Wow!

Our September workshop has been a success. We had more than 40 people take the four-week seminar in Gregorian chant and its role in the liturgy. Thank you all for coming! We hope to see you at a Mass in which Regina Pacis Cantorum sings, or ultimately decide to sing with us, as some of you have.

More importantly, we hope you've gained a new appreciation and understanding for this sacred music which nearly became lost again post-Vatican II, but is seeing a revival in the Church thanks to people like Dr. William Mahrt, Fr. Francisco Nahoe, and Kathy Reinheimer. The next time someone tells you Vatican II did away with chant, you can refer them to the VII document Sacrosanctum Concilium, especially Chapter VI on Sacred Music. I bet he or she never read it, much less heard of it.

For more on counting the notes in Gregorian chant...

The Liber Usalis (PDF) is a good source, especially beginning on page 20.

(This is a follow-up to Kathy's instruction today on how to count.)

Nov. 1: All Saints' Day (With the Reno Baroque Ensemble)

Edited to include change in the order of music.

Holyday of Obligation. Extraordinary Form High Mass, 6:30 PM at the Cathedral.

Introit: Gaudeamus omnes

Gradual: Timete Dominum

Alleluia: Venite ad me

Offertory Proper: Justorum animae

Communio: Beati mundo corde (antiphon only, no verses)

Post-Communion Motet: Angeli, Archangeli (Gabrieli)

Last Gospel: Ave Maria (Victoria) (changed from Offertory Motet)


The Reno Baroque Ensemble will handle the ordinaries and the Communion motet.

We've Got Company, So Look (But Don't Sing) Sharp

On Friday night, November 1, we'll be joined in singing the Extraordinary Form High Mass for All Saints' Day by the Reno Baroque Ensemble. These fine musicians will sing the ordinaries as well as the communion motet, O Quam Gloriosum. It will be quite an honor for us!

Another Gregorian Chant Tutorial

From Corpus Christi Watershed:

How To Read And Sing Gregorian Chant (Includes pdf's and numerous videos, as well as help with solfege.)

Of course, you can also review the audio of our chant workshops.

(By the way, Solesmes is pronounced "so-LEM.")

Oct. 26: 30th Sunday Of The Year (Eucharistic and Marian Conference)

At Immaculate Conception, Sparks. Call time: 4 PM.

(To those who are new, this is the post I make after we've been given a set of music for a particular Mass. The links are to videos or sound files of the chants/hymns. Anything NOT linked here, I can't find online.)

Introit: Laetetur cor

Kyrie: Mass XI  (Orbis Factor)

Gloria: Mass XI

Responsorial Psalm: The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor

Gospel Acclamation: Sundays of the Year I

Offertory Proper: O Lord Grant Me Life

Offertory Hymn: The God Whom Earth and Sea and Sky #534

Sanctus: Mass XVIII

Memorial Acclamation: We Proclaim Your Death, O Lord

Our Father

Agnus Dei: Mass XVIII

Communio: Laetabimur (antiphon only)

Communion Motet: Domine Non Sum Dignus/Miserere Mei (Victoria)

Recessional: Hail Holy Queen

A Dr. Mahrt Excerpt

Here, he explains the structure of the Offertory proper and how the music fits it. Remember this the next time your Music Group launches into an OCP "classic" during the offertory.

Many Thanks

Thank you, Dr. William Mahrt, for a great talk on "the musical shape of the liturgy"! Maybe you should write a book on that topic.

Oh, that's right, you did.

Audio of the Chant Workshops

Gwen Linde has begun posting the content of the chant workshops that she has recorded here. Thanks for your service and bandwidth, Gwen!

Dr. Mahrt Lecture

Before he gives his presentation this Saturday at the workshop, you can hear Dr. William Mahrt speak at UNR on Friday, September 20 at 2 PM in the Church Fine Arts Building, Room 110 or 112. His lecture is free and open to the public. The topic may be the development of polyphonic music from Gregorian chant, but it could be something else.

Service Opportunity: Ride Needed

Can you help drive an RPC member from Reno's Midtown area (S. Virginia Street corridor south of downtown) to Tuesday night rehearsals? If so, please notify Kathy and she'll put you in touch with him. Thanks in advance. (No, that is not he in the picture!)

Our New Season

Culled from Kathy's recent e-mail:

Rehearsals will resume on Tuesday, September 24, 7-9 PM. Please contact Kathy if you need to know where.

The first Mass will be on Saturday, October 26 at Immaculate Conception Church in Sparks for the closing Mass of the Eucharistic and Marian Conference, call time 4:15 PM. Right after that will be Mass on Friday, November 1 in the Extraordinary Form at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, call time approximately 5:45 PM. 

Many more dates will be added.

Other news from Kathy, in her own words:

As you know, we are in great need of new members this choir season and every section can use more voices.  If you are bringing a new person with you, please make sure to notify me as soon as possible so that I can bring music and other materials with me. [...]

Since we will (hopefully) be welcoming several new members, I am trying to hold off on commitments until mid- to late October to give us a chance to help get the new folks more up to speed.  I will be scheduling lots more dates once I have a better sense where we are with our “sound.”

[...]

You may also have heard the great news that the Aquinas Choir at the Cathedral now has the services of Dr. Paul Torkelson, head of choral studies at UNR.  This is wonderful all the way around.  Dr. Torkelson will also implement a choir school for children at the Cathedral.  The Aquinas Choir will continue to sing at 9:30 AM on Sundays.  Regina Pacis will sing most of the scheduled Cathedral dates on Sundays at 5 PM (dates TBA).

I look forward to seeing you soon.  Meanwhile, please pray for peace.

Pax Christi,

Kathy Reinheimer

To All The Workshop Participants...

Welcome to the online home of Regina Pacis Cantorum! Whether you decide to join our choir or not, we're happy to have you learning more about Gregorian chant and the importance of preserving this worship/art form.

If you have any questions about the site or the Facebook page (don't forget we have one), or you have a suggestion for a post or link, contact me, Paul, at pault3331 (at) gmail (dot) com (done to deflect spammers).

Feel free to look through our archives, check out our links (both on the left side column), and/or post comments. As the season goes on, I'll post relevant videos for upcoming Masses. This is also where you'll find the latest schedule of events posted.

You can get notifications of the latest posts to the site by using this RSS feed code in your browser or e-mail program: http://rpchoir.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

And if you haven't yet made up your mind: JOIN US . . . JOOOOOOIN USSSSSSSS . . .

For Those Attending The Chant Workshops

The first of the four is this Saturday, September 7 at 1:30 PM in what is now the charter school building behind St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, W. 2nd and N. Arlington Sts., Room 306 307.

PLEASE. DO. NOT. BE. LATE.  Arrive at 1 or 1:15 if you have to. This isn't a social etiquette request; rather, it's because the building needs to be kept secure and the outside doors will be locked once the class starts (cf. Matthew 25: 1-13). If you know you'll have to be late, please arrange to call someone to let you in. Thanks for helping us out with this important logistic.

Kathy says we have nearly 30 people registered, which is a great number. See you there!

P.S. If you arrive early enough, check out the Cathedral Senior Ministry's rummage sale at the white tent on 606 W. 5th St.

Another RPC'er In The News

Ricky Delacruz, our chiropractic tenor, says Channel 2 (KTVN) dropped by his South Reno office ("The Joint: The Chiropractic Place") to tape him in action. The footage should air on Tuesday, Sept. 10 during the 5:30 PM newscast, so give him a look! That's his lovely girlfriend (and also our soprano) Leslie with him.

ETA: Here's the KTVN story. Also, Ricky will host a ribbon cutting at his office on Tuesday, October 1 at 5 PM. Perhaps you can stop by on your way to rehearsal!

In recent months, soprano Sung Hei Stiebel (mea culpa for misspelling your name!) and alto Patty Dickens have appeared in the Reno Gazette-Journal.