The Recovering Choir Director

On Thursday, August 18 at 2:00 PM, the Juventutem Pilgrims’ Choir along with twelve professional singers is to sing Solemn Vespers and Benediction at Maria-Hilf, a small church in Cologne which houses one of the Indult Masses for the Archdiocese of Cologne.

We had rehearsed the Psalms the previous evening in the St. Antonius crypt in Düsseldorf, and were excited about the prospects of not only praying Vespers well, but also making a positive impression on a French bishop (whose name I do not recall) who was to be in attendance at Maria-Hilf. Apparently, the French bishops as a group are none too pleased with the 1962 books, though you will have to go elsewhere to verify that.

Our coup-de-grâce was to be the Carolingian Acclamations in honor of Pope Benedict XVI, sung—loudly—as a recessional.

Meredith at Basia me, Catholica sum calls it the “giddiest” chant she has ever sung. I agree completely. (Go to her site to see the full text of the acclamations, as well as additional background.)

The French bishop cancelled at the last minute, to the disappointment of some. Still, we carry on with Vespers and Benediction, and sing—sempre fortissimo—the Christus Vincit in parallel organum. Who says prayer has to be boring?

No scores of the original Christus Vincit are available online, but here is a partial mp3 of another chanted version which manages to capture the volume that the choir generated at Maria-Hilf (of course, we were able to attain that volume without the organ). And courtesy of EWTN, here is an interlinear English translation.