Do you have a favorite chant?
I have several of which I’m particularly fond!
Super flumina: Offertory chant for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost
Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion.In salicibus in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra.
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willow trees in their midst we hung up our harps.
There are many lovely polyphonic settings of this psalm. I like the Gregorian chant version because it has a lot of melismatic phrases that go up and down and up and down. So as you chant about sitting by the rivers of Babylon, you’re going up and down - much like water.
Veni Creator Spiritus: an early medieval hymn
VENI, Creator Spiritus,mentes tuorum visita,imple superna gratiaquae tu creasti pectora.
COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,and in our souls take up Thy rest;come with Thy grace and heavenly aidto fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
It’s a very old hymn, and the English text is probably very familiar to Christians. I love it particularly because it was one of the songs sung by the Carmelites of Compeigne as they were led to the guillotine.
Dies Irae: a medieval sequence
Dies iræ, dies illaSolvet sæclum in favilla,Teste David cum Sibylla.
Day of wrath and doom impending.David's word with Sibyl's blending,Heaven and earth in ashes ending.
How can you not love the Dies Irae? It’s ancient, awe-inspiring, and one of the few sequences still somewhat regularly used by Catholic churches. (Well, at least, people sometimes know about it.) I highly recommend the book Dies Irae, by Nicholaus Gihr. It’s hard to find, but it’s a classic. It analyzes and meditates on the sequence, line by line. By the end, your hair is standing on end.
Rorate caeli: Introit chant for the 4th Sunday of Advent
Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum: Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem.
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour.
There are several reasons I love this chant!
1) Listen to those opening notes, the beginning low notes, the quick and joyful leap upwards, to mirror our cry upwards to the heavens. Listen to the second half (”aperiatur...”), and how the notes descend more frequently, ending in a solemn lower note, as you turn your attention from the heavens to the earth. It’s short, simple chant, but such a good example of the music mirroring the text.
2) This chant is also used as the introit for March 25th, the Annunciation. One of many reasons to follow the propers (introit, gradual, offertory, communion) is to see when chants are reused. That decision is strategic, and brings greater meaning to the Sundays/feasts. So, as you chant for the 4th Sunday of Advent, your mind turns to the Annunciation, and vice versa.
3) The Rorate Mass is an old, beautiful, rich tradition, and one of many that disappeared almost entirely after the Second Vatican Council. It’s held during Advent - our parish does a Saturday morning - and it starts before dawn. The church is in darkness, lit only by candlelight. It’s timed so that at the moment of consecration, the sun is rising, and the lights slowly spills into the church. This chant is and represents the ancient, colorful pageantry of the Faith.
