Anyone doing anything interesting? This morning we sang Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli, as well as Lassus’ *Regina Coeli *and Byrd’s Terra Tremuit.
For Good Friday our choir sang Stabat Mater Dolorosa, in Latin, by Josef Rheinberger(1839-1901). It’s not time yet to leave for Easter Day service here in the USA, but I hear the choir will be doing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. During Lent Brahms has been featured for musical selections.
Nothing interesting today - I’m out of town, rehearsing La Traviata and we have a day off today. I’ll probably sing through the solos in the b Minor Mass in the practice studio later on.
I heard a lovely concert on Good Friday - a double bill of the Tomas Luis de Victoria Requiem, followed by the John Rutter Requiem. For the Victoria, the choir sang with only the stand lights and the Bass soloist read the text before each movement, to give the effect as though the mass were actually being said at the funeral of the Empress Maria.
The Rutter, hmpf, it was well sung. I sang it once about 20 years ago, and every note was just as I remembered it; the actual ‘Requiem’ motif sounds just like a line from ‘Leavin’ on a Jet Plane’ to my jaded ear… An old friend of mine was the soprano soloist, and she floated those lines beautifully. The piece just isn’t to my taste, I’m afraid.
Nothing special. “Thou Hallowed Chosen Morn” by Sowerby, and some minor chorus by Handel that everyone seemed to know…
The usual suspects.
Jesus Christ is risen today
Christ is alive
The Day of Resurrection
Hallelujah
Not surprisingly, we processed to this. I accused the music director of going out on a limb with it… 
We did this as a recessional yesterday morning. We processed in with The Strife is O’er.
For the Maundy Thursday evening mass we sang Byrd’s *Ave Verum *and Durufle’s Ubi Caritas. On Good Friday at the Passion we did a slightly weird harmonised version of the various Tracts, as well as Victoria’s *O Vos Omnes *and his alternatim version of the Trisagion. At Tenebrae we did his Responsories (we like Victoria’s music), and Allegri’s Miserere. The Vigil service on Saturday night was all chant, except for a couple of harmonised psalm tones.
A brass quintet performed “Up From the Grave” then the choir sang “Jesus Rose” with orchestral accompianment (or maybe “Risen to Reign”).
Then we sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” with the congregation–and with a killer descant. (Note: I’m a second soprano. This means that at every opportunity I avoid singing the notes featured in this descant. But since the director said “On verse 4, everyone sing melody except ALL the sopranos” and considered that things were going well when the sound guy couldn’t hear melody on verse four, I was stuck with the killer descant. )
Then we sang a jazz-y song by Roald Dilworth(I think) --I thought it sounded kinda Gospel in rehearsal, especially with our New Orleans pianist, but when you add a saxophone, it brings out the jazz feel.
Then we sang “In Christ Alone” which is a contemporary praise chorus thing-y (except it actually has verses with decent (meaning nonrepetitive) lyrics, so maybe it isn’t a praise chorus thing-y) --with the congregation.
We then sang “Worthy is the Lamb” which is definitely contemporary and lame, except for the fact that it had orchestra with it, and it ended with a big transition into “Crown him With Many Crowns” which the congregation sang along with as the choir added frills and flourishes.
And then the Brass quintet played again, and we relaxed for the few minutes between services.
It was really cool when at the last service (of 3) people actually stood in place and listened to the Brass quintet for a minute or two before they started bustling towards the doors.
I like Victoria’s music as well, and I don’t get to hear enough of it. There’s lots about church singing I don’t miss, but I do miss having the excuse to read through some really beautiful music from time to time.
OK. you’re an Episcopalian, right? Or at least a Lutheran?
We have a couple of his masses in the repertoire (*Missa O Quam Gloriosum *and Missa O Magnum Mysterium) and roll them out reasonably often. And as you note, his Requiem is sublime. Whenever we have to sing a requiem that’s the first suggestion we make.
Episcopalian. I imagine next week we will have some less popular hymns. I noticed quite a few of the Christmas and Easter only crowd on Sunday morning.
Good Friday we sang the Casales version of O vos omnes. I like that one the best. Besides, it teaches the sopranos that a G isn’t really that high a note!
I attend the jazz/gospel service at my church (UCC), and we sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, “Glory, Glory Hallelujah”, a gospel song called “Rising Again”, “Defying Gravity” from the musical “Wicked”, and “Amazing Grace”.
Definitely not all your typical choices for Easter Sunday services. However, I was a little disappointed we didn’t do a jazzified version of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” or “The Strife is O’er”, all of which practically define Easter for me.
We did “Jesus Christ is Risen Today,” “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, and “The Strife is O’er,” plus two I don’t recall.
Yes, very Anglican.
I wonder how many Episcopalians we have on the SDMB. There’s me, dalej42, swampbear. From the previous post it sounds like Northern Piper is “one of us” And there’s another one too but can’t recall just now.
For this Methodist, what’s the diff between “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today” and “Christ The Lord Is Risen Today”? Aren’t they sung to the same tune? If so, Northern Piper’s church ran the musical gambit from A to B. 
Oh, and I too was with the 'Piscopals for Easter, since I was visiting famly who are members.
I sing in the choir for an Episcopalian Church here in Charlotte.
I might have been in the congregation, because Charlotte is where I was.
I learned something while writing a reply to you Jodi. I learned the two as completely different hymns, with different tunes. But while searching for links to illustrate this I found they are more in the nature of Siamese twins that have been seperated by surgery.
This link http://hymnal.oremus.org/hwiki/index.php/Christ_the_Lord_is_risen_today takes you to a hymn that has ten verses. The first seven, without the Alleluias, and to the tune Orientis Partibus, are what I have most often seen as Christ the Lord is Risen Today. But not the last three verses. Those, along with another verse not seen there, and in a differing order, are what I learned as “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” and are sung to a different tune, often refered to as Easter Hymn. See also this link http://hymnal.oremus.org/hwiki/index.php/Jesus_Christ_is_risen_today
Both hymns can be sung to either tune, as they have the same timing 77 77. But in both the current Episcopal Hymnal, and the current Lutheran hymnals, JCiRT is sung to Easter Hymn, while CtLiRT is sung to Orientis Partibus, and the latter doesn’t have the Alleluias at the end of each line.
Clear as mud, right? Charles Wesley wrote it(or them, depending on your point of view) , and it/them may be different in another denomination’s hymnal. I don’t have a copy of a Methodist hymnal.