Victimae Paschali: The Easter Sequence & Has Sydney Out-Westminstered Westminster?

One of the many arresting moments in the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter is the (mandatory) singing of the Easter Sequence Victimae Paschali on Easter Sunday, a mediaeval hymn that has extraordinarily survived both the Council of Trent and the more recent of the Vatican Councils, convoked in 1960s.

 

 

The issue as to whether it is sung before or after the Alleluia is covered authoritatively here: https://www.ccwatershed.org/2014/01/02/when-sequence-sung-alleluia/. In short:

• If singing the "proper" alleluia from the Graduale (the Pascha Nostram), the Sequence follows.

• If singing a simple Gospel Acclamation, bookended by a simple trifecta of Alleluias or what not, then it goes before.

We have two excellent examples of the Victimae Paschali from Easter 2026, from Westminster Cathedral and its little sister (more on that in a moment) St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. Here they are:

Drome, London

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

 

Spot the difference?

When I initially viewed the Drome Easter Sunday Mass, something about the Sequence seemed a bit 'off'. But it was in the right place and sounded more or less like the Sequence with which I am generally familiar, and so I thought nothing more of it.

Equally, when viewing the St Mary's Easter Sunday Mass, something felt a bit 'off' too, but it also felt more 'right'. More familiar.

Set side by side as above, and the penny drops. First, Sydney's is in the 'wrong' spot (if you watch the whole Mass, it is apparent that the Sequence is sung before the Gregorian Alleluia Pascha Nostram). But otherwise, the thrilling organ accompaniment, punctuated by what you might call interludes of organ fireworks (replacing some of the verses), was exactly what I had know for years in Sydney, and, more to the point, at the Drome.

The Drome's this year, sitting in the right spot (after the Gregorian Alleluia i.e. immediately preceding the Gospel), was nevertheless shorn of the swelling organ accompaniment and interludes that so characterised its declamation at Westminster Cathedral in recent times. Instead, we had a perfectly satisfactory, 'polite' supporting organ accompaniment (in the typical Drome accompanied plainchant style), and it was sung straight through with no jubilant Paschal fanfares replacing verses.

Just to be absolutely sure about the recent 'Westminster tradition', I consulted my extensive records and confirmed with the below recording that yes, Sydney's version is what Westminster Cathedral (now?) used to do.

 

 From this album (Complete Easter Sunday Mass from Westminster Cathedral, circa 2003):

 

The organ bits do somewhat resemble this version from Notre-Dame in the 1970s (there is only one "interlude" here, but a crashing intro and finale - beware!): 

 

By the way, Notre-Dame only managed a relatively underwhelming version this year. It is perfectly respectable, but not especially a proprietary "Notre-Dame" sound (it is given a bit of vitality in the final verse), and Olivier Latry's manifold talents are going very much to waste in my view:

 

Update: Mystery solved. The arrangement is by Andrew Reid (former organist at the Drome and Strategic Review Panel Member) and was written "for use in Westminster Cathedral": https://www.rscmshop.com/books/A3759/reid-victimae-paschali-for-choir-and-organ-alternatim. 

The current Director of Music at King's College Cambridge, Daniel Hyde, seems rather enamoured of all things Westminster Cathedral. Here The Choir of King's College, Cambridge sings the Reid Victimae Paschali (with Matthew Martin, another former Drome chap, apparently at the organ):

 

King's College, Cantab.: A well-referenced version of the trademark Westminster Cathedral Victimae Paschali

And they have recorded an Easter-ish music CD with George Malcolm's Ingrediente Domino (Palm Sunday), and Martin Baker's arrangement of Christus Vincit: https://kingscollegechoir.com/recording/now-the-green-blade-riseth/

So what are we to make of this? Well Sydney just needs to switch the order (I'm sure they used to get it right!), while London needs to return to its own splendid Reid arrangement, giving the Henry Willis III Grand Organ a full work-out (and perhaps even more to the point, Notre-Dame needs to return to its robust versions of yesteryear, more on which soon!). It's Easter Sunday, nothing could be more appropriate than the fulsome, joyful and fiercely assertive version of the Sequence that had become traditional at the Drome. Have the Sequence (and a suitably thunderous improvisation at the end) again lift the Cathedral’s roof off, please!

And indeed, are we to conclude that (together with the unaccountable omission of the Baker O Filii et Filiae at the Drome Easter Vigil), Sydney is now more "pure" Westminster Cathedral than the Drome itself? It bears thinking about!!

Further update: The things you find on YouTube etc! The Westminster Cathedral choristers appear on this disc of plainchant and organum from the Magnus Liber Organi (School of Notre Dame). Here they sing an unaccompanied version of the Victimae Paschali: