The Recovering Choir Director

The Second Vatican Council called for steps to be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Mass which pertain to them, regardless of how predominant the usage of the vernacular could and indeed has become.^[1]  Given the widespread musical illiteracy of the age, it seems necessary to teach many by ear and by rote once again; witness the many times choirs, cantors, and ensembles attempt to rehearse the faithful through new music (and even old music) before Mass.  Fortunately, technology has progressed to the point where this need not be done at Mass; in the case of those learning Gregorian chant, many audio (and video) files of both the Ordinary and the Proper are freely available on the Internet.^[2]

One of the enduring gaps in the implementation of authentic liturgical reform has been the singing of the Credo.  When spoken in the vernacular, it sounds like no more than a perfunctory laundry list of what we believe as Catholics;^[3]  it rolls off the tongue, off the ear, and off the heart.^[4]  When sung with devotion and attention, however, the words become an ode to the faith that generated them, and they can capture the imagination and attention of even the most lukewarm of believers.

Congregations that currently sing the Creed regularly usually sing Credo III, the Church’s most recent plainsong setting as found in the official books.  Indeed, many of the televised Masses from the Vatican use Credo III.

Remarkably few, however, have acquired Credo I, the authentic creedal tone as determined by scholarship.^[5]  Those chapels, parishes, and cathedrals that have not sung the Creed in generations have an opportunity, due to the musical ground laying fallow at this point of the Mass for so long, to incorporate this venerable melody.

While many parishes, regardless of the form of Mass celebrated, may not institute a sung Creed anytime soon — much less Credo I — that shouldn’t serve as a excuse not to learn it. Learning Credo I independently of any pastor’s or choir director’s decree may conceivably be undertaken as a personal act of devotion.  Priests and choir directors who learn it prepare themselves for the the possibility that singing the Creed may take its rightful place in the liturgy once more.

In that spirit and with that hope, I have provided audio files of Credo I below.

One of the obstacles to incorporating the sung Creed into the Mass is that it is easily the longest through-composed text that the faithful are asked to sing.  To help overcome this hurdle, the singing of the Creed often alternates between choir and faithful, or cantor and faithful; a segmentation, a shared responsibility, takes place.  In like manner, the sound files below have been segmented by phrase for gradual assimilation by choirs and faithful alike.  I have not included music notation of any kind, because one doesn’t need notation to learn by ear; however, I have included accented Latin to help people acquire the words.^[6]

There are nineteen segments to Credo I; if you were to take — as a personal act of Eastertide thanksgiving, for example — two or three days, starting today, to learn the melody of each segment, by Pentecost you will have acquired the melody in its entirety…and for life.^[7]

If that sounds attractive to you, bookmark this page and return to it every day until you have learned Credo I in its entirety.  Listen to each segment a couple of times, try to sing along with it softly, either by humming or enunciating the words.  To gauge your retention, sing a passage before checking it against its proper sound file.

1. “Crédo in únum Déum.”^[8]
   
2. “Pátrem omnipoténtem, factórem caéli et térrae, visibílium ómnium, et invisibílium.”
   
3. “Et in únum Dóminum Jésum Chrístum, Fílium Déi unigénitum.”
   
4. “Et ex Pátre nátum ánte ómnia saécula.”
   
5. “Déum de Déo, lúmen de lúmine, Déum vérum de Déo véro.”
   
6. “Génitum, non fáctum, consubstantiálem Pátri : per quem ómnia fácta sunt.”
   
7. “Qui própter nos hómines, et própter nóstram salútem descéndit de caélis.”
   
8. “Et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sáncto ex María Vírgine : Et hómo fáctus est.”
   
9. “Crucifíxus étiam pro nóbis : sub Póntio Piláto pássus, et sepúltus est.”
   
10. “Et resurréxit tértia díe, secúndum Scriptúras.”
    
11. “Et ascéndit in caélum : sédet ad déxteram Pátris.”
    
12. “Et íterum ventúrus est cum glória, judicáre vívos et mórtuos : cújus régni non érit fínis.”
    
13. “Et in Spíritum Sánctum, Dóminum, et vivificántem : qui ex Pátre Filióque procédit.”
    
14. “Qui cum Pátre et Fílio símul adorátur, et conglorificátur : qui locútus est per Prophétas.”
    
15. “Et únam sánctam cathólicam et apostólicam Ecclésiam.”
    
16. “Confíteor únum baptísma in remissiónem peccatórum.”
    
17. “Et exspécto resurrectiónem mortuórum.”
    
18. “Et vítam ventúri saéculi.”
    
19. “Amen.”
    

Feedback is most welcome.  If you have successfully completed this, please let me (and others) know in the comment box.  Other segmented settings of the Creed (and other parts of the Ordinary) may follow, depending on the success of this venture.