Easter Sunday

4 April 2010

Entrance	Jesus Christ is risen today
Gloria	Glory to God (Berthier)
Psalm 117	This is the day (Marty Haugen)
Sequence	Praise to the Paschal victim (mtgf)
Preparation of Gifts	Christ the Glory (J f Lalouette)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Gathering (Paul Inwood)
Lamb of God	O Lamb of God (Berthier)
Communion	I have seen the Lord (Bob Hurd)
Final	This joyful Eastertide (Dutch arr. Wood)

Easter Sunday morning sees a return to the usual musical forces and what always appears to be our largest congregation of the year. As a rule the musicians are a little exhausted from the previous three days and the music is therefore not too demanding.
As the beginning of the Easter Season we begin a new set of music. I always find the Easter season on of the hardest to bring off musically/liturgicaly but key is to be tighter with use of Mass parts for just this season. The Celtic Alleluia which has in the past seemed ubiquitous has a freshness when it appears at Easter Vigil for first time for nearly a year.
The Sequence is an arrangement of the melody O filii et filiae with an Alleluia refrain sung by all. It probably says something about me that I am not wholly comfortable when music appears to be sung for its own sake — as with the sequence. It seems to be an interruption into the flow of the liturgy. I am happier using it as part of an extended Gospel Acclamation. Like much liturgical short-sightedness the problem is probably mine rather than the rite.
Christ the Glory is a simple 2 part motet by the French composer Jean Francois Lalouette (1651-1728). It is one of a number of useful pieces edited by the late Richard Proulx.