Views from the Choir Loft

Veronica Brandt • Article Archive

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. As editor, she has produced fine publications (as well as valuable reprints) dealing with Gregorian chant, hymnody, Latin, and other subjects. These publications are distinguished on account of their tastefulness. She lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her husband Peter and six children.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Veronica Brandt · May 17, 2014

Gregorian Chant in Star Wars

Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, a 13th century hymn that just won’t die.

Veronica Brandt · April 12, 2014

Working on a Compline booklet

A booklet for Compline, 95% finished, ready for Holy Week.

Veronica Brandt · March 29, 2014

Learning the Latin of the Pater Noster

You need to have even just a little bit of understanding to help you love something. You can’t love what you don’t know.

Veronica Brandt · March 15, 2014

Hymnal of St Pius X

Free download, a hymnbook from 1952, the organ edition, simplified Latin propers, English hymns, especially one for St Patrick for Monday!

Veronica Brandt · March 1, 2014

Preparing for Lent

Renewing the adventure of exploring Gregorian chant by making recordings.

Veronica Brandt · February 22, 2014

Color by “Neum”ber

A Gregorian chant workbook for kids (there’s one for adults too).

Veronica Brandt · February 15, 2014

Farewell to Alleluia

Kids singing Gregorian chant with puppets. Don’t worry, it’s a non-liturgical setting.

Veronica Brandt · February 8, 2014

Browsing Illuminated Manuscripts in Switzerland

Thank you internet! Browsing Swiss libraries of medieval manuscripts from home. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

Veronica Brandt · January 25, 2014

Extending a music lesson

Would you like to help people make the connection between the Latin and the English translations?

Veronica Brandt · January 18, 2014

Introducing polyphony in a round about way

Canons are a handy way to introduce singing in harmony. Here are some picks from the Choral Public Domain Library.

Veronica Brandt · January 4, 2014

Interleaving Latin and English on the page

Most books place Latin and English in parallel columns or on facing pages. Let’s look at the less common approach of interverse translations.

Veronica Brandt · December 28, 2013

Epiphany Proclamations

On Epiphany and calendars – proclaiming dates for 2014 and wondering why Eastern Orthodox dates are different.

Veronica Brandt · December 14, 2013

Mode 3 Antiphon for the party season

Translating English carols into Latin, always good for a laugh, especially where scarlet nosed deer are concerned.

Veronica Brandt · November 30, 2013

Trimmings on Advent

Cards, gifts, wreaths, trees and candles. How do you keep Advent?

Veronica Brandt · November 23, 2013

What passion cannot music raise and quell!

John Dryden’s Song for Saint Cecilia’s Day – in praise of the power of music

“Entrance Chant” • Christ the King

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Solemnity of Christ the King (24 November 2024). It mimics the Mode III Latin version in a truly spectacular 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

“Music List” • (33rd Sund. Ordinary Time)

This coming Sunday—17 November 2024—is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. 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. For the record, our opening hymn is particularly beautiful. So is the Mode 6 ENTRANCE CHANT.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Lectionary Errors

If you look at the official Responsorial Psalm (PDF) for this coming Sunday, you’ll notice the current Lectionary has the wrong refrain. Why is this a big deal? Why even mention such a thing? Everybody makes mistakes, right? Here’s why it matters. The USCCB—which makes money by selling the sacred liturgical texts—has historically been ruthless when it comes to such matters. When various publishers point out errors to them, their response has been: “If you dare to correct the error, we’ll sue you.” These errors are not a matter of nuance; e.g. sometimes the previous (English) edition of the Lectionary got them right! Bottom Line: mandatory, indulgenced, liturgical texts shouldn’t be sold; they should be freely available to all Catholics.

—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