The Deacon's Bench
Every year around this time, choir lofts and living rooms around the world echo with the unmistakable sound of deacons practicing the Easter Proclamation—a.k.a., “The Exsultet.”
(You can always tell when it’s Lent around my house and I’ve started practicing; my wife makes herself scarce.)
What also happens around this time of year is that I start to get emails from deacons asking, “Do you know where I can find a recording of it?”
The good people at The National Association of Pastoral Musicians have posted all the chants for the season, complete with pdfs of the music and some excellent recordings.
Check ’em out. It’s a great resource.
Below is a recording I discovered on YouTube which is also helpful (though much higher than I’m comfortable with.)
There are also several versions available at this website, “Corpus Christi Watershed.”
As of yet, I haven’t found a CD of The Exsultet, but the above renditions can be downloaded.
Good luck!
As we once again prepare to scale this Everest of solemn chant, “invoke with me, I ask you, the mercy of God Almighty…”
UPDATE: Looking for it in Spanish or Latin? Look no further. A little Googling turned up this site, which has both.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In