Tag Archives: salve regina

Our first Mass

I’ve been communicating most of our news via our Google group/e-mail list or private e-mail. But we have not been idle.

Five of us sang for the vigil of the Assumption on Aug. 14 at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa. I was very pleased with the group. We were small but mighty!

Highlights of the Mass included the Chabanel psalm for the day; a two-part "Ave Maria" by Perosi at offertory, followed by "Salve Regina," the seasonal Marian antiphon; and the chanted proper at Communion, "Beata viscera." Dignified hymns at processional and post-Mass recessional.

We’ve been invited to sing at St. John Neumann in Farragut for the vigil of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (also known as the Triumph of the Cross), and if we have sufficient numbers, we’ll do it. My initial thoughts include Liszt’s "Vexilla Regis," the Communio ("Per signum Crucis"), the Chabanel psalm for the day, "Salve Regina," and whatever polyphonic piece we can learn. Two possibilities are Asola’s "Christus factus est" and Lasso’s "Adoramus te, Christe." Both are available from cpdl in editions for three parts.

Note an addition to the sidebar at right: links to my public page on iterasi.com. It looks like an easy way for me to share info and links on the fly with members.

If you’re interested in joining the schola, comment on this post or e-mail me.

By the way–there may be changes ahead in our rehearsal schedule. I’ll keep you posted.

What we rehearsed June 24

Last night three of us focused on Gregorian chant: the Communion chant from the Roman Gradual for the fifth Sunday of Lent, a couple of the four seasonal Marian antiphons, and the chant hymn Ave verum corpus. I realize that the Communio was a bit out of date, but it’s a nice one, and I already had copies in the music binders . . .

Unless you hear otherwise, assume that we will rehearse at Our Lady of Fatima for at least the next several Tuesday nights, 7 to 8:30 p.m. I’d like to get us on the schedule to sing a Mass seven or eight weeks from now. That’s plenty of time for us to master the music but not so much time that we get discouraged because the goal seems too far away.

I’ll keep you posted.