Exultet Paschal Preconium Neocatechumenal Way Orchestra

On the holiest of nights in the Catholic liturgical calendar, the Exultet or Exsultet, is chanted by a deacon during the Service of the Light as the priest enters the church with the paschal candle lit, signifying Christ's light conquering the darkness of sin.

The Exultet is a hymn of triumphant praise, telling the story of our salvation, from the fall of Adam and Eve, the foretelling of our salvation in the Old Testament to the paschal sacrifice of our Lord on the cross and His Resurrection ending with the blessing and consecration of the paschal candle. An interesting way to view the Exultet is that it is like an overture, often found at the beginning of musicals, where all the major themes are presented in a single body of work.

This arrangement is inspired by the Neo Catechumenate version of the Exultet. It is never the intention of this channel owner to advocate the replacement of the current chant version of the Exultet with the Neo Cat's version. Rather, its aim is to help listeners enter into the solemn yet triumphant nature of Easter Vigil with the aid of orchestration and artwork.

Vocals: Andre Yong leads, with Nicholas Liaw and Frederick Lau joining in the choruses

Author's Note:

While attending a friend's (Ian Morrison) baptism on Easter Vigil at the parish of Queen of Peace, I chanced upon this Neo Cat 's rendition of the Exultet which touched me profoundly. To be honest, till that night, I have never been able to fully participate in previous Exultets as Gregorian chants wasn't integral to my worship experience then. That night, with the members of the Neo Cat rhythmically pounding their drums, their lively strumming of the guitars and their heartfelt singing led by Fr Timothy Yeo, I was immersed in a world of raw tribal-like music that somehow made the Exultet come alive for me. Their soulful and genuine interpretation somehow transformed me from a passive watcher into an active participant as music and words combined powerfully, painting a vivid picture in my mind .

That was probably 8 years ago circa 2014. I wasn't aware it was the Neo Cat's version that night. In the initial years that followed, I discovered that Fr Tim hails from the Neo Cat movement in Singapore. It was probably a serendipitous search on Youtube to that led me to several low-fi recordings of the Neo Cat's Exultet (see below). I was delighted to be connected once more to that faithful night when I first heard it. As I listened to the Youtube recordings over and over again, I wondered to myself if I were to be able to produce a high quality version. Then in 2020, after I dived into the world of virtual orchestration and digital recording, it soon became apparent I was able to realised this dream of mine finally.

The music track was actually ready in the spring of 2021. But I never had the good fortune to record the vocals completely. I was swarmed by many other projects then. In 2022, with Andre's dedication, we finally completed the deacon's/ priest's free-form parts.

This arrangement is adapted and reorchestrated from the version found in the Neo Cat's song book titled : Song of the Neocatechumenal Way. Harnessing the NeoCats generous use of drums and rhythmic instruments to inject joy and life into their singing, additional orchestration of strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion were added to the 2nd half to enhance the progressively dramatic and triumphant nature of this ancient hymn.

References that inspired me over the past 8 years:

   • Exultet (Paschal Preconium)  
   • PASCHAL PRECONIUM Song of the Neocate...  

p.s. - My only wish is that I have a group of rowdy singers to supplement the singing in the choruses.

Published on 22nd Feb 2022