Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”
In the past, I’ve mentioned how I can’t stand hearing wrong notes. I was playing LLANFAIR the other day, and I was hitting wrong notes. Earlier today, I created a simplified version which you can download for free. This famous tune (“LLANFAIR”) is often used on the feast of the Ascension, with “Hail the Day […]
“This argument from silence is wildly improbable.” —Father John Parsons (2001)
This article—a “mini-dissertation” on syllabic plainsong—writes songs using the names of various CCW authors.
Even something simple can be wonderful.
A lovely offering by the “Chaumonot Composers Group.”
A serious typo in the Responsorial Psalm for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.
I believe Catholics have a right to attend Mass without being aurally assaulted.
I hate hearing organists play wrong notes. I invite you to download this simplified organ accompaniment for hymn #699 in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal. The hymn is “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today.” I’m toying with the idea of creating a whole bunch of these, to help amateur organists. The last one I uploaded was […]
Catholic musicians must avoid being viewed as “esoteric freaks” who can’t agree on anything and spend their entire lives fighting about things nobody cares about.
My volunteer choir sang this arrangement during the offertory on Easter Sunday.
In his illustrious 1912 tome—The Mass: A Study Of The Roman Liturgy—Father Adrian Fortescue spoke of sequences, writing: “Strangest of all were the vernacular sequences in France and Germany, or those partly vernacular and partly Latin.” Our volunteer choir experimented with that on Holy Thursday, mixing Latin verses with an English refrain. For the record, […]
Dedicated to my brother, Father Mark Ostrowski.
Visit a random church on Sunday morning and ask parishioners basic questions…
With a digression on ‘drab’ modern architecture.
Working with volunteers can be discouraging, but always remember there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday, during PALM SUNDAY MASS, our 100% volunteer choir pulled out the SANCTUS from William Byrd’s “Mass for Five Voices.” This colossal performance was the result. (They literally didn’t know I was going to have them sing that […]
