Christmas Repertoire 2 of 6

"My soul doth magnify the Lord...", is one of the most ancient Marian hymns and widely spread in Western Christianity. The Magnificat or Canticle of Mary, comes from Luke's Gospel during the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. A fitting piece for the Christmas Liturgy, Mary's song tells of the greatness of the Lord and the joy which comes from bearing Him in her womb. The canticle expresses the reoccurring theme of the salvation and fulfillment of God's covenant with the chosen people which is found throughout the propers of Christmas.

The Magnificat is most well associated with Evensong, where it is paired with the Nunc Dimittis, or Song of Simeon. The amount of settings of these two canticles by well-known English composers over the ages are immense. From Purcell's Service in G minor to Stanford's Service in C and Dyson's Setting in D, we have some of the most beautiful music ever composed in the English language. The setting which will be sung this year at Lessons and Carols is from an English composer earlier than all of the previous three mentioned.

Thomas Morley lived between 1557 and 1602 and claimed to be a student of William Byrd. He was organist of St. Paul's London after receiving a degree from Oxford. He wrote two services for evening prayer, one entitled Short Service and the other in the fauxbourdon style. Literally meaning, false base, a piece in fauxbourdon is harmonies above and below the melody, usually a 4th and 6th, which allow for the chant to move parallel with it. This was the basis for hymn singing in the English tradition, where the melody was in the tenor, and the harmonies above and below. In this case, the tenor sings the chant from the VIII psalm tone throughout the piece, while the other three parts sing in fauxbourdon. This creates a clear, simple, but beautiful setting for the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

Christmas Repertoire 1 of 6

Here is the first choral piece which will be included in the Christmas Liturgy at St. Bartholomew, Break forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light - by JS Bach.

This "hymn" is a significant choral piece in the repertoire because of the larger work which it comes from: Bach's Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 for Weihnachtstag. This piece is the chorale from the second part of the Christmas masterpiece which was composed around 1734. Like most of Bach's sacred cantatas, the chorale was taken from a older well-known tune, in this case from the early Baroque composer Johann Schop, and either incorporated into the polyphony, or in this case, re-harmonized into a SATB setting.

The text, Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht, was written by the German poet and dramatist Johann von Rist. Also writing two complete cantata texts for Bach, von Rist incorporated a Greek style of sacred text by focusing on the great eternal light which "ushers in the morning."

The stanzas walk the audience through the life of Christ, beginning at his birth with the "angels warning" to the "confidence and joy" of His earthly ministry to the chosen people, all the way to his death and "the powers of hell overthrowing." The chorale ends the way it should be sung: "at last our peace bestowing."

Christmas fast approaching...

It is a good thing we have malls, television, and the internet to remind us (starting on November 1st) that Christmas is on its way, or I think we would all be SO lost.


Attached below are links to the packets for Lessons and Carols as well as for Christmas Mass. There is no need to print them out and bring them to rehearsal (I will have complete packets), but in case you lose something or are interested in looking early, they will always be linked here. Which brings us to the next topic, rehearsal...


We will rehearse starting the First Sunday of Advent after mass, as well as the Wednesday of that week. We will continue rehearsing after mass for all 4 weeks of Advent. We will arrange a final practice on Christmas Eve before lessons at a later time.


Next Wednesday we will start with dinner at 6pm, a thank you for all your work this year for the schola program, and continue with practice at 6:45. This will give us a chance to read through the entire packets and make notes. Please come hungry and ready to sing.


Thanks once again for your commitment.


Lessons and Carols Choral Packet


Christmas Mass Choral Packet


Look ahead for videos that correspond with pieces in a following post.

Requiem Aeternam, dona eis, Domine

"Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them" is the Introit for the Requiem Mass and a prayer for those souls who have gone before us. May the Lord welcome Bill into his heavenly kingdom, and may he comfort those who grieve him. 

Kathy has done so much in the little time I have been here to welcome, encourage, and serve not only our schola but the entire parish; and I thank her for her dedication and appreciation. Let us always keep her and Heather in our prayers. May the beautiful setting of "In Paradisum" by Gabriel Faure remind all of us of the hope of Heaven which Christ has made possible for every individual.

"May the love of Christ which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ name" - St. Paul

Much Thanks and Praise

Much thanks again to all schola members. I had many comments on how nice it is to have Sacred chant and choral music back at St. Bartholomew's. Also, many thanks to Fr. Davis for his support of the program.
We will not have a rehersal this Sunday, I think a break is due. We will begin practicing again the first weekend in May. Have a blessed Easter Season.



Easter Sunday Music Packet

The link below is a for the Easter Sunday Music Packet. I will also send this by email. Please print this out to bring for rehearsal on Sunday April 10th. The only piece which is not in the packet is the Handel Anthem "Thine is the glory"...I have bound copies of that at the church which I can give you on Sunday. The first page of this packet is an agenda for the service, I will let you know what the hymns are so you can pencil them in once that has been decided.

Easter Sunday Packet

Thanks again! 

First rehearsal down, not many to go....

Thanks to all who were able to make are Holy Week rehearsal this weekend. With us already being half way through Lent, we will have to make all of them count. The Easter packet is not finished yet but here is a taste of what will be in there.

Thine is the glory, Handel (A little more simple than this version)



Hail thee festival day, Ralph Vaughn Williams (Not all 700 verses...)

The next official rehearsal will take place next week after Mass. I understand that many of you cannot make that, but those who can please assemble afterwards for a quick practice of music. After that this is the tentative schedule:

Sunday April 10th

Sunday April 17th

Wednesday, April 20th

Easter Sunday Morning at 8:30

Thanks!

Maundy Thursday Choir Packet

For all of those who plan on singing with us on Maundy Thursday (April 21st), here is the packet of music which we will sing out of. There will be a few hymns as well which will be picked at a later time.

Maundy Thursday Choir Packet

 Most of it is English chant for the Propers of the Mass, which we will split up between men, women, and the youth; some we will all sing together, like the Ubi Caritas (Where Charity and Love Are). Here is the Latin version of that piece, the melody is pretty much identical:

The final page is the O Sacrum Convivium which I posted earlier this week. I will email sound files to you of each part so that you can hear your individual line. I apologize but I could not get them posted to this site. I will post an Easter packet as soon as it is all figured out. Let's see how we do during our first practice...which leads me to.....

Last order of business, I will send out an email as well (as not everyone has yet to follow this site), but if you could leave a comment on this post if you would be available to have the first practice on Sunday the 27th after Mass. I am hoping to rehearse all Sunday's that do not have already scheduled meetings. If you can not make every single Sunday we practice, do not worry. Please try to make at least 3 between now and Holy Week. We will probably also practice for an extended period on Palm Sunday and before the Liturgy on Maundy Thursday. Other times that would work for a majority of you, please let me know.

Thanks again for your time and commitment, and thanks to Rose who will be singing the Propers this week as I am out of town.

English Chant

You will all be hearing a lot more chant around the liturgy at St. Bartholomew's, and I think it is important to point out a few things:

1) Chant melodies were originally written for the Latin texts of the early Church. Derived from Jewish and Greek songs, Gregorian Chant continued to evolve throughout the Middle Ages into the modern era.

2) That being said, singing chant to English text is a little more difficult. The Psalm Tone settings of the English Propers which is found in the Anglican Use Gradual make it easy by usually applying one note or neum per syllable in a phrase. However there is chant which is known as melismatic, which applies many notes per syllable. Because of this, the English language does not always have syllables that sound good within the word being sung for 12 different pitches.

So in conclusion, English chant has been mastered by some by shaping the syllables a bit differently and singing in a bright tone. This video of the Westminster Cathedral Choir singing the Psalms at Evensong is a wonderful example of how I would like all of us to work on singing chant in the liturgy. Please watch and enjoy!

Westminster Cathedral Psalms

Schola Beginnings

It was wonderful to talk to all of those who approached me this morning after mass. I'm glad to see so many committing to this cause for Sacred Music in the Liturgy. Go ahead and click on "Follow" if you are still interested in singing with us.

We are still continuing to look for boys and girls who will fulfill the role as our main sopranos. I have already talk to at least 3, if there are anymore out there let me know.

Due to meetings next week and the fact I will be gone to work on my other profession (Pro Soccer), we will not begin practicing until the last week of March. However, I hope to leave some music at the church that will be available for you to take home. Everything else will be posted here. Please make sure to comment if you have any trouble downloading anything.

Thanks again for your time and here is the first piece we will begin working on the Maundy Thursday.

O Sacrum Convivium - Remondi

 The video cuts out the first 2 measures, but it was the best I could find vocal wise. Enjoy!

'The King of Instruments'

W.A. Mozart called the Church Organ the "King of Instruments" since it was designed to be a one-man orchestra at that time. Thanks to all those who donated and prayed for this campaign. Now continue to pray for a quick delivery before Easter! Below is a picture and links to details about the Johannus Opus 17 which is coming soon to St. Bartholomew's.

Johannus Opus 17 Details                                                                    

Johannus Opus 17 Stoplist

Also, here is a video of Variations on 'God Save the Queen' played on this same organ.

Miserere Mei Deus - Kings College Chapel Choir

A timeless piece to get everyone into the pre-Lenten Season...

A New Place

Welcome to your new blog!

Voces in Silvae, meaning Voices in the Forest, is an appropriate name for site where we will be able to spread information about the glorification of God by music within the Parish of St. Bartholomew in the "forest" area of Woodinville.

I plan to have most, if not all, the music we sing assessible from this sight. This includes everything from sheet music, recordings, to sound files of seperate parts. I hope that all these tools will be helpful in our duty of bringing sanctity and reverence to Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.

Please feel to contact me with any questions or comments at ref.scott@gmail.com, and I look forward to working with all of you soon.

In Christ,
Scott Powell