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Use: Christmas
Required Resources: SATB choir
Language: Latin
With renewed emphasis on the use of Propers (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion) in the Roman Rite, many choir directors are looking for good settings of these texts.
David Joseph Gleba has set the Offertory for Christmas Midnight Mass in wonderful early Classical style, reminiscent of Michael Haydn.
The brief text, quoting Psalm 96:11, comes directly from the midnight liturgy in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms:
I. Lætentur cœli et exsulet terra ante faciem Domini:
II. quoniam venit.
In the first section, which translates, "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad before the face of the Lord," the composer skillfully integrates homophonic passages with polyphony in "points of imitation."
The second section is a masterful 31-measure fugue on the last two words, quoniam venit ("for he cometh").
Look ahead to your Latin Christmas Mass — Lætentur cœli is a great new Proper text for a small ensemble or a large choir.
It is also a great way to ennoble your Ordinary Form Midnight Mass as well!
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