The Gloria Patri Modes

If you've misplaced your handout from Kathy, you can find jpeg's of each mode's Gloria Patri here.

Mechanics of the Chant

Gregorian Chant Notation

I can't really OCR these pages, so you get JPEGs of them.

Colloquium XXII Underway

in Salt Lake City.  And this year, not only is Kathy there, but so too is Fr. Francisco!

(ETA: And Chris Beasley.  Anyone else?)

Latin Pronunciation: Consonants

(except, of course, we sing Church Latin!)

The following consonants are pronounced as they are in English: B, D, F, L, M, N, P, Q, V.

C is hard, like “k” in “kick,” except before E, AE, OE, I, Y. Then it is like “ch” in “church.”

CC before the above vowels is pronounced “tch” (stopped “t”).  But:

In Ecclesiis: “Een Ehk-kleh-see-ees”

Peccata mundi: “pehk-kah-tah moon-dee”

SC before the same vowels is like “sh” in “shell”

CH is always like K:

Christe eleison: “Kree-steh eh-leh-ee-sawn”

Jesum Christum: “Yeh-soom Kree-stoom”

G is hard, like the “g” in “God” except before E, AE, OE, and I, when it is soft like the “g” in “gem.” 

GN has the sound “ny” as in “cognac.”

H is silent as in “honest,” except in the two words “mihi” and “nihil” which are pronounced “mee-kee” and “nee-keel." 

J is pronounced like the “y” in “you.” It is sometimes written as an “I.”

PH is pronounced like “f.”

R should be flipped with the tongue when it appears between two vowels or at the end of a word and should be rolled when it appears at the beginning of a word.

S is hard as in “see” (never “raise”) except when it comes between two vowels and is slightly softened: 

Miserere mei, Deus: “Mee-seh-reh-reh meh-ee Deh-oos"

Invisibilium: “een-vee-see-bee-lee-oom”

SCH is like the “sk” of “school.”

T is hard as in “tea,” but not as plosive as it is in English.

TI before a vowel and following any letter except S, X or T is pronounced “tsee.”

TH is always hard, like “tea.”

X is prounounced like “ks” as in “tacks” or “tax.” When it comes between two vowels it is slightly softened: 

Dixit Maria: "Dee-kseet Mah-ree-ah"

Laudat exercitus: “lah-oodaht eh-ksehr-chee-toos”

XC is pronounced as “ksk” before the vowels O, A or U:

Excogitare: “eks-kaw-jee-tah-reh”

But when XC appears before E, AE, OE, I and Y it becomes “ksh.” 

In excelsis: “een eh-kshehl-sees”

Y is treated like the vowel I (ee).

Z is “dz” of “suds”:

Azymus: “ah-dzy-moos”

Latin Pronunciation: Vowels

On our music turn-in sheets, Kathy exhorted us to read our Latin pronunciation sheets over the summer.  So I'm doing my part to oblige.

The six vowels in the Latin language are:

A, pronounced father (never fawn or fan), transliterated "ah"

E, pronounced fed (never fate), transliterated "eh"

I, pronounced feet (never fit), transliterated "ee"

O, pronounced fought (never foe), transliterated "aw"

U, pronounced food (never foot), transliterated "oo"

Y, pronounced feet (never fit), transliterated "ee" 

AE or OE should be pronounced as E (“eh”) [but not "ay," no matter how the congregation sings it--P].

U when preceded by Q or NG and followed by another vowel is sung quickly and is part of the same syllable as the vowel which follows: 

“qui, quae, quod, quam” (kwee, kweh [not "kway"--P], kwawd, kwahm) 

“unda fluxit sanguine” (oon-dah floo-kseet sahn-gwee-neh) 

Au/Eu/Ay are sung as dipthongs, with the greatest duration given to the first vowel and the second vowel introduced just prior to the following syllable or word: 

“Laudate Dominum” (Lah-oodah-teh Daw-mee-noom) 

“Victimae paschali laudes” (Veek-tee-meh pah-skah-lee lah-oodes) 

Benedicamus Domino

And thus ends our season with a busy day of singing for a magnificent celebration of Corpus Christi.  It's also been a busy year, and it could well have been busier!  I think we can all be glad it wasn't TOO warm in the loft today.

I echo Kathy's thanks to all of you for your faithfulness and tremendous efforts.  Special thanks to our newest members who allowed Kathy to make some necessary changes.  Now let's pray we get some more new blood over the summer!

We'll be singing for a wedding in August.  Otherwise, have a wonderful summer, find something else to do on Tuesdays, and I look forward to seeing you this fall!  --Paul

Translating Latin? That's EASY!

Consider the lyrics to Carmina Burana's ubiquitous opening piece, "O Fortuna," not that we'll be singing it anytime soon.  Hardly apropos for Mass, it's essentially Carl Orff's setting of a medieval drinking song, but it's still a powerful tune, which is why you hear it so much in pop culture.

Anyway, here's one translation . . . or not.



Google "O Four Tuna" for others.

And if you want to know what the lyrics really say, Fr. Z's got them.