2010 Colloquium: Pittsburgh

June 21-27, 2010

The 20th Sacred Music Colloquium was held this year on the campus of Duquesne University at the Mary Pappert School of Music; liturgies were celebrated at the University chapel and at the nearby Church of the Epiphany, where the renowned musician Rev. Carlo Rossini once served as organist and choir director.

Works sung at the Colloquium, and the prayers for the daily Compline and Lauds, can be found in the music book.

Monday, June 21

At the opening dinner of the Colloquium, there were words of welcome from Jeffrey Tucker, managing editor of Sacred Music, a first practice in singing, led by Scott Turkington, and a talk by CMAA president Prof. William Mahrt, an “Introduction to Sacred Music”. After his talk, we joined in singing Compline.

A moment from Compline
Tuesday, June 22

The first plenary talk of the Colloquium, from Prof. Edward Schaefer of the University of Florida, was about “Two forms of the Liturgy, One Church: The Relationship between the Ordinary and Extraordinary forms of the Mass”.

In the afternoon, Fr. Mark Daniel Kirby of the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle presented the first of three talks on the theology of liturgical chant. The audio for the series is here on this page.

The Mass for the memorial of Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More included a Mass ordinary by Richard Rice and propers by Fr. Samuel Weber, Bruce Ford, and Richard Rice. The assembly together sang Farrant’s “Lord, for thy tender mercies’ sake” as a recessional. The organist was Amy Munoz.

In the evening, concert organist Isabelle Demers, a PhD student at Juilliard, presented a recital at the Church of the Epiphany. Her program:

  • J.S. Bach (1685-1750): Prelude in E♭ major BWV 552/1
  • Max Reger (1873-1916): Chorale-Preludes op. 67
    • 1: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
    • 5: Christus, der ist mein Leben
    • 2: Alles ist an Gottes Segen
    • 20: Jesus ist kommen, Grund ewiger Freude
    • 4: Aus meines Herzens Grunde
    • 39: Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn
    • 42: Von Himmel hoch, da komm ich her
  • J.S. Bach: Fugue in E♭ major BWV 552/2
  • Siegfried Karg-Elert (1877-1933): Symphonic Chorale on “Jesu meine Freude”
    • Introduzione (Inferno)
    • Canzone
    • Fuga con Corale
  • Herbert Howells (1893-1982): Psalm-Prelude op. 32/2 “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
  • Olivier Messiaen (1910-1992): Dieu parmi nous
  • Bach: In dir ist Freude (encore)

(See Jeffrey Tucker’s appreciation at Chant Café.)

Wednesday, June 23

Dr. Mahrt’s plenary address for the Colloquium was on “Praying and Singing the Divine Office”:

The annual Requiem Mass for deceased members of the Church Music Association of America was offered Wednesday. This year, all the Mass ordinary and propers were sung in Gregorian chant, with one added motet, Anima mea liquefacta est, by Riveflecha, sung by Dr. Mahrt’s choir:

Thursday, June 24

In a panel discussion on “Music in Higher Education”, faculty members from six universities spoke about the music programs at their institutions:

For the Solemnity of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist, the Mass was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form. Kurt Poterack conducted a Missa brevis by Palestrina, and the organist was John Myers.

Friday, June 25

Fr. Frank Phillips, the founder and first superior of the Canons of St. John Cantius, spoke to the Colloquium on Friday on “Change with Chants and not by Chance”:

At the Mass on Friday, a ferial liturgy for the 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Gregorian Mass II was sung.

The Vespers service on Friday evening was a votive Vespers of the Holy Cross, and Dr. Mahrt conducted music of the Roman Renaissance by Zacharia, Cabezon, Victoria, and Palestrina. The psalms were sung in falsobordone by the intermediate men’s and women’s choirs, directed by Jeff Ostrowski and Arlene Oost-Zinner.

A special thanks to Jennifer Broeren for the recordings of the Victoria and the portions after it.

Saturday, June 26

A votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated on Saturday morning, in the Extraordinary Form. Wilko Brouwers conducted the Mass propers from the Gradualia of William Byrd, and Gregorian Mass IX was sung for the ordinary. The organist was Benjamin Cornelius-Bates.

Sunday, June 27

On Sunday, we returned to the Church of the Epiphany for a Mass in Latin for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Dr. Buchholz conducted the choir and orchestra for the Schubert Mass in G, in an edition adapted to make it liturgically complete. At the end of the Mass, he also conducted the whole assembly in singing a motet by Bruckner, and David Hughes completed the Mass with a postlude based on the letters “C-M-A-A”, in honor of the 20th Colloquium.

 

Additional recordings

Benedictine monk the Rev. Mark Daniel Kirby presented a series of talks on the theology of liturgical chant:

Also, scenes from the 2010 Colloquium were used in a promotional video for the 2011 Colloquium: