liturgy
Ascension Thursday
May 26, 2011
Just why the North American Bishops decided that forty days after Easter was unimportant and moved the great feast of the Ascension to Sunday, June 5, I don’t know. Most of the rest of the Catholic world celebrates it June 2.
I am convinced that the change is one more strike of the axe severing our sacred liturgy from its Biblical roots. Forty days is forty days and it means something. In the Bible something important always happened at the end of a time period of forty, whether days or years. So for most of the Catholic world forty days after Easter really is, and always has been, Ascension Thursday.
This great feast commemorates Christ taking possession of the Kingdom of Heaven with the promise of His return to judge the living and the dead. The introit strikes me as somewhat humorous in a way. Perhaps it is because I can put myself in the shoes of the apostles and disciples so easily. Acts 1:11 has angels telling the gawking apostles, “Ye men of Galilee, why wonder you, looking up to heaven? He shall so come as you have seen Him going up into heaven.”
I can just see them staring into the heavens with their mouths agape as Jesus vanishes into the clouds. This was truly wondrous, but sad, too, because they would never see Him again during their lifetime as He was with them on earth. I can imagine them thinking, “What are we going to do without Him?” At the same time, the joyful proof was right before their eyes that the kingdom of heaven belongs to all who believe in Jesus, our Head. If the Head is the King of heaven, the Body, we, will follow and partake of the inheritance. More proof of the faithfulness of our God.
The Ascension was both very joyful and full of hope, and at the same time, a little bitter for those who had walked along side Jesus on earth.
I love sacred art from the 12th to 16th centuries. Please enjoy this lovely fresco by Giotto di Bodone and think of it when we celebrate the Mass of the Ascension Sunday, June 5.
The Ascension, 1304-06, Giotto di Bodone (b. 1267, Vespignano, d. 1337, Firenze), Fresco, Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
May 22, 2011
If you’d like an adventure looking at other Catholic blogs, visit RAnn, our wonderful hostess who has the links to all the rest of the participants in this meme at This That and the Other Thing.
This week I’ve been recovering from the really bad virus I caught, so my postings are light. I started a blog tag called Three Favorite Scripture Verses which you are invited to participate in.
Sabbath Moments covers a few special events of my week.
Next week I plan to get back in the saddle but for now, here’s the beautiful Collect (Prayer) from the Fourth Sunday After Easter. I love the way the traditional liturgical calendar marks Sundays, linking them with the great feasts and helping us keep them in mind. Until Pentecost, we are still in the season of the Resurrection.
O God, Who makest the faithful to be of one mind and will: grant to Thy people the grace to love what Thou dost command and to desire what Thou dost promise, that amid the changes of the world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Who lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
This will be my meditation for the week.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Spring on El Tiede
April 27, 2011
Jesus is risen, Alleluia! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, Easter and spring go together. The signs of renewal are everywhere. We are in the time of mercy, joy and hope. Nature declares it in her flowers and the greening of the fields. The Church declares it in the sacred liturgy, Divine Mercy novenas and celebrations.
Even in a world torn by political and religious strife, gifted people contribute their all to special, shining moments that offer us glimpses of the majesty of God and remind us that there is One above us who governs.
For a moment of tranquility, enjoy the time-lapse video that photographer Terje Sorgjerd made on Mt. Tiede, Spain’s highest peak and home of the famed Tiede observatory. Did you know that the Milky Way shines through a sandstorm?
Sorgjerd’s blog post on making this video is really interesting.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Symbolism of the Washing of the Feet
April 21, 2011
Washing of the Feet, 1308-11, Buoninsegna (b. ca. 1255, Siena, d. 1319, Siena), Tempera on wood, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena
A significant part of the Holy Thursday liturgy is the washing of the feet. We’ve all read the Bible verses describing this, but St. Thomas Aquinas has given us insights into the deep symbolism of Christ’s acts that are not obvious at first. In all my 65 years I’ve not heard a sermon that goes where St. Thomas takes us.
Something as mundane as washing dirty feet, Who does the washing, and the meaning behind it take us on a journey into the wonder of redemption.
Here is St. Thomas’s explanation from Meditations for Lent which I reviewed here.
After that, he putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded (John 13:5).
There are three things which this can be taken to symbolize.
1. The pouring of the water into the basin is a symbol of the pouring out of His blood upon the earth. Since the blood of Jesus has a power of cleansing it may in a sense be called water. The reason why water, as well as blood, came out of His side, was to show that this blood could wash away sin.
Again we might take the water as a figure of Christ’s Passion. He putteth water into a basin, that is, by faith and devotion He stamped into the minds of faithful followers the memory of His passion. Remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood and the gall (Lam. 3:19).
2. By the words and began to wash it is human imperfection that is symbolized. For the Apostles, after their living with Christ, were certainly more perfect, and yet they needed to be washed; there were still stains upon them. We are here made to understand that no matter what is the degree of any man’s perfection he still needs to be made more perfect still; He is still contracting uncleanness of some kind to some extent. So in the Book of Proverbs we read, Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin (Prov. 20:9).
Nevertheless the Apostles and the just have this kind of uncleanness only in their feet.
There are however others who are infected, not only in their feet, but wholly and entirely. Those who make their bed upon the soiling attractions of the world are made wholly unclean thereby. Those who wholly, that is to say, with their senses and with their wills, cleave to their desire of earthly things, these are wholly unclean.
But they who do not thus lie down, they who stand, that is, they who, in the mind and in desire are tending towards heavenly things, contract this uncleanness in their feet. Whoever stands must, necessarily, touch the earth at least with his feet. And we, too, in this life, where we must, to maintain life, make use of earthly things, cannot but contract a certain uncleanness, at least as far as those desires and inclinations are concerned which begin in our senses.
Therefore Our Lord commanded His disciples to shake of the dust from their feet. The text says, He began to wash, because this washing away on earth of the affection for earthly things is only a beginning. It is only in the life to come that it will be really complete.
Thus by putting water into the basin, the pouring out of His blood is signified, and by His beginning to wash the feet of His disciples the washing away of our sins.
3. There is symbolized finally Our Lord’s taking upon Him the punishment due to our sins. Not only did He wash away our sins but He also took upon Himself the punishment that they had earned. For our pains and our penances would not suffice were they not founded in the merit and the power of the Passion of Christ. And this is shown in His wiping the feet of the disciples with the linen towel, that is the towel which is His body.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Vexilla Regis Prodeunt
April 11, 2011
Resurrection, 1520, Marco Basaiti (active 1496-1530 in Venice), Oil on canvas, Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
Every liturgical season in the Church contains gems illustrating the story of salvation. In Lent, we focus on the Passion and its many aspects. One of the oldest and most beautiful hymns praising the Cross is Vexilla Regis Prodeunt. As the fall of man came about through a tree, so his salvation comes about through the wood of the Cross.
The Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite celebrates Passion Sunday two weeks before Easter. At first Vespers we begin using Vexilla Regis as the hymn and continue to do so every day until Holy Thursday. It is also sung at Vespers on all feasts of the Holy Cross.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
[Vexilla Regis] … was written by Venantius Fortunatus [530-609], and was first sung in the procession (19 Nov., 569) when a relic of the True Cross, sent by the Emperor Justin II from the East at the request of St. Radegunda, was carried in great pomp from Tours to her monastery of Saint-Croix at Poitiers. Its original processional use is commemorated in the Roman Missal on Good Friday, when the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession from the Repository to the High Altar.
…the vexillum is the cross which (instead of the eagle) surmounted, under Constantine, the old Roman cavalry standard. This standard became in Christian hands a square piece of cloth hanging from a bar placed across a gilt pole, and having embroidered on it Christian symbols instead of the old Roman devices.
Much sacred art depicting the Resurrection of Christ shows the vexillum (cross) on a banner in just the manner described.
Venantius Fortunatus was the holy bishop of Poitiers, France and an accomplished poet. Another well-known hymn he wrote is Quem terra, pontus, aethera (The God Whom Earth, and Sea, and Sky). Eleven volumes of his great Latin poetry remain, along with a few found in Paris in recent years.
After thirteen centuries the stirring stanzas of this hymn still evoke penitence, joy, and praise, reminding us, the Church Militant, that we are marching in the army of our Redeemer. In most parishes, oratories, and chapels adhering to the Extraordinary Form, Vexilla Regis is sung in chant form. However, a great priest composer, Guillaume Dufay (1397?-1474), following the practice of his time, wrote Vexilla Regis with chant interposed with polyphony. In some places we still use his work today.
Vexilla Regis Prodeunt
The royal banners forward go,
The Cross shines forth in mystic glow,
Where Life himself our death endured
And by His death our life procured.
Where deep for us the spear was dyed,
Life’s torrent rushing from His side,
To wash us in that precious flood,
Where mingled water flowed, and blood.
Fulfilled is all that David told
In true prophetic song of old
To all the nations: “God,” saith he,
Hath reigned and triumphed from the Tree.”
O Tree of beauty, Tree of light,
O Tree with royal purple dight,
Elect on whose triumphal breast
Those holy limbs should find their rest;
On whose dear arms, so widely flung
The weight of this world’s ransom hung;
The price of humankind to pay,
And spoil the spoiler of his prey.
O Cross, our one reliance, hail!
This holy Passiontide avail
To give new virtue to the saint
And pardon to the penitent.
To Thee, eternal Three in One,
Let homage meet by all be done;
As by the Cross Thou dost restore,
So rule and guide us evermore. Amen.
Translation from the 1962 Daily Missal published by Angelus Press.
This is Dufay’s composition recorded live during Mass on 9/14/08 and sung by Les Choristes, the vocal quartet in residence at the French National Church in San Francisco, CA (Steven Olbash, director). It does not have all the verses.
For an excellently sung Gregorian chant try Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis, Giovanni Vianini, Milano, Italia.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
April 3, 2011
Welcome to Sunday Snippets, a meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing where bloggers get together to share posts from the past week.
This week I posted random thoughts on A Clean Heart Create in Me, O God.
Sabbath Moments mentions a few blessed moments of the past week.
Praying the Psalms – Psalm 64 is where I post reflections on that psalm.
Today is Laetare Sunday, one of the two Sundays of the year when celebrants may wear rose vestments. Here is a true rose chasuble from the Saint Bede Studio in Australia. Maybe you know a priest who would like to have a set made by this most able company.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
March 26, 2011
Welcome to Sunday Snippets, a weekly meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Please join us even if you’re not a blogger. You’ll find some interesting reading. Leave comments if you wish. I’ve meet some very interesting people at this carnival.
This week I addressed the “why?” of suffering in Lent, the “Why?” of Suffering and the Japanese Tragedy.
At Liturgical Stations of the Cross I posted links to the fourteen stations I published last year. These stations make great one-a-day short meditation with snippets from the Old and New Testaments plus prayers from the Extraordinary Form. If you want to bookmark it, you can use it throughout the year.
Ancient Lenten Hymn, Parce Domine is a presentation of the hymn and a recording of it in polyphonic style by a 20th century Polish composer.
Praying the Psalms – Psalm 63 is a meditation on that Psalm.
Sabbath Moments relates blessings of this past week.
Another APOD photograph for your enjoyment:
Cooling Neutron Star
Credit: X-ray: NASA / CXC / UNAM / Ioffe / D.Page, P.Shternin et al; Optical: NASA / STScI;
Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Explanation: Supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a comfortable 11,000 light-years away. Light from the Cas A supernova, the death explosion of a massive star, first reached Earth just 330 years ago. The expanding debris cloud spans about 15 light-years in this composite X-ray/optical image, while the bright source near the center is a neutron star (inset illustration) the incredibly dense, collapsed remains of the stellar core. Still hot enough to emit X-rays, Cas A’s neutron star is cooling. In fact, 10 years of observations with the orbiting Chandra X-ray observatory find that the neutron star is cooling rapidly, so rapidly that researchers suspect a large part of the neutron star’s core is forming a frictionless neutron superfluid. The Chandra results represent the first observational evidence for this bizarre state of neutron matter.
Sabbath Moments
March 26, 2011
Awareness of God
Welcome to Sabbath Moments, hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. Visit her to see how God was working in the lives of fellow bloggers this past week.
This week I spent quite a bit of time researching information and examples of the beautiful Lenten hymn, Parce Domine for one of my blog posts. This peaceful work always places me consciously in the presence of God, and makes me appreciate the many treasures of our sacred liturgy.
We had two wonderful days of sunshine and moderate temperatures which allowed us to get some of our spring planting area cleared up and enriched. It involved digging up some day lilies and iris which we are offering to neighbors if they want them. What was extra special about this is the fellow who came to do this work. He knows what he’s doing, is very kind, and the earnings will go to help him with his autistic son and pre-teen daughter. Seeing a devoted father is always inspiring. I got a lot of sunshine, too, for which I am grateful as it always makes me feel better.
Daffodils
Friday at 3:30 a.m. we had a thunderstorm come through that woke me up, giving me extra prayer time in the middle of the night.
The daffodils have been blooming for the past two weeks, their happy yellow blossoms dancing in the breeze. If you leave them alone, they will propagate themselves, giving you surprises every spring.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Meaning of “Assist at Mass”
March 2, 2011
Recently I composed an ebook with tips for newcomers at the Extraordinary Form. One of the topics I included was an explanation of the meaning of the phrase, “assist at Mass” because I’ve met so many Catholics who have never heard it. This post is an expansion of my short treatment in the ebook. You might find this explanation helpful and interesting, too.
One of the six precepts of the Church is “to keep the Sundays and Holy Days of obligation holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile work” (New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia). We had to memorize these precepts when I was a child and I remember it as “to assist at Mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation.”
Other sources use the words “attend Mass”, but that doesn’t really capture what the Church wants to accomplish with this precept. We can “attend Mass” in our bodies, but our minds and hearts could be at the office, the lake, on the golf course, or at soccer practice.
“Assist at Mass” has been used for many years, but the term has fallen by the wayside since the 1970s. You will hear people attending the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite use it to describe what they do when attending Mass. The term could equally be used to describe what people do when attending the Novus Ordo.
Assisting at Mass is bound to the Catholic concept of the priesthood. The theological meaning of the sacred priesthood is manifold, but a central point is that a man is ordained a priest specifically to offer sacrifice. In the Catholic religion that means the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where the priest immolates the Sacred Victim (Christ) in an unbloody manner at the altar during the Consecration.
The other priesthood is the priesthood of the laity. One way we exercise this priesthood is by assisting at Mass. But what does this mean?
The laity “assist” at Mass not in that they “help” the priest because the priest needs no “help” – that is not the meaning of “assist.” Rather it means to participate mentally, spiritually, and physically in the sacred mysteries in the role proper to the non-ordained. This is the meaning of participatio actuosa which we find in the Vatican II document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium.
We laity, through the sacrament of Baptism, are consecrated to a common priesthood. By virtue of this sacrament we share in the priesthood of Christ and along with the ordained priest at Mass we offer the Divine Victim to the Father. We offer ourselves to the Father as members of Christ’s mystical body as well. All the Faithful, both the immolating priest and the laity assisting, join ranks in completing the Holy Sacrifice by the priestly action of consuming the Victim through reception of Holy Communion.
This sheds new light on the Church’s precept: we are obliged to exercise our priestly role on all Sundays and Holy Days of obligation. A lot to ponder here.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sub Tuum Praesidium
February 4, 2011
Since we celebrated the Presentation this week, I want to bring you a gorgeous rendition of this ancient prayer to the Blessed Mother by Dimitri Bortniansky. I love the Byzantine liturgical music – so solemn and holy.
Sub Tuum Praesidium dates from between 250 and 280, predating the Hail Mary. It is found as an antiphon at the hour of Compline in the Divine Office. You can read more about this at New Liturgical Movement. I have unashamedly stolen this video from the wonderful article by Henri de Villiers, Paris. If you like Byzantine music, you may want to check out oiscandero’s submissions at YouTube.
The literal translation from the Latin:
Under your
patronage
we take refuge
Holy Mother of God;
our petitions,
do not despise
in necessities,
but of all dangers
deliver us always
glorious Virgin
& Blessed.
Choir directors: the article at New Liturgical Movement contains a downloadable page of Marc Antoine Charpentier’s (1643 † 1704) composition of this prayer.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Una Voce February Newsletter
February 3, 2011
The Una Voce Arkansas Ozarks Regional Newsletter for February is available. Main topics are:
- Apostolic Nuncio to the Antilles, Archbishop Gullickson, writes about the sacred liturgy and Summorum Pontificum.
- Pope Benedict XVI issues letter encouraging Catholics to spread the Gospel on the internet.
- Father Austin Milner, O.P. explains the history and meaning of “and with your spirit” – important since the new translation for the Novus Ordo (ordinary form) begins this coming Advent.
If you’d like to receive notification of its availability by email, send me a note using the contact form at this site and I’ll put you on the list. Please forward the newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. We’re using the new media Pope Benedict wrote about!
Want to subscribe to posts by email? Visit the third box in the sidebar.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
January 9, 2010
Hello, Sunday Snippets readers! Welcome to this carnival hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing where Catholic bloggers share their posts for the week. Join us at RAnn’s and link over there to your favorite posts of the week or read and leave comments.
This week I finished an autobiography by Susan Boyle and reviewed it at Susan Boyle – Her Inspiring Story.
Pillar hermits have always fascinated me so on his feast day I wrote a bit about St. Simeon Stylites – A Hermit on a Pillar.
Epiphany – Celebration of Three Manifestations of Christ’s Divinity covers one of my favorite feasts of the year and why I love it.
Please pray for my sister who is out of work and needs a job.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
O Antiphons
December 16, 2010
Tomorrow we begin the wonderful O Antiphons, chanted before and after the Magnificat at Vespers. Last Advent I posted the antiphon for each day with a short commentary. Please join me in using these links every day to pray the O Antiphons again this year.
December 17: O Sapientia – O Wisdom
December 19: O Radix Jesse – O Root of Jesse
December 20: O Clavis David – O Key of David
December 21: O Rising Dawn – O Oriens
December 22: O Rex Gentium – O King of the Gentiles
Most Catholics are familiar with the Advent hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel”. The O Antiphons are the source of this hymn. Here is the great Hungarian composer, Zoltan Kodaly’s rendering of the Gregorian chant with polyphony by L’Accorche-Choeur, Ensemble vocal Fribourg. Wouldn’t you love to hear this at your parish?
Thank you for stopping by and God bless you.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Rorate Caeli Desuper (Advent Prose)
December 6, 2010
Rorate caeli with Annunciation illustrated, gold on parchment, c. 1300, upper Rhenish
Are you of a mind to enter into a deep Advent meditation? I can think of nothing more profound than the exquisite Gregorian chant, Rorate caeli desuper, sometimes referred to as “Advent Prose”.
The words and the chant invariably bring tears to my eyes. I have included both the Latin and the English in this post so you will be able to understand the chant as it is sung and have a reference for meditation should you desire it.
We sing the beginning of the Rorate as the Introit from the Fourth Sunday of Advent, for Votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin in Advent, as antiphons in the Divine Office during Advent, and in the liturgy for the feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 18. The entire prayer is sung before Benediction during Advent.
I searched and searched on YouTube to find an acceptable rendition of the chant and finally found the one I’m presenting here. Everything else was too fast, correct chant practice was not observed, or there were pitch problems, all of which detract from the essential holiness and beauty.
You deserve to hear it rendered exquisitely as in monasteries and convents and this was the closest I could come. The recording quality is not as good as it should be, so imagine you are sitting in person in a seminary or monastery chapel and overlook the technical flaws.
Chant should never be rushed. The pauses (silence) in the phrases are tiny moments of contemplation allowing us to stop for a moment before singing the next lines, and endings should always be softened. Chant was meant to be sung in a church or chapel with reverberations which allow the music to float, as it were, to heaven.
When you listen to this, hear how expressive of the meaning of the words the line of music is. My favorite part is the melody of the Consolamini. I think no other lines of chant expresses such painful longing for the Redeemer solaced by the Father. At the end we are wrapped in His tenderness.
Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum. (Is. 45:8)
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One.
Ne irascaris, Domine, ne ultra memineris iniquitatis.
Be not angry, O Lord, remember no more our iniquities.
Ecce civitas Sancti facta es deserta, Sion deserta facta est; Jerusalem desolata est: domus sanctificationis tuae et gloriae tuae, ubi laudaverunt te patris nostri.
Behold, the city of the Holy One is deserted; Sion is laid desolate: Jerusalem is laid waste: the home of Thy sanctification and of Thy glory, where our fathers praised Thee.
Rorate caeli…
Drop down dew…
Peccavimus, et facti summus tamquam immundus nos; et cecidimus quasi folium universi: et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus, abstulerunt nos. Abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis, allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae.
We have sinned, and we are become like the unclean; we are fallen like the leaves, and our sins, like the storm, have carried us away. Thou has hidden Thy face from us, and hast thrown us into the power of our sins.
Rorate caeli…
Drop down dew…
Vide, Domine, afflictionem populi tui, et mitte quem missurus es: emitte Agnum dominatorum terrae de petra deserti ad montem filiae Sion, ut auferat ipse jugum captivitatis nostrae.
Behold, O Lord, the affliction of Thy people, and send Him Whom Thou wilt send forth, the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Sion, that He may take away the yoke of our captivity.
Rorate caeli…
Drop down dew…
Consolamini, consolamini, populae meus: cito veniet Salus tua. Quare moerore consumeris? Quare inovavit te dolor? Salvabo te; noli timere: ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus, Sanctus Israel, Redemptor tuus.
Be comforted, be comforted, O my people: thy Savior shall come quickly. Why hath grief devoured thee? Why hath sorrow disfigured thee? I will save thee: fear not: for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.
Rorate caeli…
Drop down dew…
Tell me, when you have finished listening and reading, were you not transported?
Pie Jesu Domine
November 7, 2010
Since we are celebrating the Poor Souls in Purgatory throughout the month of November, I want to bring you a very beautiful prayer the Church offers on their behalf.
Many contemporary artists have recorded well-executed renditions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s aria, Pie Jesu. However, many people don’t realize that this Latin prayer is more than a pretty aria. It is the final verse of the great Dies Irae, the sequence from the Requiem Mass. No prayer of the Catholic sacred liturgy has been set to music more often over the centuries than the Dies Irae.
I have a somewhat respectable collection of Requiem Masses that I like to listen to, composed by various greats from the 13th century on, but at the top of my favorites is Gabriel Fauré’s.
Fauré in his later years was widely acknowledged as the leading French composer of his day. He was deeply gifted with an ability to compose art songs, sacred choral music, piano, orchestral and organ works. For many years he was the organist for the famous Church of the Madeleine and head of the Paris Conservatory. So for those who have heard only Webber’s composition, I offer you the pure voice of a boy soprano from Kings College Chapel Choir, Cambridge, singing this masterpiece of an exceptional 19-20th century composer.
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