Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Schola Cantorum sings music of the Italian and Franco-Flemish Renaissance (Palestrina and Lassus) as well as a contemporary British composer (Chilcott) in this weekend of remembering our beloved family and friends who have died.
10am Mass Preparation of the Gifts, “Laudate Dominum à 5” - G. P. da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)
The Preparation Motet for the 10:00am Mass in Latin, “Laudate Dominum” by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525 –1594), comes from a collection of works the Italian composer published in 1593 entitled: “Offertoria totius anni secundum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae consuetudinem.” The text of this motet from Psalm 134, resonates with the themes of today’s first reading from the book of Wisdom, especially in these lines: “For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. The verses of the motet take up the same themes with the lines: “omnia quaecumque voluit, fecit in coelo et in terra,” “For whatever he wished, He has made in heaven and on earth.” The text is also prescribed for Lent IV, whose Gospel in Year B is the source of today’s Gospel Acclamation.
To hear a setting, click here:
11:30am Mass Preparation of the Gifts, “God so Loved the World” - Bob Chilcott (b.1955)
The Preparation Motet for the 11:30amMass, God So Loved the World, takes its text from the Gospel Acclamation this day, John 3:14. The words remind of us the depth of God's love for us, and the degree to which God desires that we be reconciled and saved. Bob Chilcott (b. 1955) is an English composer, who sang at King's College as a boy treble, before attending university there. He was a tenor member of the King's Singer for twelve years, and currently resides in England.
To hear a setting, click here:
10am and 11:30am Masses Communion Motet, “Justorum Animae” - Orlando Lassus (1532 – 1594)
The Communion Motet at the 10:00am and 11:30am Masses, “Justorum Animae,” quotes a text from the book of Wisdom, “The souls of the just are in the in hands of God, and no torment shall touch them.” This text is frequently chosen for the First Reading at Funerals and is the prescribed offeratory chant in the Gregorian Missal for Masses on All Saints Day, celebrated Friday of this week. This setting is by the Franco-Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus (1530 – 1564), and is written in the later polyphonic style, similar to Palestrina.
To hear a setting, click here: