The parish never does chant as of now (at least not that I’ve ever heard). The priest who is doing the wedding told me that the he talked to the music director and she is open to doing it and another priest from the parish told me a while back that she has done chant workshops in the past.
I think if the music director is on board with this and has also done the chant workshops, you should be in good shape. She probably is excited to do it. I’m always excited when I get the request to have chant at a wedding or funeral. It’s so rarely requested since most people aren’t really that familiar with it or that they don’t care for it.
My plan is to have four or five singers. I have my meeting with her tomorrow, so I’ll find out what’s possible (otherwise I may have to look into hiring a choir).
That’s good. She should be able to make suggestions for you. Four singers would be good, especially if they are well-trained and musicians on top of that. I’ve done weddings as part of a professional quartet and we could put out a good amount of sound. Did you want all male or mix? I’m assuming mixed since you are planning a couple of motets.
Anyway, I’m going to do try to do Mass IX. I don’t think it’s an overly complicated Mass setting. Otherwise VIII is very easy to learn. Also, as much as I like the motet for In Te Speravi, since the altar, priest, servers, and people will be censed during the offertory, I decided that I’d rather have it chanted and then have a Motet for Ave Maria (Arcadelt) to add a bit of time.
I don’t see why you couldn’t keep the “In Te Speravi” motet. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the Aracadelt, but I’m leaning towards Lassus. The counterpoint is a little more interesting, according to my geeky music self. lol!
That said, I find that the Arcadelt tends to be more pleasing and a little lighter to the ears, especially to those who aren’t as familiar with Rennaisance music. It might prove to be a nice counterbalance to the chant.
Also, I don’t see why it would not be OK for the bride/groom to suggest a setting or things of that nature. They are paying for it after all. If I’m going to be paying $1,000 or something for a choir for my wedding Mass, it shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing to request what I want. Also, there is still 5 months, so if I’m providing the sheet music and recordings of the music, it shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for it to be learned in that period.
Of course it is definitely OK to suggest a setting or other pieces of music, (I would die and go to heaven if the brides who request me to sing a song by “Adele” would instead ask if I can chant) but you also have to be aware of each of the musicians’ abilities and trust the advice of the music director. This is not only for the musicians, but also for you so that you can be sure that you are getting the best quality. Some musicians are of different levels and it would be unfair to request music that may be simple for you or I to learn, but very hard for another. You could end up getting a lot of hacked up music.
If the music director thinks that the schola you would like to hire is capable of doing this music
well (and that’s the most important factor), then you are good to go. If she has a choir of untrained singers that has little to no experience with chant and polyphony, five months might not be enough time… although it could be plenty of time depending on the group. And perhaps she can get them to learn it well, but not have the right kind of voicing for it. Some untrained AND trained singers can’t sing in straight tone or with as little vibrato as possible and there is nothing worse than hearing a lot of wobbly voices singing chant.
Is there any way to audition the singers? Can you perhaps ask if you can sit in on a rehearsal just to hear their quality? Maybe come to a mass that has the choir. If you like what you hear then you’ll feel more comfortable that they will be able to provide the kind of music you want for the liturgy. If you don’t like what you hear, then you probably should look into hiring an outside group. I don’t know where you are, but there are scholas out there who will do this kind of music.
In terms of using the Kyrie at your mass, just ask the priest. If he’s ok with it, then go ahead. Like I mentioned before it’s rarely done, but our priest had no probably doing it.
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