It seems like just yesterday the schola was working on the William Byrd polyphony piece Emendemus in melius and the Gregorian chant Qui meditibur for Ash Wednesday.  But Lent has flown by and now we are about to begin Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday this weekend. 

It has been interesting to discuss the various special liturgies coming up with our pastor.  One thing he pointed out about Palm Sunday, which may have been lost on me in past years when I was not so involved in the proceedings, is that in the course of the Mass that day, there is a day-and-night change of mood.  At the beginning of Mass, the atmosphere is triumphant as Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem with the singing of hosannas.  But once the procession arrives at the main altar, the mood changes from triumphant to somber: we begin to meditate on Christ's Passion. 

The schola cantorum has been preparing pieces for both parts of the Mass. 

Long before I even knew how many people would volunteer to sing with me, I had my heart set on Thomas Weelke's Hosanna to the Son of David.   Only six-part harmony, no problem, right?  Fortunately most if not all the schola members are enthusiastic about this piece and have worked hard on their own time learning it.  It also is a little easier than our first outing with polyphony (Emendemus).  The first time I discussed music selections with our pastor, he presented the idea of the schola members walking with the procession from the sacristry to the place where the blessing of palms and the first gospel reading will take place (in a gathering room attached to the vestibule of the church).  It sounded like a great idea, until I considered that trying to sing a six-part harmony piece and walk at the same time might not be the best thing to attempt.  However, at our last rehearsal, we walked around the church a couple of times while singing, and practiced repeating the song without a break (as we will probably need to sing it about three times during the procession), and it went very well. 

We will lead the procession all the way to the gathering room, then as we lead the procession back into the church again, we will sing a short antiphon in English from the missalette (The children of Jerusalem...) which will give the organist the signal and the time to get to the organ and begin the congregation hymn All Glory, Laud and Honor.

The schola's other piece, the offertory chant Improperium Expectavit, will be sung from the choir loft.  We were having some trouble staying together on it, but at our last practice we figured out that if I move my hand (i.e. conduct if you want to call it that) to the rhythm of the individual notes as we go, it helps everyone move along at the same time and gives us a much more unified sound.  In stark contrast to Hosanna, Improperium is a sad psalm predicting how Christ would suffer.  It means, "My heart awaited reproach and misery, and I longed for one who would grieve together with me, but there was none.  I looked for one to comfort me, but found no one.  For my food they gave me gall, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink"  (Psalm 68: 21, 22). 

Before we know it Palm Sunday 2007 will be history and we will be on our journey through the Paschal Triduum.