The St Mungo Singers will lead the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in the music of their Mass on Saturday 17th September
at 11.00 in St Andrew’s Cathedral. The Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Conti.
Music will range through a variety of styles, from Harp music provided by Noel Donnelly, to the Canticle from the Book of Wisdom and the Canticle from the Letter to the Colossians arranged by Brother Stephen E Smyth (of the Marist Brothers) to the long loved tunes of ‘Sweet Sacrament Divine’ and ‘Alleluia Sing to Jesus’, to parts of the Mass settings for the New Missal by Gerry Fitzpatrick and Noel S Donnelly, to the medieval Veni Creator Spiritus and Salve Regina. The Preparation of the Gifts will be accompanied by Noel’s setting of the Canticle from the Letter to the Philippians ‘Formed in God’ and we won’t be neglecting the motet world of Palestrina and Wesley. The Communion rite will be accompanied by Behold the Lamb of God, by the Taize ‘Eat this Bread’ and after Communion we will sing Sacris Solemniis – one of the five beautiful hymns St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) composed expressing the Eucharistic Presence of Christ at the specific request of Pope Urban IV (1261-1264) when the Pope first established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264.
Music for Masses on occasions such as this presents the challenge of combining full active participation in singing by a congregation gathered from here there and everywhere with the presence and added musical richness of a choir – so it makes sense to sing well known tunes as in the Entry and Recessional hymns (to biblical Canticles), and to include some responsorial styles music as in the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Psalm and the Alleluia, and in the Taize Communion Song. The Veni Creator and the Salve Regina will allow those who retain the memory of these remnants from the pre-conciliar liturgy to indulge in some effective nostalgic musical prayer! The choir will also add a lot of harmony throughout the Mass underpinning the Mass parts as well as singing the motets.
