Showing posts with label Gregorian chant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gregorian chant. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2007

Sacred Music Links

I have been searching for a "traditional jukebox" of sorts to stream in my studio while I work to no avail. If anyone knows of any, please post. Chant and polyphony are my idea of traditional and most Catholic music sites have contemporary artists. Here is a midi site I found:
Hymns to God and the Church The selection is wonderful and is a great overview of how many wonderful songs we have to choose from.
Here is a top 10 list from Adoremus from 2005 of the reader's favorites:

Adoremus Readers’ Top 10

1. Holy God We Praise Thy Name (AH* 461)
2. Ave Verum Corpus (chant AH 514)
3. Immaculate Mary (AH 532)
4. Come Holy Ghost (AH 443)
5. Hail Holy Queen, Enthroned Above (AH 530)
6. Jesus Christ Is Risen Today (AH 410)
7. Panis Angelicus (AH 523)
8. Salve Regina (AH 547)
9. Soul of My Savior (AH 522)
10. To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King (AH 480)

(Adoremus Hymnal -- the Hymnal is sold by Ignatius Press.)
Then the following is a choir directors picks:
1. Holy God We Praise Thy Name
2. To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King
3. Come Holy Ghost
4. Soul of My Savior
5. Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above
6. Mary the Dawn
7. Stabat Mater Dolorosa
8. O Sacred Head Surrounded
9. Let all mortal flesh keep silence(my personal fave)
10. O What Could My Jesus Do More?
This article can be found HERE and is from Adoremus, September 2005.
If anyone knows of a good trad streaming site, let me know! I have been looking for some time.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Liturgical Music. Excerpt from Sacramentum Caritatis

Found in the new exhortation:

Liturgical song

42. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that "the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love" (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration (128). Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons (129). Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).


I have made bold that which I feel is especially noteworthy. The question is, who will employ its contents into the typical American parish?