First Sunday of Lent

Choral Highlights for

10am Mass, Preparation of the Gifts “Scapulis suis” G. P. da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)

“He shall cover you with his pinions, and you shall find refuge under his wings. His faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:4-5) The First Sunday of Lent is unique in that the text for both the Offertory and Communion chants use the identical verses of Psalm 91. This unusual choice is even more noteworthy as it is the same citation used by the devil in today’s Gospel to tempt Jesus to test God’s constancy and steadfastness. Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer and the best-known sixteenth century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. He had a lasting influence on the development of church music, and his work has often been considered the epitome of the genre. His setting is taken from the collection Offertoria Totuis Anni from 1593. This polyphonic motet uses lengthy phrasal imitation and weakened cadential arrangements, creating an uninterrupted effect through the text.

To hear a version, click below.

11:30am Mass, Choral Prelude “Schaffe in Mir Gott” Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

The late-German Romantic composer Johannes Brahms composed this setting of three verses from Martin Luther’s translation of Psalm 51 (this Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm) in 1860 as part of his Opus 29, Zwei Motetten (Two Motets). The work is divided into three unique sections, each one corresponding to a verse of the Psalm. The first section, which speaks of our desire for forgiveness and redemption, is set in a rich and enveloping harmonic texture that captures the peaceful, yet eternal longing for the infinite goodness and mercy of the Creator. The second section is more animated, expressed in a chromatic fugal section. The notion of being abandoned by God is ominously suggested. The third section, not performed this Sunday because of its length, reassures the soul by beginning with the word troeste (comfort), and initiates a harmonic and textual intermezzo that leads into an uplifting finale, where the light-hearted choral treatment rejoices in the freudige Geist (joyful Spirit) that God sends to sustain his people.

To hear a version, click below.

10am Mass, Preparation of the Gifts “Scapulis suis” G. P. da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)

“He shall cover you with his pinions, and you shall find refuge under his wings. His faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:4-5) The First Sunday of Lent is unique in that the text for both the Offertory and Communion chants use the identical verses of Psalm 91. This unusual choice is even more noteworthy as it is the same citation used by the devil in today’s Gospel to tempt Jesus to test God’s constancy and steadfastness. Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer and the best-known sixteenth century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. He had a lasting influence on the development of church music, and his work has often been considered the epitome of the genre. His setting is taken from the collection Offertoria Totuis Anni from 1593. This polyphonic motet uses lengthy phrasal imitation and weakened cadential arrangements, creating an uninterrupted effect through the text.

To hear a version, click below.

11:30am Mass, Preparation of the Gifts “Hide Not Thou Thy Face” Richard Farrant (1525 – 1580)

Richard Farrant was a sixteenth century English composer and member of the Chapel Royal for twelve years before taking the position of organist for St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. This motet quotes verses from Psalm 27 and is set in a declamatory, homophonic style in which the text is sung at the same moment in all parts, as opposed to a polyphonic style, such as that heard in the Palestrina selection at the 10:00am Mass today. The text pleads to God that he might turn his merciful face toward us, even as we expose ours sin and selfishness and admit to our unworthiness to receive his mercy.

To hear a version, click below.

11:30am Mass, Communion Antiphon “Scapulis suis” Robert Kreutz (1922 – 1996)

Robert Kreutz (1922-1996) was a twentieth century American composer of liturgical music. Mr. Kreutz studied composition at the American Conservatory in Chicago and at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is best known for his hymn collaboration with Omer Westendorf in their “Gift of Finest Wheat,” composed for the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia during the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976. Kreutz sets Psalm 91, verses 4-5 in a modern aesthetic with expressive word painting as in the opening gesture where voices are successively layered, one upon the other.

To hear a version, click below.

10am Mass, Communion Motet “Miserere Mei, Deus” Alonso de Tejeda (1540 – 1628)

De Tejeda was a 16th century Spanish composer who succeeded Alonso Lobo at the Cathedral of Toledo as its Chapel Master. His setting of Miserere Mei, unlike Gregorio Allegri’s more famous setting, uses only the first three verses of Psalm 51. It bears similarities to Antonio Lotti’s setting, written one century later. The part writing is closely imitative, to the degree that one part may still be on one syllable of a word while another part begins the imitation. The text is taken from this Sunday’s responsorial Psalm and reminds us of the redemptive power of God’s mercy for the sinner.

To hear a version, click below.

11:30am Mass, Communion Motet “Adam Lay Ybounden” Joel Martinson (b.1960)

Joel Martinson is a contemporary American composer and currently serves as Director of Music and Organist for Transfiguration Episcopal Church in Dallas, Texas. The anonymous 15th century carol ‘Adam Lay Ybounden’ has become associated with the Service of Lessons and Carols as it is traditionally paired with the first lesson from the Book of Genesis, which is today’s first reading. The text speaks of the curse that befell humans from Adam’s fall “four thousand years” before Christ’s coming. The carol is also an exposition of the notion of the ‘felix Culpa’ or ‘happy fault’ relating to the early Christian understanding of the fall and curse of Adam as a cause for joy, for without them, the redemption that Christ brings would have been superfluous. Martinson composes with a rich harmonic palate, and the motet recalls Warlock’s setting of this carol.