Exsultet: The Easter Proclamation

Use: Easter Vigil
Required Resources: SATB choir, Tenor soloist
Language: English

The Exsultet text in this octavo has not been updated to conform to the revised text in the 2010 Roman Missal. This work is no longer available.

While the traditional chant setting of the Exsultet found in the Sacramentary should be part of every parish's Easter Vigil repertoire, there is also room for new settings that respect the given text and traditions of the rubrics. This one, by Stephen McManus, deserves just such consideration as a worthy alternative to the familiar chant.

Scored for tenor soloist and SATB choir (a cappella), it acknowledges the formal structure of the poem. The soloist sings the first dramatic phrases ("Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God's throne! Jesus Christ, our King is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!") to fanfare motives. The next two sections ("Rejoice, O earth..." and "Rejoice, O Mother Church...") are similar in form, and in these the choir joins with the soloist to proclaim the text.

The remainder of the poem, set in the form of a Preface, begins with the dialogues between Deacon (or soloist) and people, and continues, "It is truly right that with full hearts and mind and voices we should praise the unseen God..." The music is in the chant style of a Preface, with long reciting tones and a variety of terminations. The Exsultet ends with a triple Amen for SATB choir.

Many parishes have begun a practice of alternating a creative setting with the chant setting, year by year. For anyone looking for a fresh, yet orthodox, version of the Easter Proclamation, the McManus setting is powerful, noble and accessible...a stirring way to open the Great Easter Vigil musically.