CPDL anthems for various days

A few treasures I have found on CPDL that would be very appropriate for various days:

Marian days: Anerio or Grieg “Ave maris”

All Saints: Stanford “And I Saw Another Angel”

Christ the King: “Worthy Is the Lamb” from Messiah

Early Advent: various settings of “O Pray for the Peace” (i.e. Ps. 122), Victoria “Conditor alme siderum”

4th Advent:
any Ave Maria - I had in mind Elgar

Christmas Eve: “And the glory of the Lord” from Messiah (communion)
Christmas midnight: Hassler “Lætentur” (offertory)

Ash Wednesday: Lotti “Miserere”

Lent: Farrant “Lord, for thy tender mercies’ sake”, “Hide not Thou Thy face”, or “Call to Remembrance”

Palm Sunday / Good Friday: Anerio “Christus factus est” (gradual, BEFORE GOSPEL and not after first reading where the gradual usually goes)

Easter Vigil: Palestrina “Sicut cervus / Sitivit anima mea” (tract after Ezekiel reading, BUT you should resolve the slight text discrepancy between the chant text and the “Sitivit”)

Easter Sunday: Stanford “Why seek ye the living?”

Easter: Billings “Easter Anthem”

Ascension: Billings “Washington”
This piece could actually be easily adapted to any stanza of long meter.

Pentecost: Aichinger “Confirma hoc”

Body & Blood: Byrd or Mozart “Ave verum” - heck, tons of other settings of this text, too. Tallis “O sacrum” is nice if you have lots of altos.


Alas, the Anerio is apparently not up anymore. There is a MIDI, from which you could make a score, up at this site. Or email us, and I’ll send you a score.

I also have Victoria “Conditor” in English, for those interested. A nice thing to do with this, I am thinking, is to have the congregation sing the non-polyphonic verses.