Here’s what we’ll be singing this Sunday:
You can download a printable version here.
Our parish is an OF parish, and that is unlikely to change. There is little hope of doing the Gradual at our Masses, but I do not lament it. I take it is a challenge. Even if your sights are on the ideal, one of the things we have to realize is that the OF is a valid form of the Mass, and the music we sing must serve it well. It can be beautiful and well balanced. It shouldn’t be top heavy, or overly burdened with long chants and polyphonic Masses just because they are the “ideal.” As always, things work best and are most naturally beautiful when form follows function.
That said, there is no reason not to sing a polyphonic motet after Offertory chant or after singing the Communion proper. These are times at which the OF, in its strictly linear format, offers a little expansiveness and time for reflection.