A special thank you to Sam Ruby for fixing the Schola's atom feed in Firefox live bookmarks. He performed selflessly and brilliantly without asking anything in return. And he alone among the many people we asked was able to solve the vexing issue.

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The Schola is featured in a major write up in the April 2006 (Volume, 12, Number 2) of the Adoremus Bulletin, a newspaper distributed to thousands of parishes in the English-speaking world. A typical parish in the Northeast of the US receives hundreds of copies. The article is also online here.

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How closely related are chant and the liturgical structure of the Mass? So close that they cannot be separated.

Chant is not just accompaniment. It is not just a style of music subject to individual preference. The chant is integral to the very structure of how the Mass is prayed.

We commend to you the explanation of these points by William Mahrt, in the new issue of Sacred Music, which is online. Details at this post on MusicaSacra.com.

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The Schola has always faced a challenge on the Gloria. The Latin is unfamiliar to people in our times, and while it is easy to say that people should learn it, the period of pedagogical transition can tax people's patience if they sense that the Gloria has become something that only the specialists can sing.

What is often called for is a setting that includes parts that people can sing immediately.

Going through the settings in the Gregorian Hymnal, we settled on Mass XV, the Dominator Deus, which is stately but easy to learn. We added the "Gloria in Excelsis" as an antiphon in three places, divided by thematic material.

Here is the result. Once people learn the text and tune, we anticipate removing the Antiphon, leaving the pure chant.

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Because we had so many requests, perhaps this will be useful next year: The Exultet for the Easter Vigil. (From the 1965 Missale Romanum)

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Here is an article, based on St. Cecilia Schola experience, that appeared in Sacerdos July-August 2005. We hope you enjoy it: Gregorian Chant in Parish Life.

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Here is the Introit for Holy Thursday, courtesy of the FSSP. Wouldn't it be glorious if these were the first notes you heard tonight? In the official books of the Church, this is what we find, and, if they were followed, this is precisely what you would hear. This ideal is perhaps not always achievable in every situation but it remains an ideal against which everything else we do should be measured.

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The St. Cecilia Schola is pleased to offer this scan of a 1679 Missale Novum Romanum, Compoduni (Kempten), Germany, The Preface for Pentecost. Please download as use as you wish. Here is the same in .tif..

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Only indirectly related to sacred music: every year for Laetare Sunday, a schola member brings a Simnel cake and we drink port along with it. This year she agreed to make her recipe available:

¾ cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup currants
½ cup raisins
½ cup golden raisins
½ cup grated orange and lemon peel
almond filling (2 cans) or marzipan (about 2 cups)

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl, then beat in eggs one at a time. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and blend gradually into the butter and sugar. Add the fruit and peel and mix thoroughly.

Grease a cake pan and line with waxed paper or parchment. Put half of the batter into the pan and cover with half the almond paste or marzipan (If you use marzipan, roll it out to fit the pan). Add the rest of the batter and bake at 325º for one hour or until done. Let the cake cool, then put the rest of the almond filling or marzipan on top and put under the broiler for just long enough to allow the topping to melt into the cake a little. You can use almond filling and add powdered sugar to it to make it thicker, or:

Marzipan:

1 cup almond paste
1 cup superfine sugar
1 egg separated and beaten lightly
brandy or rum for flavoring if desired

Mix the almond paste and sugar with a fork, then mix in the egg yolk.
Add just enough of the white and flavorings to form a thick paste.
Knead until smooth.

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The challenges facing musicians in Novus Ordo parishes are universal. Jeremy de Satge, Music Director at Holy Ghost Balham in London, comments:

"One of the problems with church music in England is that many priests do not appreciate its value, which is a crying shame, and do not consider the provision of music to be an important part of a parish's financial budget. I am lucky in Balham because, although the parish priest is not himself musical, he does appreciate its value, which is why I was hired."

His broader activity is concerned with improving the state of Catholic liturgical music, particularly at the parish level. To this end, he works through his company, The Music Makers, in a variety of ways: encouraging the use of the ancient tradition of the Church as well as publishing new works of music and producing CDs which may be used by those withing to learn how to sing the chant. These are available in the USA through Cantica Nova Publications.

Immanently realistic in approach, Mr. de Satge goes on:

"One of the perhaps traditional difficulties in Catholic England is getting the faithful to sing! I ensure that the congregation receive a copy of the Mass setting in modern notation which, arguably, is easier for most people to read; and, although this is far from perfect, I have found that the congregation joins in more than before."

To read more about his activities, see this article, or read some of his own writings.

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