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.”
Here’s a handy organ accompaniment (PDF) in three different key signatures: MIDDLE, HIGH, and LOW. The Latin lyrics (“Silens Nox”) are courtesy of Father Valentine Young, OFM (d. 2020). The organ harmonies are very simple, yet beautiful. Those who desire such a thing may also download a Singer’s Version. Choirs will ‘pick up’ this piece […]
This morning, I attempted to record a hymn called BRISTOL. Click here to listen to what I produced. I’m trying to provide PIPE ORGAN RECORDINGS for any Brébeuf hymns which don’t (yet) have a choral recording. Thousands of rehearsal videos have been added—by real human voices—but there’s still more work to do. I know very […]
“As the organ plays, so does the congregation sing!” —From the Foreword
You can listen to this ‘live’ recording of females singing the INTROIT (“Pópulus Sýon”) last Sunday, which was the Second Sunday of Advent. I accompanied them softly on the pipe organ. I would like to remind everyone who listens: 100% of the singers in my choir are volunteers recruited from the congregation. Indeed, the two […]
That’s not an easy hymn to sing 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 but my volunteer choir attempted it. If you think it’s easy, please send me a recording of your choir singing it!
We can hardly do better than to join in the same melodies sung by Catholic saints throughout history.
As I explained in my article posted earlier today, Nun Komm Der Heiden Heiland is actually a Catholic tune (in spite of what some have claimed). The volunteer choir I direct sang that beautiful ADVENT melody last Sunday, and I invite you to listen to the live recording. It will get better the more we […]
Some days, Fulton J. Sheen received as many as 30,000 letters.
Photograph from 1963, the year Monsignor Hellriegel published his 𝐻𝑜𝑙𝑦 𝐶𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑦𝑚𝑛𝑎𝑙.
The Vice-President of the Church Music Association of America, Dr. Horst Buchholz (who also serves as Director of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Detroit) sent us an email yesterday regarding the harmonizations (PDF) I composed for the Gregorian Chant psalm tones. Dr. Buchholz says: “Those settings are absolutely exquisite, as I’m used to when […]
Is it fair to forever bind Dom Guéranger to what he wrote about “barbarous archaisms” in 1855?
A young lady named Agnes wrote to us: “Dear Mr. Ostrowski, do you have the PDF score for Ave Corpus Domini set to the ADVENT melody? Last year, we sang the hymn tune “Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland” quite a bit using your contrafactum technique. My choir appreciates the Latin hymns and practice videos, especially […]
Yesterday, I recorded a video demonstration of each Gregorian Chant tone.
With a brief digression on certain “nasty” traditionalists.
In the month of November, we remember in a special way the souls in purgatory. The BRÉBEUF HYMNAL often includes text alone versions for its hymns; why is that? The short answer is: flexibility. The “text only” version allows each choirmaster to employ a myriad of melodies. For example, I recently set the English translation […]
