How to sing polyphonic Agnus Dei
How to sing polyphonic Agnus Dei
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!
Re: How to sing polyphonic Agnus Dei
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.
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
Re: How to sing polyphonic Agnus Dei
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").
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").
Re: How to sing polyphonic Agnus Dei
Depending on the occasion, I may wish to use the Agnus (the only one sometimes, or the Agnus I…) with the dona nobis pacem words even though the edition given, and the source, only gives miserere nobis or there is an Agnus II, usually with five or more voices…Some people with more talent revoice that for 4vv, but we don't.
We pick a chant that fits. Our solution works for us as it opens up the whole Kyriale: either the strophes are identical (Mass XVIII) or they aren't (more often than not), so we can sing the unique second strophe without worrying about beginning in a strange place; Mass XVII's Agnus is a good example, as it has one low note out of nowhere. I couldn't imagine singing polyphony before and after, and singing the first strophe would, to me, do violence to the chant. Agnus XII? I could go either way: the incipit of the second strophe begins on the first note of the modal scale.
But anyway, there are multiple ways to do this; what's important is, liturgically, not keeping people waiting too long. That sort of waiting is really, really awkward in our day and age.
We pick a chant that fits. Our solution works for us as it opens up the whole Kyriale: either the strophes are identical (Mass XVIII) or they aren't (more often than not), so we can sing the unique second strophe without worrying about beginning in a strange place; Mass XVII's Agnus is a good example, as it has one low note out of nowhere. I couldn't imagine singing polyphony before and after, and singing the first strophe would, to me, do violence to the chant. Agnus XII? I could go either way: the incipit of the second strophe begins on the first note of the modal scale.
But anyway, there are multiple ways to do this; what's important is, liturgically, not keeping people waiting too long. That sort of waiting is really, really awkward in our day and age.