Sarah Maria Craig Penner (née Leung)
June 14, 2024
The excitement was palpable as one walked into the sanctuary of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption on Pentecost Sunday. That morning, more than 2,500 people gathered to take part in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage. One of the largest Eucharistic processions in history, most walked with Jesus across the Golden Gate Bridge, and some would walk all the way from San Francisco to Indianapolis. The prelude to this remarkable event, indeed, was Holy Mass. For this occasion, Archbishop Cordileone commissioned music from the Benedict XVI Institute’s composer-in-residence Frank La Rocca: Missa Pange Lingua, which was sung for the first time at the 11am Mass that day, launching the St. Junipero Serra route of the National Eucharistic Procession.
Pope Pius X’s motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini outlined sacred music’s principal roles: “…[to] clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim… to add greater efficacy to the text, in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries”. La Rocca’s new setting enriched the Church’s prayers with skill. Missa Pange Lingua is a pleasing amalgamation of original chant melodies and fresh harmonies that characterize modern choral compositions. Consistent with his many other works, he did so sometimes simply by employing chant melodies that tie listeners to a tradition that spans generations, and sometimes by creating original materials that delight the ears and encourage renewed devotion.
La Rocca’s Missa Pange Lingua uses the idea of a “paraphrase mass”, a common type of Mass composed in the 16th century Renaissance period, where a pre-existing melody, usually chant melody, forms the basis of the setting. While Josquin des Prez’s Missa Pange Lingua paraphrases the well-known Pange Lingua chant, La Rocca’s Missa Pange Lingua uses the lesser-known “another chant” from the Corpus Christi liturgy. The Processional (written as a set with the Ordinary) starts with a pedal tone in the organ, then female voices sing the chant melody with modified rhythmic values. The texture slowly thickens as male voices are added in unison, yet quickly thins again as the stanza draws to a close. The next section begins still with pedal tones in the organ base line, but expanded with arpeggios. A counter-melody is added on top of the chant melody in the male voices, then the texture expounds into a two-part canon. At “Verbum caro panem verum, verbo carnem efficit…” is the climax of the piece, highlighted by new chords that are alien to the key signature. Throughout the piece, the moving vocal lines are undergirded by pedal tones mainly in the inversion. The influence of Arvo Pärt is clear, however La Rocca breaks away from the minimalist’s quintessential ethereal sound by employing luxurious harmonies. Finally the chant melody returns and the piece closes with a mini codetta “Amen” section, ending on a unison note that seems to draw all that were present to a singular focus onto the altar: the commencement of Holy Mass.
The Kyrie eleison melody is written very much in the style of any Mass setting in the Kyriale — it is simple, yet solemn and beautiful. Congregational singing is incorporated into parts of the Kyrie. The lovely Schola Benedictus XVI, conducted by Dallas maestro Dr. Alfred Calabrese, first sang the melody alone, after which the people were invited to join as the texture thickens chorally with descant and harmony.
La Rocca incorporates the “another” Pange Lingua chant melody in every movement and voice in the work. The chant melody forms the subject in the Christe eleison section. Vocal lines then interweave in a fugal-like manner, rising from lower registers to higher ranges, at last culminating in a homophonic acclamation strengthened by additional stops in the organ. It is a powerful invocation. There is no congregational participation in the middle section, however. The same Kyrie melody and structure returns in a raised key; the people are invited to sing again.
The Gloria is reminiscent of the Cassali Mass in G or one of Victoria’s simpler works. At times using homophonic texture for emphasis and at other times employing contrapuntal entrances, the phrases propel forward through efficient harmonic progression. Phrases from the Pange Lingua chant are subtly woven in to the polyphony, ingeniously placed to form counterpoint that flows organically. Although traditional overall, sometimes the listener is given a surprise nugget of a suspended 2nd or shift of tonal centre that keeps the work in the 21st century.
Someone in the congregation let out a “wow!” when the first Sanctus was sung. This awe-inspiring acclaim is a G major chord with a suspended 4th in the root position marked fortissimo, then the same chord is sung again in F major with an added B as the common note – a dissonant yet powerful effect that is compounded by a sonorous bass pedal in the organ part. The majestic opening conjures up images of hosts of angels exclaiming the praises; and the people, led aurally by the choir, become sharers in this divine exclamation. The third iteration of “Sanctus”, however, is unexpectedly gentle and meditative. God’s justice and mercy are united within these three interjections. The music continues with many suspensions that resolve in sweet, surprising ways, holding the listeners’ ear and attention. Like a multifaceted diamond, the music glistens with these luscious yet translucent harmonies. The Benedictus that follows brings back the Pange Lingua melody in the soprano line. Gentle and reflective, it brings the prayer to a close with a G# major chord: an elevated chord for the Elevation that is to come.
With a nod to tradition, the Agnus Dei starts with a direct quotation of Missa de Angelis, again with the expectation that the congregation will join to sing in unison the familiar chant at “miserere nobis”. The texture thickens in the second iteration, this time with male voices plus sopranos. Each time the music shifts unexpectedly into contrapuntal texture almost immediately after the chant phrase. Voices proceed in counterpoint with the organ mostly doubling, repeating and giving emphasis the petition with a long musical sigh at “miserere nobis”.
At the third iteration the congregation is surprised again as the original chant melody is transfigured. A flattened third modulates the music into minor mode, reflecting the penitent’s contrite spirit. More voices join to build harmony; then all of a sudden a solo soprano voice pierces through the choral texture, like an angel of light soaring above to further the penitent faithfuls’ supplications. The usage of a soprano singing the text “dona nobis pacem” above a subdued choral texture bears strong resemblance to Vaughan William’s beautiful Dona Nobis Pacem. The Pange Lingua melody is ornamented and buried in the soprano solo, but completed explicitly in the choir’s answer. This may be the most delightful instance where the chant melody is incorporated – in the composer’s own words, “ the intimacy of a solo voice seemed to bring us into new expressive territory just as the piece is ending. A reminder, perhaps, never to take a moment of Holy Mass for granted.” Finally the voices unite, bringing the Agnus Dei prayer to a satisfying close with an unconventional cadence that ends on an earnest and intimate E-flat major chord, disposing the faithful to the reverent moment to receive the Eucharist.
The inclusion of congregational singing into Missa Pange Lingua is an interesting and valiant effort, yet only partly successful to my ear. The people are invited to sing a small snippet and then the choir immediately takes over with polyphony. It was challenging to simply listen to and pray the Kyrie and Agnus Dei, knowing that at some point one is expected to sing.
Frank La Rocca wrote Missa Pange Lingua with “holiness, beauty and universality” in mind. “Music in the liturgy takes on the role of a sacramental; it must prepare the faithful to receive grace and dispose them to cooperate with it. To do this, it must be fused to the Logos, the Word, in an intimate and filial relationship, not drawing undue attention to itself and thereby distracting from the primacy of the Word,” said La Rocca in the Catholic World Report in 2016.
Missa Pange Lingua is a musical work that leads the worshippers into the depth and beauty of the Mass itself. The processional Pange Lingua aids the faithful to serenely reflect on the true presence of God in the Eucharist, the Kyrie is heartfelt and penitential, the Gloria is resolute, the Sanctus combines passion and grace to precede the Consecration, and finally the Agnus Dei provides clarity and peace. Weaving together tradition with modern sensibility, Missa Pange Lingua is a worthy composition to be used by a Church that is ever ancient, ever new.
Short Bio:
Sarah Maria Craig Penner (née Leung) is a conductor, soprano, pianist, and organist currently based in the SF Bay Area. She holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Toronto, and a double BA in Choral Music and History from the University of Southern California. She was formerly music director at the U of T Newman Centre, as well as assistant conductor at Pax Christi Chorale and Incontra Vocal Ensemble (Toronto).
