Sunday, September 21, 2014

He Is The Champion, My Friends


This was not a weekend off for bass JP DeChambeau, who competed in a two-day Karaoke contest at Murphy's Law Irish Pub against 23 others...and won! He pocketed a $1,000 prize. Check out his semi-final Michael Buble performance here (video and photo courtesy of Kim Garback).

So, dinner after Tuesday rehearsal is on him?

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Saturday, Oct. 4: Feast of St. Francis of Assisi


Saturday, 4 PM at the Cathedral. EF High Mass. Kathy was right; not much of this music is to be found on the interwebs.

Processional: Jesu Dulcis Memoria

Asperges Me

Introit: Gaudeamus

Kyrie: Missa IV Toni (Victoria)

Gloria, Sanctus: Mass VIII

Gradual: Quasi stella

Alleluia: O Patriarcha

Sequence: Sanctitatis nova signa

Credo III

Offertory: Magnificabitur
Ave Maria (Victoria)

Post Elevation: O Sacrum Convivium (D'Evry)

Agnus Dei: Haller

Communio: Non sunt condignae
O Quam Suavis (Shenk)

Last Gospel: Salve Regina

Recessional: Alleluia Al Vangelo (Gabrieli: midi file)

Monday, September 15, 2014

Chant Basic


(um, not that kind of BASIC...)

From Kathy:
If any of you wish to re-visit or begin your knowledge of basic Gregorian chant, I will have a 30 minute session before Tuesday rehearsals for several weeks.  That means you would need to arrive by 6:30 PM.  The sessions will run from 6:30 PM - 7 PM. [...]

If you want to do this, please let me know so that I can prepare accordingly.  I only need to hear from you if you plan on being present for the short chant session.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

And There It Is


Thank you, Nevada DMV, for enabling "chant nerds" to find Kathy by means of her license plate! (Actually, thank you who paid for the new plate and three years of renewals.)

On a different subject, we (the schola that sang for Triumph of the Cross today at the Cathedral) appreciate those who cleaned the air conditioning system at the Cathedral over the summer. If anything, we were a bit chilly in the choir loft today as the temperatures outside pushed 90.

See you on Tuesday night for the start of another season!

Monday, September 8, 2014

No Choice Of Chant For Young Catholics



Regina Pacis Cantorum exists because of the dearth of truly sacred music in today's Catholic liturgy. In thanks for our trying to bring it back to prominence (which Vatican II says it is supposed to have), we're called "elitist," a "relic," and "behind the times." The lay people who make up the largest proportion of Mass-goers these days were brought up on Jack Miffleton, Joe Wise, Tom Parker, Ray Repp, the St. Louis Jesuits, Marty Haugen, and David Haas, inter alia. Many of those before that generation were all too glad to get rid of chant and polyphony, eagerly welcoming Repp, Parker, et al. into the liturgy in the mid-1960's.

Dioceses and archdioceses give a wide berth to not only the Oregon Catholic Press/GIA/J.S. Paluch modern hymnody but "contemporary Christian" (read: Protestant/evangelical) music at Mass while trying to shove chant and polyphony under the rug, or at best ignore that they even exist. Nowhere does this seem to be more apparent than at "LifeTeen" Masses and other ministries aimed at young people. The majority of those who attend LifeTeen Masses will never enter a church again after they go to college/graduate from high school, and they will never get any exposure to sacred music, even (or especially!) at most "Catholic" colleges and universities.

The Baltimore Archdiocese is celebrating its 225th anniversary with a concert by Matt Maher, a contemporary Christian artist who happens to be Catholic. I'm sure Maher is a fine man and I concede this is not taking place in the context of a Mass, but what are young people in Baltimore (those who actually bother to go) going to get out of this concert? They may well conclude it's nothing more than a poor substitute for what they hear on the radio or see on MTV (on the rare occasion MTV actually shows a music video). We adults assume this is what the kids want/need for their spirituality, and they could never want to hear/sing chant or polyphony. Why? Also, the Diocese of Reno is eager to cater to the many ethnic populations in northern Nevada as well as to young people, but why is exposure to chant never included?

Contrast that with this article about fledgling Latin Chant camps that have become wildly popular with Catholic kids. Thank God they actually got exposed to sacred music, and that we adults allowed them! Unfortunately, most of us adults raised on "Sons of God" and "Here I Am, Lord" don't want to call our kids on to the deeper spirituality of chant and polyphony because it would be setting the bar too high for them. As Robert Browning said, "A man's reach must exceed his grasp / Or what's a Heaven for?"

Catholic adults think they're doing the kids a favor by denying them any exposure to sacred music; rather, they're creating the next generation of former Catholics. My sincere hope is that Regina Pacis Cantorum can put a small dent in that process and maybe even reverse it a little, showing Catholics of all ages that chant and polyphony can take them into closer spiritual fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

On The Lighter Side

This cartoon could apply if ever we sing at Our Lady of Tahoe in Zephyr Cove again.


HT: Sandy.


Saturday, September 6, 2014

The Keyboard The Second

A couple weekends ago, I was doing my usual Saturday morning visits to yard sales in Reno-Sparks. At Reed High, their Navy ROTC students were holding a fundraising rummage sale in which you could determine how much you wanted to give them for any given item. That's where I saw this, for which I gave $5.00:



Had I known the keyboard I found earlier this summer made an obnoxious sound whenever the volume or the sound was changed, I might have skipped it; this new one has neither. But that first one won't go to waste; Kathy says Rob Bateman may use it if leading a sectional workshop at a rehearsal.

Kathy is using a small board that allows her to keep the keyboard and her music on her stand.