of interest to those involved in liturgical planning, and particularly music. I'll contact the few of those who I am aware of after the craziness of Easter, but I wouldn't mind getting a head start. Any ideas of websites that I don't have listed to the left? (I know all of those aren't liturgically oriented, someday when I have more time I will sort them better...)

recitalness

yay! recital is done! I'm just so happy I don't even know how to describe it. Basically my entire choir came, and were all quite impressed, and then basically all of my friends came, which was really wonderful. Someone told me that they did give away the last of the programs, which would be 115 people. I cannot even describe how it felt to look out over the audience, and to think how much I love EVERY SINGLE person who was there. I didn't put flyers all over the music school like most people do, cuz I didn't want any critical music school people there! (not that they would have come or anything...) yeah, that was great. and now I'm just so happy it's over! And real life can begin... (tee hee...)
like thinking about Holy Week-the most wonderful week of the year! I love it!

question about Holy Thursday-
currently I have "Lift High the Cross" scheduled for the opening. I'm torn. It just seems a little bit too...happy? for Holy Thursday? But maybe not. any other suggestions? I only have Ritual Song and Seasonal Missalette, and I guess I have until tomorrow night (choir practice) to decide...

tonight's the night...

...the night I've been dreading for 3 years.
My senior recital!
For the past 4 years (since I've started playing the organ,) I always think, "oh, I'll practice more tomorrow, or next week, or after spring break, or over the summer..." etc.
But now...
there is no tomorrow. there is only tonight.
and I know that I cannot play any of my pieces perfectly even when I'm alone, much less when there' s an audience sitting behind me.
And all those times when I've thought, "oh, I'll practice harder tomorrow?" do I regret it?
not sure. I've had an otherwise fabulous college experience, which I doubt I would have had I spent 3-4 hours a day locked up in a dark and lonely practice room!
but now, whatever my decisions were on all those individual days when I prioritized my time, and each day by itself seemed to be not all that important, I now look back and realize how collectively it will all make a difference.
My not-so-musically literate friends who have heard me (imperfectly) play my pieces have honestly told me they didn't hear any mistakes. which is why I haven't invited many musicians...tee hee...
but I know the few will hear the mistakes, or some of them. but it doesn't matter.
As the nice note my boss left for me yesterday reminds me, I am playing for God. The end goal being that of helping people to worship God better while at church.
The Glory of God.

Soli Deo Gloria