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The Third Sunday Series: Choral Mass Settings
Our Third Sunday Series features choral settings of the Ordinary of the Mass, ranging from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries. This wonderful repertoire of music—not heard nearly often enough today—was begun by Guillaume de Machaut, who composed his Messe de Nostre Dame in 1364, intended to be sung regularly in Reims Cathedral in France. This groundbreaking step ensured that the Mass would never be the same again. The genre has attracted a wide variety of composers—of many faiths and none—over the centuries, all keen to make a contribution to the repertoire. Latin Masses in England continued until 1547 and the reign of Edward VI. Then, following the Reformation, Anglican composers set the Service of Holy Communion, originally in unison—as in the Merbecke setting we sing during Lent—and later using polyphony. Latin returned briefly under Edward’s half-sister Mary I from 1553–58 but, following her death, the Anglican Church finally came into its own under the third of Henry VIII's legitimate children, Elizabeth I, the most pragmatic of the three. However, William Byrd, who wrote Anglican rite music and was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal, remained a Catholic throughout his life, composing three settings of the Latin Mass during the 1590s which were used for recusant house masses. Ironically, these settings became some of the most famous settings of this sacred text. For some time, the composing emphasis focused on settings of the canticles heard at Morning and Evening Prayer. However, the nineteenth century saw the composition of many settings of the Service of Holy Communion with organ accompaniment, a tradition that continues to this day. It also saw the rise of the Oxford Movement—a tradition we proudly continue at Church of the Advent of Christ the King—where Latin Mass settings were again encouraged at the Anglican Mass. The selections at our Third Sunday Series will be drawn from both Latin Masses and Anglican settings of Holy Communion, giving true musical voice to our twenty-first century calling to embrace both sides of our tradition as Anglo-Catholics.
Paul Ellison
High Mass with a setting is at 11 a.m. each month (October through May). Four extra feast days where a setting will be offered are also listed below, with times indicated.
The Propers of the Mass are sung in Latin to Gregorian Chant.
A Reception follows in Lathrop Hall
Third Sunday Series of Choral Masses Season 4: 2026–27
October 18 (Pentecost XXI) Missa Aeterna Christi munera, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina November 1 (All Saints) Missa O quam gloriosum, Tomás Luis de Victoria November 15 (Pentecost XV) Holy Communion Service in B-flat, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford December 20 (Advent IV) Missa Dixit Maria, Hans Leo Hassler
December 24 (Christmas Eve, 10pm) Missa O Magnum Mysterium, Victoria January 17 (Epiphany II) Mass of the Quiet Hour, George Oldroyd
February 21 (Lent II) Service of Holy Communion Collegium Regale, Herbert Howells, CH, CBE
March 21 (Palm Sunday) Missa Quinque Vocibus, William Byrd
April 18 (Easter IV) Holy Communion Service in E, Harold Darke, CBE
May 6 (Ascension, 6:30pm) Missa Ascendens Christus in altum, Victoria
May 16 (Day of Pentecost) Service of Holy Communion in C, John Ireland
May 27 (Corpus Christi, 6:30pm) Missa Papae Marcelli, Palestrina
August 15 (Assumption, 11am) Missa Assumpta est Maria, Palestrina
Schola Adventus
Jennifer Ashworth, Lauren Carley, David Alban
Director of Music & Organist: Dr Paul Ellison, FRHistS