Saturday 4th March saw the public debut of our new chant class! Over the last couple of months, volunteers with varying degrees of musical experience and little to no experience of chant met on Thursday evenings to begin learning how to read and sing our ancient Catholic music. This morning they joined some of our Cantores Matris Dei singers and sang the eleventh Gregorian setting of the Ordinary, Orbis Factor and the Lenten hymn ‘Parce Domine’.
This wasn’t just about singing the right notes. What is remarkable is that in such a short time, the group has begun to pay attention to the more stylistic points of executing the chant. A feel for expressing the text, the ebb and flow of the phrasing, the added detail of liquescents and the elements of ensemble singing are beginning to show and make for a more beautiful animation of the liturgical texts.
I am very proud of what this group has achieved in such a short space of time and I look forward to what the future holds as we continue with our task of restoring the sacred liturgy through promoting authentic sacred music.
Would you like to learn to sing the chant in a relaxed and practical way?
Our chant class is on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm in St James Coatbridge. The class lasts around 45 minutes. No previous experience necessary. If you are interested and can hum a tune, you’ll be grand! There is no expectation that you will sing in public or on your own so don’t be shy! Email here if you would like more info.