I was quietly going over v1 of today’s offertory “Perfice” in preparation when my eye strayed down to V2 … and there it was. A tritone! The Devil’s Interval! The first I’ve ever encountered in the regular chant cycle. It’s not in the Gradual, only in the Offertoriale, which supplies the sumptuous verses.
I had no choice. (“the devil made me do it”) I had to sing a chant tritone for once in my life, come what may. Anyway I would be protected: the very verse itself prayed “Keep me Lord as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings, safe from the evil-doers.”
A quick mental hum through, and then into it. I have to admit the tricky approach on “o” of “oculi” is something I would have like to have rehearsed out loud a few times to create a stable melodic and rhythmical idea in my head. But the notes were there.
Uh oh!…at the end of the La-Mi clivis, a bit of phlegm stuck in my throat that I knew I couldn’t sing through. My dear guardian angel’s last warning perhaps? Micropause for a quick swallow, then into it. I put a tiny bit of extra pressure on the two notes.
No heads jerked back, hands held to ears, in the congregation. I think I saw someone raise a hand…to stifle a yawn. No babies shrieked. No dogs howled. The foundations of the church didn’t tremble. The great FSSP priests didn’t come running after me with crucifixes held aloft after mass. I have no intimation that a letter of excommunication from the Archbishop is on its way. The choir seemed not to notice at all.
Bit disappointing, reallyI Perhaps our Latin Mass cong. are all closet heavy metal heads where the tritone is often invoked. Or they’re fans of “The Simpsons” where the first two notes form an ascending tritone “The Simp...” so it’s already familiar?
But there: I’ve done it and privately thankful. After 40 years of singing and directing chant, my first tritone!
P.S. Is there an exclusive club of chanters worldwide who have sung chant tritone in the Liturgy and who convene after Sexagesima Sunday Mass for convivialities? If so, what’s the password?
Oh I know, it’s a two note melody!