Singing the Mass Propers in English
by Gary Penkala
In the Summer 2009 issue of Sacred Music magazine, Jeffrey Tucker, managing editor, describes the plight of Latin in many parishes.
He then offers six options that can support the chant patrimony of the Church ... in English!
There are parishes where the pastor has said to the schola or choir: no Latin under any circumstances, not even for the propers that the schola aspires to sing.
They can chafe and complain about this edict, or they can find a workaround, still using music of the Roman Rite while employing the vernacular.
Before very recently, this was a tricky proposition, but in the last year or so, everything has changed.
There are now six sets of English propers online, either complete or on their way toward completion, and available for immediate download at no charge.
These are the six sets he mentions, each with a different English translation of the Latin propers.
Here the text for each is from the Introit for the First Sunday of Advent.
- Chant Propers [in square-note notation] by Fr. Columba Kelly OSB
To you, my God, I lift my soul, I trust in you; let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.
These are composed using the same mode as the original Gregorian chant, but the melodies are considerably simplified.
Texts are taken from the Roman Missal and in some cases do not match the Graduale Romanum.
- Chant Propers (1962) [in modern notation] by Rev. Paul Arbogast
To you I lift up my soul; in you, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
No one who waits for you shall be put to shame.
Verses of Psalm 24 (25) follow.
These propers were published by World Library Publications in 1964 — they follow the calendar and format of the 1962 Missal.
- American Gradual [in modern notation] by Bruce Ford
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you, my God, I put my trust; let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me; let none who look to you be put to shame.
Ps. Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths: lead me in your truth and teach me.
The melodies here remain faithful to the Gregorian chant, and the English text is adapted to the original music.
The square-note notation of the ancient chant is transcribed to a modern format using stemless black notes and other symbols.
- Chant Propers [in modern notation] by Fr. Samuel Weber
To you I lift up my soul; in you, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.
No one who waits for you shall be put to shame.
Verses of Psalm 24 (25) follow.
There are various formats and versions available in this collection, including accompanied chant.
- Anglican Use Gradual [in square-note notation] by C. David Burt
Unto thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul: O my God, in thee have I trusted, let me not be confounded; neither let mine enemies triumph over me: for all they that look for thee shall not be ashamed.
Shew me thy ways, O Lord: and teach me thy paths.
Glory be to the Father...
These chants, designed for the Anglican Use provision of the Roman Rite, but useful in any Ordinary Form Mass, are based entirely on Gregorian psalm tones.
They are quite easy to sing and derive much of their beauty from the elegant text of the Coverdale Bible (1535), the first complete Bible translation in English.
- Simple Choral Gradual [in modern notation, SATB] by Richard Rice
To you, my God, I lift my soul, I trust in you; let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.
Verses of Psalm 24 (25) follow.
This setting is entirely different from all the previous ones.
It has no musical relationship to the Gregorian propers.
Rather, it is uses a homophonic, hymnic structure for the antiphons and verses, which can be sung by an SATB choir (accompanied or a cappella).
Jeffrey Tucker concludes his article:
By highlighting the English settings here, I don't intend to claim that they are an ending point, but rather a transitional step toward the unchanging ideal of the Gregorian propers.
They are very welcome additions to Catholic repertoire and far more dignified and useful for ritual purposes than the bulk of offerings from mainstream publishers today.
CanticaNOVA Publications, too, has ways to sing the Propers in English:
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