• All Saints parish website
  • BBC Choral Evensong
  • musictheory.net
  • All of Bach
  • MARS HILL AUDIO
Cantica sacra

exploring the rich legacy of sacred singing

  • About
  • Services
  • Hymns
  • Texts
  • Composers
  • Poets
  • Essays, etc.
    • Essays
    • Recording reviews
    • Interviews
  • Glossary
  • About
  • Services
  • Hymns
  • Texts
  • Composers
  • Poets
  • Essays, etc.
    • Essays
    • Recording reviews
    • Interviews
  • Glossary

STAY INFORMED

Subscribe to our newsletter

New or recently updated

The motets of Anton Bruckner reveal an intense faith and “a mysterious sense of ‘rightness’”

St. Michael and the angels serve as God’s “heroes” and “weapons” in Bach’s stirring Michaelmas cantata

Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem and his four motets based on Gregorian melodies remind us how plainchant developed into polyphony, and demonstrate how the Church’s music can be both traditional and innovative.

The effects of modernity on many aspects of cultural life are widely acknowledged —  except the effects on music.

Heinrich Schütz’s parents wanted him to study law and get a steady job. Something else happened.

Composer Herbert Howells transformed the sound of Anglicanism in the 20th century

Poets & Translators whose words we sing

St. Ambrose (339-397)

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)

F. Bland Tucker (1895-1984)

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Recent Posts

  • Oct 18, 2019 Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (October 20, 2019)
  • Oct 10, 2019 Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (October 13, 2019)
  • Oct 04, 2019 Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (October 6, 2019)
  • Sep 28, 2019 St. Michael and All Angels (September 29, 2019)
  • Sep 20, 2019 Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity (September 22, 2019)
  • Sep 13, 2019 Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity (September 15, 2019)

About our hymns

This mid-19th-century hymn was written to defend the Creed’s claims about the Church

This hymn was written as musical partner for the reading of I Corinthians 13.

There are too few hymns that celebrate Epiphany, but this unfamiliar text and tune deserve more familiarity

The story behind the text and the charming melody to “Dost thou in a manger lie”

Why “While shepherds watched” has been sung to more tunes than any hymn in history

You won’t recognize the original text to “How bright appears the Morning Star”

The origins of “O come, O come, Emmanuel”

The Church’s one Foundation

This hymn was written to defend the Creed’s depiction of the Body of Christ

MORE . . .

Lord, your eyes look for faith!

Bach’s cantata for the 10th Sunday after Trinity is a sober warning against failing to repent

MORE . . .

Savona Pro Theme by Optima Themes - 2019 ©