Month: October 2013

Today, I present two improvisations 0n the same chant and text.  One of the nice things about playing two Masses on Monday is I get to have multiple chances to improvise on the same tunes.  Interestingly, this is a Marian memorial and includes an Ave Maria, an improvisation that I wasn’t totally happy with for either Mass.  But, the communions both allowed me to do some interesting impressions about flowers and fragrances.  The translation of from the book of Sirach is as follows:

Send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works.

It’s always interesting to compare how things turn out, especially since my mood changes from the morning, 10 AM, to the late afternoon, 5:30 PM (I’ve had coffee or now I’m almost home for dinner).

This week’s improvisation involved an excellent chant text.  “Super flumina Babylonis” means “by the waters of Babylon.”  Knowing that piece of information, I tried incorporate a water-like texture based on the chant in very quick succession before introducing the chant in shorter tones.  One of the great challenges of improvising in a liturgical setting is to somehow time the form; it’s usually some kind of two part form for the short length of time at the Monastery for the Monday Novena Masses.  When you get to the end, you’ll note the rather abrupt ending.  Sometimes it works out perfectly, sometimes it doesn’t.