The Recovering Choir Director

Crucem tuam a 4

Antiphon and Verse for Good Friday—Veneration of the Cross

Version history

• 20080301SATB—current version
  • Tenor, mm 11-12: text underlay of “-so mun-” altered
  • Bass, m 11: final note B-flat instead of B natural
  • Ambiti added to all staves
• 20080221SATB—first publication

Available online in the following formats

• LilyPond 2.10.25
• MIDI
• PDF
• PostScript

Dedicated to:

The royal priesthood of believers.

Inspiration:

The idea to compose a setting of the Crucem tuam simply came to mind early Sunday Morning, February 17, 2008 just after midnight. Seven hours later, the bulk of the antiphon was finished!

Primary Catholic Roman/Latin Rite liturgical use

• Good Friday, Extraordinary Form: to be sung immediately after the Reproaches and before the Crux fidelis (if the Crux fidelis is to be sung).
• Good Friday, Ordinary Form: to be sung immediately after the Ecce lignum Crucis/”Behold the wood of the Cross” and before the Reproaches.

Partial list of possible secondary uses (liturgical and devotional)

• Offertory or Communion motet
  • Passion Sunday (EF)
  • Palm Sunday (EF and OF)
  • April 28: St. Paul of the Cross (EF)
  • Sept. 14: Exaltation of the Holy Cross (EF and OF)
  • Oct. 19: St. Paul of the Cross (OF)
  • Nov. 24: St. John of the Cross (EF)
  • Dec. 14: St. John of the Cross (OF)
  • Votive Mass of the Holy Cross (EF)
• Stations of the Cross—meditation

Composer’s notes

• Incipit (m 1): may be sung in strict rhythm as indicated, or with a freer chant rhythm.
• m 4: Liquescent “n” in soprano line “sa—n—ctam” receives eighth note.
• Breath marks: rob an eighth note from the preceding note; breathe as needed. Precision is especially important at mm 5, 8 and 10 to maintain sense of forward motion.
• Fauxbourdon verse (mm 12-17): rhythms before the breath marks are suggested; rhythms after the breath marks are explicit.
• Word painting (finger and otherwise):
  • mm 2-3: “Dómine” is the word that receives the most time in the entire setting; also resolves to a major chord.
  • mm 6-7: “Glorificámus” in the tenor line.
  • m 8: lack of melodic motion or rhythmic variation in “lignum”
  • m 9: staggered entrance of “venit”
  • m 17: alto-tenor descending thirds
• Ritardandos if applied should be poco and begin at m. 11 and m. 17, respectively.
• Dynamic suggestions (not marked in the score so as to respect the liberty of the choir director):
  • Generally, as the work is based on a chant, please go easy on the theatrics.
  • m 4: subtly broaden “resurrectiónem”
  • m 7-8: decrescendo into pianissimo “ecce…lignum”
  • m 8-9: crescendo into mezzo-piano “gáudium”

Possible liturgical adaptations

This work may be sung:

• in its entirety;
• in conjunction with the original chant:
  • polyphonic antiphon, chanted verse, polyphonic antiphon
  • chanted antiphon and verse, polyphonic antiphon (as a sort of polyphonic “coda”)
  • or any other way that the choir director deems suitable for his situation and/or choir
• antiphon only (outside of the primary liturgical function described above)

Interesting minutiae

• The soprano line is melodically equivalent to the Crucem tuam antiphon and verse for Good Friday.
• The OF Memorial Acclamation Mortem tuam is a direct musical descendant of the Crucem tuam melody.
• This is the first original composition by the composer in over ten years, and his first sacred work.
• This setting was completed in four days, with the bulk of composition taking place on the first day.
• The most difficult part of the work was setting the words “venit gaudium in universo mundo”.

Choirs that have sung/will sing this work within the context of Sacred Liturgy or a devotion

Please contact the composer to have your choir included on this list, including the date, times and place of the work’s presentation by your choir. Website URLs are welcome!

Choirs that have sung/will sing this work in a non-religious context

Please contact the composer to have your choir included on this list, including the date, times and place of the work’s performance by your choir. Website URLs are welcome!

Copyright information

Copyright © 2008 Aristotle Aure Esguerra.

Copyleft: this work of art is free, you can redistribute it and/or modify it according to terms of the Free Art license. You will find a specimen of this license on the site Copyleft Attitude http://artlibre.org as well as on other sites.

Partial list of fee-based modifications available directly from the composer

• Customized MIDI files
• Enlargement of music and/or text
• Incorporation of piano reduction (for rehearsal purposes only)
• Modification of time signature/note values
• Transposition

If a desired modification does not appear in the list above, kindly specify your desired request when contacting the composer. Requests not listed above will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

When contacting the composer, please also suggest an initial fee that respects the budget with which you are working, as well as the programming/layout skill required of the composer to carry out your request.

Discussion thread

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