Mount Calvary Church
Eutaw Street and Madison Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland
A Roman Catholic Parish
The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of S. Peter
Anglican Use
Rev. Albert Scharbach, Pastor and Celebrant
Dr. Allen Buskirk, Choirmaster
Maundy Thursday
April 18, 2019
7:00 P. M.
Mass of the Lord’s Supper
The Maundy
Procession to the Altar of Repose
Stripping of the Altars
Prayer Vigil until Midnight
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Common
Missa Dixit Maria, Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612)
Here is the Kyrie, sung by the Ensemble Vocal Européen, Philippe Herreweghe conducting.
“Missa Dixit Maria” is based on a popular motet by the German composer Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612). Hassler studied with Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli in Venice, two composers who were pushing the boundaries of the Late Renaissance style and developing sonorities and textures that we associate with the early Baroque. Hassler brought this Venetian style to Germany, though to some extent his influence was lessened by the fact that he was a Lutheran in a heavily Catholic area. Listen for how Hassler uses the material from this motet in different ways to create music appropriate for each section of the mass ordinary.
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Anthems
Ubi caritas et amor, Ola Gjeilo (1978- )
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor. Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur. Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum. Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
Where charity and love are, God is there. Christ’s love has gathered us into one. Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him. Let us fear, and let us love the living God. And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Here is the Central Washington University Chamber Choir.
“Ubi caritas” is a setting for women’s voices of an ancient hymn used as an antiphon to accompanies the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday. Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) moved from his native Norway in 2001 to the United States to study composition at Julliard; he still makes his home in New York City. He is one of the most frequently performed living composers in the choral world. “Ubi caritas” was one of Gjeilo’s first choral pieces, influenced by the famous Duruflé motet, though unlike Duruflé, who incorporated the ancient plainchant into his polyphonic setting, Gjeilo’s motet is not based on any pre-existing musical material.
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Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur; recolitur memoria passionis ejus; mens impletur gratia; et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur.
O sacred banquet, wherein Christ is received; the memorial of his passion is renewed; the soul is filled with grace; and a pledge of future glory is given to us.
Here is Chanticleer.
“O Sacrum Convivium” is a eucharistic prayer that liturgically functions as an antiphon for the Magnificat for vespers on the feast of Corpus Christi. The word ‘convivium’ translated as ‘banquet’ also has the sense of ‘shared living’ that we find in the English word ‘communion.’ Along with the gifts of grace to the soul and a foretaste of heaven, one of the blessings of the eucharist is a renewal of the community as the Body of Christ. This motet by Victoria for four equal voices conveys this sense of unity. Perhaps this is because the higher three voices occupy the same space musically–the same pitch range–moving in close harmony, each with its own role and yet inseparably connected.
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Hymns
Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness (SCHMÜCKE DICH). The original German text, Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, was written by the German politician and poet Johann Franck (1618—1677) in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War. It expresses an intimate relationship between the individual believer and his Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus, ascended into heaven, is still present as our food in this “wondrous banquet.” He is the fount, from whom our being flows as we receive Him and are filled with Him. He feeds us and transforms us into His likeness so that we become His joy and boast and glory before the heavenly court.
And now, O Father, mindful of Thy love (UNDE ET MEMORES) was composed by Anglican High Churchman William Bright (1824—1901), He was Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, and then worked in Scotland, where his views on the Reformation caused him to be ejected by the Bishop of Glasgow. He then returned to Oxford. It is based on the Roman Canon. The hymn remembers the love of Christ in dying for us (verse 1); relates it to our confession of sin (verse 2); prays for others (verse 3); and culminates in the moment of receiving the bread and wine (verse 4).
Now, my tongue, the mystery telling (PANGE LINGUA) is a translation of the Pange lingua, which was written by Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) as the hymn for Vespers of the newly established Feast of Corpus Christi. Aquinas had been invited in 1264 by Pope Urban IV to produce a liturgy for this festival, and this hymn belongs to that provision. It is patterned on the processional hymn Pange lingua, written by Venantius Fortunatus (530-600).