Chant-inspired Modern Communion Antiphons

Here is an exciting new collection of Communion Antiphons that puts a contemporary spin on ancient Gregorian Chants. This collection is called Modern Communion Antiphons. I started writing it for the Praise and Worship group at my church. The cool thing about these settings is they are chant-based, blending select Gregorian melodies with modern accompaniment. I previously tried psalm tone settings of the Roman Missal antiphons with my group, but it didn't go far. Not because anyone complained, but because there was no meter. For inexperienced chanters, it was hard to keep it together, and the drummer and guitarist ended up just sitting it out. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But these new settings are metrical, piano-based, with guitar chords. ***Why this collection? Because I wanted to make it possible for parishioners who attend Modern Music Masses to embrace the beautiful chant melodies in our treasury of Sacred Music. I want them to and delve into and benefit from the richness of the Communion Antiphon texts. I want music directors to feel comfortable trying this blend of old and new without feeling the pressure to jump into full-on Gregorian chant (yet.) I want to help lay the groundwork for future generations to feel familiar with chant, the ideal music for the Roman Rite. The entire collection is a work in progress, but will be available for free in this dropbox.

Modern Communion Antiphons Dropbox Link

Here's a few examples: This first one is based on a beautiful Alleluia melody from the Graduale Simplex.

Here's another one that is based on the Crucem Tuam chant, which is also the basis for the Roman Missal "Mystery of Faith" chants.

Some other chants used are the Gregorian Tones I, VIII, and Peregrine Tone. Getting into the details: When the antiphon is taken from the book of Psalms, the verses are from the same psalm. When the antiphon is taken from the Gospels or any other book, the verses are taken from a general Eucharistic themed psalm, such as psalm 78. While the text of the antiphons are an exact match to the Roman Missal texts, the psalm verses I slightly adapted to fit a steady simple tone. I felt this was important because it takes the surprises out of the rhythm of the psalm verses, making it a kind of "song" that feels easy to Praise Bands or pianists. This is perfectly "legal," liturgically speaking, as paraphrases of psalm verses are ubiquitous in our hymnals. (The King of Love my Shepherd is, for example). I have tried to be sensitive to the original emphasis of the chant, so that the meter feels natural. I prefer organ in the liturgy myself, but piano being my first and favorite instrument, it's been great fun to write for it.

There's only a handful in this collection so far, but I'll keep working on it. Check them out and let me know if this is something that you would like to try. If so, let me know how they go!