1 • Trumpet Voluntary • David Johnson (b. 1942)

This wonderful processional was played by Fr. Robert Ferguson, FSSP. Before entering the seminary, Fr. Ferguson was a concert organist. He is now studying in Washington D.C. at the Dominican House of Studies, having been pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma for several years.

Carrie and I both enjoy fauxburdon very much, and I asked her to compose alternate verses for the Veni Creator. It is abridged on the CD, but one can hear the entire thing on the DVD that is being produced.

Andrew L. Marshall very kindly provided the translation. Thank you!

Although the polyphonic ordinary of the Mass was named in honor of Missa Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Summi et Aeterni Sacerdotis, the actual Mass offered that day was a votive Mass of Christ the King in Paschaltide. That's why the Introit is Dignus est Agnus, and not Juravit Dominus. The Christ the King feast was added by holy Pius XI in 1925, and so, obviously, propers had to be composed/adapted for the feast. That's why, for example, the Offertory is so similar to the Offertory from the Christmas Midnight Mass (Laetentur caeli) as well as the Offertory from the 3rd Mass of Christmas (Tui sunt caeli). I'm not sure who adapted the music for this feast. I know that Dom Pothier was in charge of some of the Masses (for instance, the Mass for his friend St. John Bosco) but he passed away in 1923. In any event, whoever did them, I think they were done with considerable skill.

Since I knew that the Mass would be in Paschaltide, I decided to base my Mass on the Gregorian Missa Lux et Origo, which is often done during the Easter season (although this is by no means mandatory). The Kyrie starts out with unaltered melodies from the Lux et origo Kyrie, and then continues to use melodies as a Cantus Firmus. The beginning has an experiment involving women in their low range. They sound like choir boys!

Part of this piece is based on an excerpt from Christe Redemptor Omnium by Tomasso Lodovico da Vittoria (1548-1611):

(hear the excerpt) • (Sung by the Tallis Scholars)

Again, the Gloria incipit is taken from Lux et origo. Below are examples of how I encorporate works of the great masters into my own works:

Giovanni Croce (1557-1609) • In Monte Oliveti • (midi file) (scorch file) (Sibelius file)
(hear the excerpt) as it is used in Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) • Missa Papae Marcelli
(hear the excerpt) • (Sung by the Roger Wagner Chorale)
(hear the excerpt) as it is used in Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti

Giovanni Gabrieli (1556-1612) • O Quam Suavis
(hear the excerpt) • (Sung by the Texas Boys Choir & the Gregg Smith Singers)
(hear the excerpt) as it is used in Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti

As is relatively obvious, all the texts of the Dignus est Agnus Mass have as their theme the Kingship of Christ.

Giovanni Gabrieli (1556-1612) was the organist at St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. There were many other great musicians who worked at St. Mark's, including Gioseffe Zarlino, Adrian Willaert, Giovanni Croce, Caludio Monteverdi, and Cypriano de Rore. I based my Greater Alleluia on his In Ecclesiis. This was a favorite among members of the St. John Vianney choir! Lucas Tappan kindly conducted, and I played organ.

As is relatively obvious, all the texts of the Dignus est Agnus Mass have as their theme the Kingship of Christ.

As I've often remarked, I do not know a greater piece than Marenzio's Salve. It has it all: beautiful lines that never get old, fantastic counterpoint, daring harmony, wonderful text painting, Canti Firmi from the original chant, varied textures from section to section, and, to top it all off, an ending that brings together three themes at once (and you thought Rachmaninoff was the first composer to bring back a theme from the first movement in the third movement!).

On Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti you hear it in a special edition, done by myself, specifically for Fr. Fryar's first Mass.

In a way, this piece is based on Pierre Manchicourt (1510-1564) and Tomasso Lodovico da Vittoria (1548-1611), but actually, I took less than a measure from either of them. What is important is that certain pieces of theirs gave me the mood and harmonic rhythm for the sanctus.

This is a piece very dear to my heart. The text is a very special prayer from the Mass (Domine Jesus Christe, Fili Dei Vivi...) which Fr. Fryar asked me to set (it being a favorite prayer of his). He also asked me to put special emphasis on the words "et a Te numquam separari permittas," which I did.

This piece was based on works by Marco Antonio Ingegneri (1547-1592) and Giovanni Gabrieli (1556-1612). To give an example of how this is done:

Giovanni Gabrieli (1556-1612) • Deus, Deus Meus, ad Te de Luce Vigilo
(hear the excerpt) • (Sung by the Texas Boys Choir & the Gregg Smith Singers)
(hear the excerpt) as it is used in Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti

This piece is based on the first section of Alexander Uttendal's Miserere, a masterwork for all time. Uttendal (or Utendal) is not appreciated to the extent he should be (as I often say about any Renaissance composer besides Palestrina, Lassus, Victoria, and Morley). Actually, the performance of this piece could have been better: but when one considers that many of the singers had only had 45 mintues to rehearse a 40-page booklet of music, I am quite happy. Rehearsals were impossible for two reasons: 1) the people came from great distances; 2) rehearsals cost money, and this CD had no funding whatsoever.

You can hear an example of what I got from Uttenda:

Alexander Uttendal (1530-1581) • Miserere
(hear the excerpt) • (Sung by the KU Collegium Musicum under Dr. John Paul Johnson)
(hear the excerpt) as it is used in Summi et Aeterni Sacerdoti

Quignard is very hard to find information about. I never did find the score to this piece, and so I had to use aural dictation to get it off the CD Tu es Petrus. I like this piece very much.

I was assisted on this piece by Mark Ostrowski. It was recorded on the organ at St. Joseph's Church.

Once again, the texts reflect the Kingship of Our Savior. Verses from the Psalms may be added to the Communion Antiphon, and it is well if they are taken from the same Psalm. The Communion Antiphons are always so nice, I don't know why people do this so infrequently. That is to say, when you sing the Psalm and Gloria Patri, you get to repeat the nice Antiphon!

Costantini was an incredible master, and this piece must be ranked with the greatest of all 16th century masterpieces. It was originally written for four voices, but I made it into five for the Mass. I believe that it must have been written early in Costantini's career (because the style is not that of the 1650's). Also, I added the beginning chant, which is from the end of St. Matthew's Gospel. I believe it is very fitting to both the themes of the Mass (Christ the King and High Priest) and the theme of Communion (the Holy Eucharist). It was sung at Communion time.

The Latin in this piece is interesting. Many editors have "benedicite nomine ejus." However, that doesn't make sense, because the verb benedicite must take the either dative or the accusative.

Fr. Ferguson closed the Mass with these wonderful pieces. How music had changed during the lifetime of, for instance, Costantini. When Costantini died, Campra was a child, and when Campra grew up he wrote music such as this Rigaudon.

Zoilo is only known for his work (with Palestrina) on the Graduale Romanum (work commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII), but that project never came to fruition. Zoilo is a masterful composer in his own right. He, like Palestrina, composed for the Sistine Chapel choir, and I truly believe that he is every bit as good a composer as Palestrina. I can't say enough about him! He is wonderful! Why is he not performed more often?

This is a 2003 studio recording I did with Carol Price (alto) and Michael Brown (bass). I sang the tenor and baritone lines. This recording is not technically perfect (partially because it was the first one I ever made), but I hope the music shines through!

This is a 2003 studio recording. I sang baritone and tenor, Carol Price was alto, and Michael Brown sang bass. Excellent work, friends! And what wonderful text painting by Zoilo!

This is a 2004 studio recording. I sang bass and tenor, and Carol Price sang alto and soprano. My hat is off to Carol for recordin this piece for a deadline, especially because she had only gotten two hours of sleep the night before! Furthermore, the metronome was not working due to problems with the mixer, and so it was a great challenge to stay rhythmically correct (since the midi voices played through the headphones are very soft).

Carol has one of the nicest voices I've ever encountered, and her sight-reading is flawless. Also, she's very fun to record with.

I absolutely love this piece by Hassler. The text is actually the prayer Catholics say after meals.

Lassus was a most incredible master of polyphony, who wrote more than 2,000 pieces. He was quite cosmopolitan, and wrote in all genres of the time well.

However, there is much discrepancy with regards to his name. Sometimes he signed his name Roland de Lassus, and sometimes Orlando di Lasso, or sometimes Orlandus Lassus, sometimes Orlande de Lassus, and sometimes Roland Delattre. That is, there was even more variety to his name than most Renaissance composers. But I think the most confusing part is that he had a son composer named Rudolf de Lassus. So, if you see R. de Lassus on a work, it is impossible to know for certain who wrote it.

He knew the young Giovanni Gabrieli (as well as Andrea, whom I find quite dull). I believe that Giovanni grew up to be a master composer every bit as wonderful as Lassus, albeit less prolific.

This piece has a wonderfully appropriate text (the Offertory from the fifth Sunday after Easter), and I never grow tired of listening to it.

It is truly unfortunate that Giovanni Bernardino Nanini is often overshadowed by his brother Giovanni Maria Nanini (who was a very good friend and associate to Palestrina, and was reknowned for his 150+ canons). Bernardino taught at the Roman school founded by his brother, as did Palestrina.

I find Bernardino to be an absolutely astounding, amazing, shockingly great composer. And this Psalm shows his genius as well as any piece. Several of the verses had to be abridged due to time constraints on the CD.

I recorded the bottom voice, and Carol price recorded the top three voices. We were originally motivated to record this piece as a gift to Carol's mother. That is, Carol is a professional horn player, and she doesnt sing much anymore. Her mother laments this. Therefore, we decided to give her not one Carol singing, but three! The piece was taken down a major third where it was originally notated.

I based this piece on the Miserere of Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652). It was abridged due to time constraints. My choir has always liked it very much (too much: they never want to sing anything else).

Whenever possible, I have my choir sing polyphonic versions of the Gradual and Alleluia Verse during Mass. I base these compositions on various sources, but one very good source is that of falsibordoni collections. Cesare Zacharia (Zachariis) has some nice sets, but even better are the five-voice settings of Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (1560-1627). It is hard to describe how much I love Viadana's music.

Carrie Nixon sang the two soprani parts, Carol Price sang alto, and I sang bass and tenor.

Ravanello did some very nice things, even though he lived in a century that had truly horrible sacred music.

I was glad to end the CD with a piece honoring the mother of God, and mediatrix of all graces. May she keep each one of us pure in the sight of her Son, Whose purity is too great for words.