 "Sed nomine tua da gloria"
Schola cantorum
& Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU |
 If
you would like to order a fantastic little book, which includes all the
elements of compline (in the Latin Gregorian chant), according to the
1960 breviary, click on the picture. P.s., it is really
inexpensive. P.p.s., Schola members, your copies have arrived.
|
Passiontide Complines
The Schola Cantorum led three Complines for Passiontide on Holy
Monday, Holy Teusday, and Holy Wednesday, at 8:00 p.m. in the Lutheran
Campus Chapel. As was done last year, the entire liturgy was
in
Latin and sung in Gregorian chant.
SBH Revives SATB
The Service Book and Hymnal (1958) was the last hymnal in ELCA
Lutheranism to use 4-part vocal music as the basis of the
liturgy. Sadly, the committee designing the Lutheran Book of Worship(1977)
decided that modern church members couldn't handle harmony and
opted for monophonic musical settings of the liturgy. Well, we
just couldn't agree. So, we revived the 4-part tradition by using
"setting 1" of the SBH
beginning the second Sunday of Lent and continuing through the
remainder of the academic year. To pull this off, we started a
second "section" of the Schola. Over a dozen interested choristers, nearly all of them born ten years after the SBH
was replaced sang the liturgy every Sunday night at 7:00
p.m..
Advent Complines
The Schola canoturm led three "Advent
Complines" in full Latin Gregorian chant each of the three Fridays of
Advent (December 7, 14, 21). 36, 36, and 21 attended.
Given the hectic pace of the pre-Christmas season, the complines offered spiritual alternative. Compline answers vapid
frivolity with meaningful solemnity, rushed noise withpeaceful silence, and mundane profanity with sublime transcendence.
Prior to the complines, an optional introduction to
Gregorian chant was offered for interested members of the
public. Each of these forty-five minute sessions provided a sneak preview
into some of the chants used in the compline along with some explanation of the liturgy itself.
About the Schola cantorum
Early music has a place on the modern college campus! The Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU launched the Schola cantorum
in Fall '05 to provide musical support for the weekly mass and selected
other liturgies at the Chapel of Christ the King (a.k.a., the Lutheran
Campus Chapel at WVU). It also provides a place for those with an
interest in (or even passion for) early music to get together and make
music. As such, the Schola cantorum is committed to the reintroduction of early sacred music in its liturgical context.
Founding director, Jonathan Neiderhiser, was a D.M.A. candidate in
conducting in WVU's College of Creative Arts. He has since
completed his studies and is teaching in the Dakotas. He was the
Vogelsong
Kapellmeister at the Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU, a position
underwritten through a generous grant awarded in memory of The Rev. Fr.
Edward Vogelsong by his family. Fr. Vogelsong was one of the
"Five Vicars" who served the Lutheran Campus Ministry at WVU prior to
the calling of the first full-time campus pastor.
Schola members sing most Sunday masses at the Chapel of
Christ the King. Those joining especially for one of the
highlight services are not required nor expected to sing the Sunday
masses, though
they are welcome to do so if they so desire. Thus far, our
highlight services have included the following.
- In Spring '06, the Schola sang a full Latin mass, using the mass ordinary Orbis factor and the propers of Judica.
- December 6, 2006, the Schola led the "St. Nicholas Vespers: A
Latin Evening Prayer for Advent," an ecumenical worship service
organized by interested Lutherans, Anglicans, and Roman
Catholics. Nearly 140 people attended the service in the Lutheran
Campus Chapel.
- As a Holy Week offering for the whole community, the Schola cantorum, prayed Compline for Passiontide, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,
April 2-4, 2007. These Latin liturgies provided our
community a Gregorian chant experience, facilitated by a 45-minute session on
the basics of Gregorian offered prior to each service.
Are you an interested vocalist or instrumentalist? Contact Chaplain Riegel (Schola@LutheranMountaineer.org or 304-296-5388) or, for those in the WVU FaceBook Network, join the Schola cantorum FaceBook Group.
Do you just want to know about upcoming special presentations with the Schola? Again, the FaceBook Group is for you. Members of the FaceBook Group will get e-mail notices.
For additional early music resources visit the Schola cantorum WebForum. If you have resources that you would like to share with the Schola, feel free to post them.