17th Sunday After Pentecost
Processional hymn: Love Divine All Loves Excelling, 943
Recessional hymn: Hail, Holy Queen, 908
Kyriale: Mass XI, 740; Credo III, 776
Hymn at the offertory: Salve Mater, Carmelite Chant, arr. Paul Thomas May
Hymn at communion: Ave Maris Stella - Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548–1611)
The hymn after the communion antiphon this week is another setting from Tomás Luis de Victoria. This famous text is from the Vespers hymn for feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As with the other settings, the plainchant is sung for the even verses and the odd are through composed. In this motet, Victoria paraphrases the Gregorian melody in the Soprano and Tenor voices during each polyphonic verse. The final verse of the hymn is a doxology, which is a prayer of praise that invokes the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Victoria changes the meter from four to three for this final verse which gives a feeling of forward motion to the end and makes reference to the Most Holy Trinity.
Tomás Luis de Victoria (c.1548–1611), along with Palestrina and de Lassus, is one of the greatest composers of the 16th C., famous for its ethereal polyphony. Ordained a priest at age 27, he lived in Rome for years, and assisted St. Philip Neri as chaplain of San Girolamo della Carità.
16th Sunday After Pentecost
Processional hymn: Jesus, Meek and Lowly, 833
Recessional hymn: Come Down, O Love Divine, 887
Kyriale: Mass XI, 740; Credo III, 776
Motet after offertory: Cantate Domino, Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (1657–1743)
Chant during communion: Stabat Mater, Chant Sequence
The motet Cantate Domino is a setting of Psalm 149:1–2 by Baroque Italian composer Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (1657–1743). The initial text of Sing to the Lord a new song is shared at the beginning of today’s alleluia verse which is taken from Psalm 97:1. Pitoni’s work, like much of late Baroque music, is tightly structured in small phrases with two main sections and follows the general format of “A-B-A.”, also called ternary form.
The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the feast itself was this past Friday. During the Mass the sequence Stabat Mater is said prior to the Gospel. This sequence is often used as a devotional hymn for praying the stations of the cross and is sung to a simple tune. The chant sung today, which is the proper chant, is more ornate and the melody changes every two verses.
Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (1657–1743) was an Italian vocalist, organist and composer. He studied voice from the age of five and became a maestro di cappella (choirmaster) at Santa Maria Maggiore, Monterotondo, a historic church near Rome by sixteen. Pitoni held director positions at many parishes in Rome and was a prominent church musician during the late Baroque era.