2009 Colloquium: Chicago

June 22-28, 2009

We returned to Loyola University Chicago for the 19th Sacred Music Colloquium. The works sung during the Colloquium are available in the downloadable music book (except for some copyrighted works). The liturgies for the week took place in the art-deco chapel on campus named the Madonna della Strada.

Monday, June 22

After the opening dinner, we sang Compline together:

Tuesday, June 23

William Mahrt presented an “Introduction to Sacred Music”:

Jeffrey Tucker’s talk inspired by his book Sing Like a Catholic was preceded with a brief practice for a chant response that had been omitted from the printed music book:

The Mass in English featured proper chants by Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB, and a Mass ordinary by Theodore Marier, founder of the choir school at St. Paul Church in Cambridge, MA. The organist was Scott Turkington, who was an alumnus of the School:

Wednesday, June 24

On Wednesday, Dr. Mahrt’s lecture was on “Sacred Space, Sacred Time, and Music”:

Fr. Frank Phillips, C.R., founder of the Canons of St. John Cantius, spoke on “Choirs: Maturity and Attitudes”:

Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., the Archbishop of Chicago, celebrated the Mass for the Solemnity of Saint John the Baptist, in a Latin celebration according to the Ordinary Form. His entrance was accompanied by the Ecce Sacerdos Magnus of Victoria, and motets by Palestrina and Josquin were sung during the Mass along with the proper chants of the day and the Gregorian Mass IV.

A team of videographers from Corpus Christi Watershed was present throughout the Colloquium, and produced short videos which they released through the week:

Thursday, June 25

The Mass on Thursday morning was for the feast of St. William, abbot, according to the old calendar:

That same day, Fr. Jeffrey Keyes spoke about his experience as a pastor in Newark, California, in raising the level of musical life at his parish:

At the Holy Hour Thursday evening, Dr. Jennifer Donelson directed the choir in Victoria’s Domine non sum dignus, the O Salutaris of Pierre de la Rue (1452-1518), and Kevin Allen’s Tantum ergo. The organist was Scott Turkington, and the assembled participants sang the Litany of Loreto, the Oremus pro Pontefice, the Divine Praises, and the Te Deum in plainchant from the Parish Book of Chant.

Friday, June 26

The Mass on Friday morning was an Ordinary Form liturgy in Latin, a votive Mass of the Triumph of the Holy Cross. Horst Buchholz directed the Mass ordinary from Haydn’s Kleine Orgelmesse, with orchestra. The organist was David Hughes.

A service of Solemn Vespers, also a votive of the Holy Cross, was celebrated on Friday evening and directed by Dr. Mahrt, with psalms in falsobordone and with choral settings of the Magnificat, the Salve Regina, and the Deus in adjutorium by Lassus. At present, we do not have a recording of the service.

Saturday, June 27

The annual Requiem Mass for deceased members of the CMAA was a solemn Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The Mass ordinary and most of the propers were from the Missa defunctorum by Joan Brudieu (1520-1591), directed by Wilko Brouwers.

Sunday, June 28

The closing Mass was for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Professor Ann Labounsky performed organ works by Langlais, and Scott Turkington conducted the Byrd Mass for five voices.

Additional recordings

Morning Prayer was sung daily; here is a recording from Friday:

Some months after the event, Corpus Christi Watershed released Jeff Ostrowski’s wonderful hour-long documentary about the 2009 Colloquium, Sacred, Beautiful, and Universal:

Here’s a “bonus feature” of material not used in the film due to time requirements: