Easter and the return of Alleluia

 

Now in the second week of the Easter season, rehearsals have begun for the chants which will take us all the way through Ascension and Pentecost. When our Schola gathered for its first rehearsal, one particular comment kept arising: “This piece sounds familiar, but it’s somehow not quite the same.” So, as we looked at each of the pieces, we discovered the same thing — the insertion of an alleluia either within the body of the text or added as a conclusion to the entire chant.

 

This made us stop and try an experiment — chanting a piece without the alleluia. The piece sounded fine — even complete. Yet, when we put the alleluia back into the piece, an entirely different character awakened in the chant! What a fabulous discovery! As the saying goes, “You don’t really know what you have until it is gone.” How true that is with our beloved Alleluia! Instantly, we knew that the restored Alleluia was a gift to us — a reminder of the continued joy of the Easter season.