Denver Catholic

7 DENVER CATHOLIC | JULY 25-AUGUST 7, 2015 • 2013 BBB Gold Star and A+ rated business • 2013 Best of Service Award – Centennial/Englewood • All our Doctors of Audiology are Board Certied • Call for Available Saturday Appointments More than 100 Physicians have referred their patients... Advanced Audiology, Inc. He a r i n g & Ti n n i t u s C e n t e r Dr. Fatima, AuD, BCABA Dr. of Audiology, HINDI/URDU Dr. Jenkins, AuD, BCABA Colorado's 1st Board Certified Dr. of Audiology We take your Hearing Seriously. www.AdvancedAudiology.com 303.649.2122 Centennial, Colorado Advanced Partner Siemens Hearing Instruments Register at www.DenverSeminarians.org Saturday, August 15 10 am – 2 pm St. John Vianney Seminary 1300 S. Steele St., Denver Vocations Walk! Come pray for an increase in vocations to holy orders and Consecrated Life. A free BBQ will follow Stations of the Cross and Mass. A holy man once said that singing is a lover's thing. Out of the utter depths of love, St. Augustine wrote, singing is produced. In their own expression of love for Mary and gratitude for their church, the choir at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Littleton performed a one-of- a-kind arrangement during a solemn traditional Mass July 16. Using Medieval chants and polyphony—or multi- ple sounds that create one melody—the parish hon- ored its patron, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Rick Wheeler, music director for the parish, said he doesn't think there's another Mass with music like it. "As far as we know, no other (polyphonic Mass) in history begins in the way ours does," he said. He worked with fellow composer and friend Lee Graham to create a music score for the 7 p.m. feast day Mass at the Littleton church that celebrates the Tri- dentine Latin Mass. "(My friend) and I consulted for hours on the phone and talked about examples and musical ideas and themes," Wheeler said. He said they decided to draw on the Church's sacred music tradition to cele- brate its feast day. They drew on the polyphony sounds of the Renaissance, known in the musi- cal world as the height of perfection for liturgical music. The sound adds a "dig- nity, majesty and prodigious richness" to the Mass, Venerable Pope Pius XII wrote in his 1955 encyclical Sacred Music. The Second Vatican Council also sup- ported the use of Gregorian chant, saying it is suited for the Mass and should be given "pride of place in liturgical services." "We can write music in the 21th cen- tury that's just as beautiful," he said. The music for the Mass imitated that of France, Spain and Italy around the 1500s and is inspired by the work of Tomás Luis de Victoria, a famous 16th-century composer in Spain. "We took many exam- ples of polyphonic Masses of the 1500s and 1600s and noticed one specifi c charac- teristic that stuck out to us: an alternation of chant and polyphony," Wheeler said. "Both of us quickly came to the conclusion that the Mass had to be like that very his- torical style." The music score for the Mass fl uctuated between the Gregorian chants written specifi cally for the Mass and polyphony written by Graham, sung in Latin—and some Greek—by a choir of more than a dozen men and women, Wheeler said. The music composed includes an entrance song, hymns after Scripture readings, Alleluias and communion verses—most commonly from Scripture. Other parts of the Mass that do not change—including the Gloria, the Creed, the Hosanna, and Lamb of God—were also sung in Latin. "We're fi nding those older chants and bringing them back," he said. Wheeler said he is sharing the full score with other musicians so other parishes may enjoy the treasure of sacred music. Sounds a lot like love Littleton parish brings back sacred music for unique feast day Mass BY NISSA LAPOINT 303-715-3138 | nissa.lapoint@archden.org www.twitter.com/Nissa_LaPoint The choir at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Littleton practices a one-of- a-kind sound for a Mass July 16. PHOTO BY NISSA LAPOINT/DENVER CATHOLIC CHOIR Listen to Our Lady of Mount Carmel's choir online at www.denvercatholic.org Francis said. of the time in his the coun- message able to col- across the encouraging hope to is espe- Catholic faith with the partnership has been that this is more future Register and joined their wed- families with to make joy is the retain your God, and generosity believe compelling when said.

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