I have been remiss and I apologize for this. Right before my trip to New York, both Dave and I took part in a huge Mass that had taken over a year to plan, organize, and rehearse. The Mass was for the Feast of the Assumption. St. Benedicts (where I am singing as a section leader) is celebrating their 100th year of being a parish. It has been Father Kaufman's dream (the priest at St. Benedicts) to do a Latin Mass (according to the 1962 missal....everything in latin, everything chanted) at St. Benedicts. Enter Dave and the priests and good people at St. Josephs Church....where Dave works. St. Josephs was originally an off-shoot of St. Benedicts and so, both Jim Dorn (the music director at St. Benedicts) and Fr. Kaufman thought it would be very fitting to combine the two churches for this one Mass. And being that there would be 3 priests, it could be a Solemn High Mass.
Dave put together a Women's Schola and they were in charge of the Propers (chanted prayers which include the Introit, the Gradual, the Offertory, etc.). The choir at St. Benedicts was responsible for the Ordinary (chanted prayers like the Kyrie, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei, etc.) and any other pieces of music. Jim decided that it would be fitting for such an occasion to perform the Kodaly Missa Brevis in the context of the Mass. We, as the choir, had been rehearsing this piece since November of last year. And...in light of such an occasion, Jim brought in a "ringer" director so he could concentrate on the organ part of the piece. Our director was the renowned Axel Theimer...director at St. John's University in Minnesota. (On a side note....I LOVED singing under this man. He was a fantastic director and cemented my opinion that there is a HUGE difference between choral directors from the East Coast....and choral directors from everywhere else. :) It didn't hurt that he also reminded me of my dad!!)
It was a beautiful night and a stunning Mass. They estimate that there were almost 800 people in attendance...which is huge given the fact that the church isn't a "mega-church". It was a gorgeous evening of prayer, music, the combining of the two churches, and worship.
I have included the entire video of the Mass. Please do not feel that you have to watch the whole thing. It is pretty long...and all in Latin. :) However, if you would like to listen to key musical parts....you can move the video to the following parts of the video. So....I hope you enjoy!!! (One further side note: the video does not show the choirs. The choir from St. Benedicts....which I sing in....was at the back of the church and up in the choir loft. The Women's Schola...which Dave was directing....was at the front of the church....just to the left of the camera.)
Bieble's Ave Maria the very beginning of the video
Introit Chant 7:07
Kodaly's Introit, Kyrie and Gloria 10:38
Gradual and Alleluia Chant 25:45
Offertory Chant 40:56
Grieg's Ave Maria Stella 42:11
Kodaly's Sanctus 52:00
Kodaly's Benedictus 56:24
Kodaly's Agnus Dei 62:40
Communion Chant 70:55
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