Lux aeterna from the Requiem by Steve Dobrogosz

Here’s a lovely lush piece of writing for chorus and orchestra by Steve Dobrogosz, an American composer who resides in Sweden.  In some ways, it reminds me of Eric Whitacre or Morton Lauridson.  Don’t be distracted by the somewhat cheesy effects on the video. Nice soprano solo around 5:10.

See – I can do other things than nag you about the CMAA XXIV Summer Colloquium.  (Of course, there’s still the possibility of late registration.)

Right now?  Enjoy the music.

Time and Tide Wait for No Man – Neither Does Registration

June is busting out all over. 

It’s the first day of June and that means only four more days to register for the CMAA XXIV Summer Colloquium and get a great hotel room at the conference rate.

Register now and prepare to have one of the happiest and most challenging weeks of your life!  Sacred music from dawn to dusk.  Chant, polyphony, plenary speakers, breakout sessions for ideas and insights.

New friends, old friends.  Beautiful liturgies, an organ concert and an Anglican choral Evensong. Books to buy at discounted prices.  And don’t forget the party on the pool deck of the hotel for a great view of the 4th of July fireworks!

Need I say more?  If you’ve already registered, go over to the Colloquium website to whet your appetite because new details are coming online almost daily.  If not,  hie thyself o’er to join the flock.

[Photo from Indiana University, Bloomington]

Driving to Indianapolis?

“Oh, but it’s too far,” you say!

Well, check out these drive times to Indianapolis:

Chicago   3 hrs.
Dayton, OH 1 hr 45 min.
Cleveland, OH 5 hrs
South Bend, IN 2 1/2 hrs
Columbus, OH 2 1/2 hrs
St. Louis, MO 3 1/2 hrs
Milwaukee, WI 4 hrs
Grand Rapids, MI 4 hrs
Cincinnati, OH 2 hrs
Pittsburgh, PA 5 hrs, 15 min.
Nashville, TN 5 hrs
Louisville, KY 2 hrs

Before you start packing up the car, don’t forget to register and book your room by June 4th to avoid a late fee and to get the conference rate for your stay.  We’ll be seeing you there.

(We could have posted the walking times, but I thought that would have been excessive.)

[Image of the 1901 Truselle courtesy of patentpending.blogs.com]

What’s in Indy for Me?

Well, the obvious answer to this question on this blog is the XXIV Summer Colloquium of the Church Music Association of America, June 30-July 6, 2014.

But there’s more to Indianapolis than the best summer sacred music event.  And if you’ve been wondering about entertainment for an accompanying spouse or children, the Circle City has many wonders.  Why not start with the origin of the nickname itself – the Monument Circle. It’s right around the corner from the Sheraton International City Centre! The Visit Indy website will give you everything from restaurants to walking and running trails, so check it out.  Who would have thought that John Dillinger and James Whitcomb Riley were both Hoosiers?

And remember to register by June 4th for the Colloquium to avoid the late fee and make your hotel reservations by then to get the conference rate!

A New Resource for Chant Solfege from CMAA

Cours élémentaire et pratique de plain-chant grégorien, Troisième édition
P. Balduinus van Poppel, O.C.R.
Westmalle, Belgium: Imprimerie Cistercienne, 1949
Reprint, Richmond: Church Music Association of America, 2014
A New Resource for Chant Solfège from CMAA
With the daunting title and author, Cours élémentaire et pratique de plain-chant grégorien by P. Balduinus van Poppel, O.C.R., one might be tempted to pass over this little gem.  Originally published in 1906, this is the third edition of a comprehensive set of exercises in the singing of chant.  This book, used judiciously, is a wonderful resource for schola directors and dedicated singers who have longed for systematic sight-singing exercises geared specifically for chant.  
Again, the Church Music Association of America gives us another book that will help us develop scholas with sure and beautiful intonation.
Originally a comprehensive course in chant, the third edition published in 1949 removed the theoretical material, retaining only brief introductions to each of the three sections of practical exercises.  Here is sight-singing on the four-line staff, with movable do-clefs and fa-clefs.  The exercises progress methodically through interval training in Part One to the full range of Gregorian neumes in Part Two.  While singers might quail at the elaborate names of the compound neumes in Part Two, schola directors can calm their hearts by reminding them that they are simply amalgamations of neumes they already know.  There is no need to learn their names unless one wishes to make a splash at musicological cocktail parties. Part Three is the pinnacle of the exercises, requiring the singer to move from one mode to another with the clef (and thus, the mode) changing every two bars.  Only for the very adept singer. 
Each part has an introduction in Dutch, French, and English, so language is no barrier to this book.  Pater Balduinus van Poppel (1862-1945) was a monk of the Abbey of Saint Benedictus in Achel, Belgium. He taught chant in his own monastery, as well as other religious houses, parishes, and seminaries.  The opening material to the book includes a tribute to Pater Balduinus in Dutch and a warm endorsement in French by Dom Joseph Pothier of Solesmes and St. Wandrille fame.
 
Schola directors who want to improve (or begin) their singers’ training in solfège will find here the exercises that will speed the learning of new chants by instilling a familiarity with intervals and neumes of Gregorian notation.    An over-zealous director might be tempted to go from one exercise to another to another in a single rehearsal.  Do that for a few weeks and you might be improving your solfège by yourself.  Perhaps one exercise each week as part of the schola warm-up will suffice, combining the solfège with the development of unified tone that comes from singers listening to each other.  An interval study of those thorny fourths and fifths might be in order for an adept schola that needs some cleaning up on those intervals.

The Cours élémentaire et pratique de plain-chant grégorien is a book that every schola director will want to own. It is available in hard copy for $12.99.  As is the policy of the CMAA, it is also available for download at no cost.  

Celebrating 50 Years of the Church Music Association of America

This is indeed the Golden Anniversary of the CMAA, formed in 1964.  Two existing sacred music societies, the Society of St. Cecilia and the Society of St. Gregory decided to merge.  Why?  In light of the ideals of the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy that had emerged from the Second Vatican Council, they felt there was great work ahead on integrating the role of the people into the treasures of Catholic sacred music.

Did the dream fail?  Or was it delayed?  Or did it continue year after year, whatever the cost?

You can read all about it in an excellent letter by the CMAA’s president, Dr. William Mahrt.  Just head over to MusicaSacra.com to get the whole story!

And think of how far we’ve come – and the distance we still have to travel.  Excelsior!

(Of course, you can join this musical army by becoming a member of the Church Music Association of America.  Basic and advanced training will be offered this summer for new recruits and seasoned soldiers at the Chant Intensive and the XXIV Summer Colloquium.)

Will I Sound Like This After the Chant Intensive?

Will you be able to sing medieval organum as well as Brigitte Lesne and the French women’s Ensemble Descantus?  The short answer is “No.”

HOWEVER, you will understand the roots of Western sacred music by having the thorough knowledge of Gregorian chant that the CMAA Chant Intensive will give you.  You’ll understand notation, principles of rhythm, the relation between text and melody.  You will be able to look at a chant and give it a go.  And then you can explore the glories of organum with a solid foundation.

Why not register now?

In the meantime, here’s a wonderful Alleluia from Ensemble Descantus.  And no, they don’t look like the picture.  They’re quite chic and French.  You can find them on Facebook and see what they’re up to now.