Views from the Choir Loft

Rehearsal Video • Breathtaking Morales “Sanctus”

Jeff Ostrowski · March 21, 2020

ARIOUS CATHOLIC SAINTS—such as Padre Pio, Don Bosco, and St. John Vianney—have warned against the sin of idle gossip. Successful choirmasters almost never partake in gossip, because they are usually so overworked they have no time for it. Idle gossip would include constant & unceasing speculation about Covid-19 and the future; and I certainly will not add to such speculation. I would point out, however, that so many people staying home is a perfect opportunity to prepare for Sacred Music Symposium 2020. For this reason, CCWatershed contributors—Veronica Moreno, Andrea Leal, and Cynthia Ostrowski—have come together (digitally) to help me start recording rehearsal videos!

Here is the Sanctus by Father Morales “Missa Mille Regretz” Cappella Sistina MS 17:

Note: You won’t want to miss the “Hosanna” section!

You can also download this song as an Mp3 file.

If you dislike our version, you can hear a professional recording by the Hilliard Ensemble.

Sacred Music Symposium Participants

If you are planning to participate in June, please scroll to the bottom of the Symposium website and you will notice rehearsal videos have slowly begun to appear. Please practice! By the way, the success of the Symposium is not only due to the people who run the Symposium—it’s also due to the participants. The participants, whether they know it or not, are joining a proud line of Catholic Church musicians going back at least 120 years. If you read the old journals—such as Caecilia Magazine—you can find many descriptions of church music conferences.

Regarding this Sanctus by Father Morales, there is an amazing history behind this piece. We have already begun the process of explaining it, but there is much more to discuss. However, when it comes to complicated topics, they must be presented in an organized and proper way—otherwise they just lead to confusion. So please stay tuned!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

“Entrance Chant” • Immaculate Conception

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Immaculate Conception (9 December 2024). It’s in the third mode—which some consider the most beautiful of all—and mimics the authentic version in a laudable way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

How Sharp Are Your Eyes?

Just around the corner is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The GREGORIAN MISSAL (Solesmes Abbey, 1990) is an utterly gorgeous book—there’s no question about that. But several typos did creep in. Can you spot the major typo for the ENTRANCE CHANT on the feast of the Immaculate Conception? How sharp are your eyes? If you succeed, send me an email letting me know.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • (Christ the King Sunday)

This coming Sunday—24 November 2024—is Christ the King Sunday (a.k.a. “Final Sunday in Ordinary Time”). Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. You’ll notice we’re learning Moreau’s “Congregational Polyphonic Enhancement” for the OUR FATHER. And the the Mode 3 ENTRANCE CHANT is utterly sublime.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker

Principles vs Preferences

I ran into this idea recently: principles vs. preferences in planning out a curriculum or music lineup. In this idea, it is imperative to not misconstrue personal preferences into principles—that the music (or subject matter) is great because: “I have good taste, and I like it.” De gustibus… Education, study and docility to the Magisterium of the Church on matters of liturgical music must be present in those who make the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours. Who knows? Maybe you might start to prefer the music that is fitting according to the principles Catholic Sacred Music?

—William J. Fritz

Liquescent Notes in the Official Edition

The official edition—the EDITIO VATICANA itself—is somewhat inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes. If you wish to see a perfect “apples-to-apples” comparison, click here. Such “inconsistency” was not owing to ignorance on the part of Abbat Pothier: the manuscripts themselves are inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes.

—Jeff Ostrowski