Pentecost 2024
Hymn prior to Mass: Veni Creator Spiritus, 956
Recessional hymn: Come Down, O Love Divine, 887
Kyriale: Mass for Three Voices, William Byrd (c.1540–1623)
Marian antiphon: Regina Cœli, Cristóbal de Morales (c.1500–1553)
Communion antiphon: Factus Est Repente, Jacobus Gallus (c. 1550–1591)
The Marian chant Regina Cœli is sung throughout Eastertide until midday on the Ember Saturday of Pentecost. Because it holds a proper place at the conclusion of Compline and is prayed in place of the Angelus, the tune from the simple form of the chant is widely recognized. Cristóbal de Morales uses this familiar melody with some ornamentation in the Soprano voice for his four voice setting of the antiphon. The Alto voice echos much of the Soprano melody at a lower pitch while the Tenor and Bass voices have many moving notes throughout. Morales emphasizes the final alleluia by having each voice sing a series of ascending notes then drop to a lower pitch and repeat several times which lasts well over a quarter of the overall work. This work was first published in the anthology Moralis Hispani, Et Multorum (1543) in Rome along with many other of Morales’s compositions.
Cristóbal de Morales (c.1500–1553) was an organist and composer regarded as the first Spanish composer of international renown. He sang and composed for the Papal choir in Rome for which wrote many Mass settings. His compositions consist almost entirely of sacred vocal motets.