Finding Realistic Inspiration for Organ Improvisation
Here’s where to find improvisation recordings you can actually emulate.
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Articles
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Weaver Responds to Williams”
“Nothing so arouses the soul, gives it wing, sets it free from the earth, releases it from the prison of the body, teaches it to love wisdom, and to condemn all the things of this life, as concordant melody and sacred song composed in rhythm.” —St. John Chrysostom
PDF Download • 3-Voice “Agnus Dei” + Suggestions to Improve Music at Ordinary Form Masses
Should music at the Ordinary Form be identical to music at the Extraordinary Form?
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Williams Responds to Weaver” (12 July 2023)
“What is to be gained from outdated scholarship and an anachronistic aesthetic that cannot be better accomplished by a return to the oldest sources?” —Patrick Williams
In Praise of Adaptability
A proposal: if we are going to study something as important and mysterious as Gregorian chant, we ought to be able to perform it convincingly in several different ways.
EWTN Broadcast • Sacred Music by MacMillan + Eight Emerging Composers
This coming Saturday (8 July) at 7:00pm, EWTN will be broadcasting …
William Byrd: Quatercentenary of Death
“And yet I may live and die a true and perfect member of his holy Catholic Church without which I believe there is no salvation for me.” —William Byrd
“A Patriotic Hymnal” • (Not Kidding!)
“Hymns for the Use of the Catholic Church in America” was published in Baltimore more than 200 years ago.
The Golden Rule and Mocquereau’s Method
Dom Mocquereau’s editions are a compromise between tradition and paleography. This explains his sometimes surprising semiological conclusions.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Patrick’s Fourth Reply to Jeff” (4 July 2023)
“It is disingenuous and ludicrous to inject the notion of hallucination and magic into the historical narrative.” —Patrick Williams
“Six Suggestions” • Working with Volunteer Choirs
One priest on this committee said something I’ll never forget…
Some Thoughts on Gregorian Modal Ethos
You should memorize this list.
“The Use of Plainsong in Heretical Worship” • (Letter by Dom Gregory Murray)
“Unless Catholic musicians (especially priests) are careful, they may easily encourage non-Catholics in the belief that the differences between Catholics and non-Catholics are of minor importance.” —Dom Murray
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • Video: “Introduction to Mensuralism” (28 June 2023)
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video has to be worth at least 1.8 million words.” —Dr. James McQuivey
CRCCM Repertoire Project Released!
The Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians (CRCCM) has just launched a remarkable free resource offering recommendations of choral music, antiphons, propers, and more for all Sundays of the liturgical calendar, solemnities, and Ritual Masses.