Choral Public Domain Library

Our choir is getting our toes wet with a polyphonic Mass setting. Currently, we have learned Palestrina's Missa Brevis Kyrie and Gloria. We've also learned a different polyphonic Sanctus. My question refers to the Agnus Dei which would be the next to learn. Palestrina has a Agnus Dei I and II. We are a FSSP TLM parish, and I'm curious how would one sing this Agnus Dei? It seems rather long and tedious to repeat the I twice and then finish with II which includes the 'Dona Nobis pacem.' I haven't been to enough Masses where the polyphonic Mass is sung to remember how those parishes do it. It also seems a little off to just sing the two and assume that the part I counts for both of the first Agnus Dei's. I just don't people waiting and waiting for us to finish a 8 minute Agnus Dei! Thanks for any feedback!

For a more informed answer, you might post your question at https://forum.musicasacra.com/.

If you feel that Agnus I + Agnus II misses one repetition, or if even this is too long, a simple solution is to sing parts as chant from the Kyriale, e.g.

• Agnus I polyphonic - chanted Agnus I - Agnus II polyphonic
• Agnus I chanted by one group - Agnus I chantend by other group - Agnus II polyphonic

a) Sing either I or II just once. Ensure that your diction is so execrable that the passive participants fail to realise that they have been short-changed: or
b) Perform the entirety with a stopwatch. Make a note for future renditions of the time at which the shuffling and coughing become louder than the choir. Stop at that juncture (known in the trade as "noodling til ready").