Saturday 7 August 2010

My Favourite Mass Ordinary

Mass IV

I like the accompaniments from 'Accompagnement du Kyriale Vatican' by Dom Desrocquettes of Solesmes and Henri Potiron from the Sacre Coeur, pub 1929 a lot too.

The introduction says don't be looking for parallel fifths (but it's what I do for a living!) and now and then they give you alternatives and they tell you that their versions are really just starting points for your own accompaniments, which is rather nice.

I'm still training myself not to see a quaver on its own at the beginning of a phrase as a weak beat.

Of course it's all backwards, because I should have grown up singing all this stuff and then progressed to playing it. Instead I often end up playing things first, though yesterday I did find an MP3 of the Gloria in the right key, put the lap top on top of the piano and had a go at accompanying some elderly French (judging by the pronunciation) Monks, which was helpful in getting into the ebb and flow of the music. They were singing in a big acoustic, so were luxuriating somewhat!

So there we are. Mine is IV, what's yours?

5 comments:

Patrick Sheridan said...

Mine is either Cum Iubilo or Lux et Origo, I am undecided...:)

Mulier Fortis said...

You accompanied it beautifully this morning...

leutgeb said...

Too kind, really!

What's your favourite?

Mike Forbester said...

If we're talking chant Ordinaries, mine's a toss between IV & IX. Can't make up my mind which! And then there's polyphony...

Mulier Fortis said...

I don't really know enough Mass settings to have a proper "favourite" - at the risk of getting shot down in flames, I must confess to a sneaking fondness for Mass VIII (De Angelis) because it was the first one I learned... I find the Kyrie from Mass XI (Orbis Factor)to be beautifully haunting - the rest is pretty good too... and I quite like Mass I (Lux et Origo) as well... and Mass IV (Cunctipotens Genitor Deus is beautiful too...

Ask me again in a few years' time.