• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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.”

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • Jeff’s Mom Joins Fundraiser
    • “Let the Choir Have a Voice” (Essay)
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Feasts Website
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Articles

Patrick Williams · April 10, 2023

Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Non Praevaleat”

“We got to this point because we questioned unfounded claims.” —Patrick Williams

Jeff Ostrowski · April 7, 2023

Good Friday Hymn • From “Lyra Catholica”

Could 1% of Catholics? Or even fewer than that?

Veronica Brandt · April 4, 2023

Passiontide Carols?

… as Christians in the midst of the world, we have a solemn obligation to restore due reverence to these sacred times.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2023

Help! • Seeking “Machine Gun” Singing Technique

It was without question the wildest thing I ever heard.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2023

Three (3) Cheerful Items • “Sacred Music Revolution”

Dallas, Singapore, Los Angeles…there’s so much good in the world!

Patrick Williams · March 31, 2023

Who Should Sing the Passion? What about Tracts?

“I am of the opinion that women are not to participate in the singing of the crowd parts and that the manner of alternation in the tract is merely a matter of custom, preference, or practicality.” —Patrick Williams

Jeff Ostrowski · March 29, 2023

“Seventy-Three (73) Changes” • Which Pope Pius XII Made to Holy Week

If we feel compelled to condemn these changes, let’s at least spend time learning what they are!

Jeff Ostrowski · March 28, 2023

Three (3) Tricks Every Choir Director Should Learn

Conscientious choirmasters know it’s crucial to get “as much bang for your buck” as possible.

Jeff Ostrowski · March 27, 2023

Question: “How Do You Read The Official Edition?”

A reader asks: “No Dotted Neumes?”

Jeff Ostrowski · March 27, 2023

PDF Download • “Organ Accompaniment Booklet” (Passion Sunday Vespers) — 24 pages

Fulton J. Sheen considered Monsignor Knox’s English translation of the Bible to be the greatest ever created.

Veronica Brandt · March 25, 2023

Vespers for Easter Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

A ramble about open source software and three PDF files for 1962 Vespers for Ferias 4-6 in the Octave of Easter.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Keven Smith · March 24, 2023

Hidden Gem: Ave Regina Caelorum (Steven Talley)

This sweet, simple SATB motet provides a contrast to heavier, darker Lenten repertoire. But it’s going out of season soon.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · March 23, 2023

Four (4) Shimmery Hymns for Lent & Passiontide

“In nothing are English Catholics so poor as in vernacular hymns. The real badness of most of our popular hymns (endeared, unfortunately, to the people by association) surpasses anything that could otherwise be imagined.” —Father Fortescue

Jeff Ostrowski · March 21, 2023

“Go!” • The Word That Changed My Life Forever

As Americans, we’re “bred from birth” to think of ourselves as little gods who already know everything and require no correction.

Patrick Williams · March 20, 2023

At the Cross • Stabat Mater

“The devotional version of this hymn employs a later tune erroneously called ‘plainsong’ in various sources.” —Patrick Williams

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 49
  • Page 50
  • Page 51
  • Page 52
  • Page 53
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 336
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Music List • (Palm Sunday, 2026)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for Palm Sunday—a.k.a. “Dominica in palmis de Passione Domini”—which is 29 March 2026. Please feel free to download it as a PDF file if such a thing interests you. The OFFERTORY (Impropérium exspectávit cor meum) is quite moving. Even though the COMMUNION ANTIPHON is relatively simple, the Fauxbourdon makes it sound outstanding.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Easter • Would You Sing This Hymn?
    He who examines Laudes Dei: a hymnal for Catholic congregations (St. Louis, 1894) will discover this pairing of a hymn for Easter. For the record, this isn’t the only Catholic hymn book to marry that text and melody; e.g. Saint Mark’s Hymnal for Use in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States (Peoria, 1910) does the same thing. Sometimes an unexpected pairing—chosen with sensitivity—can be superb, forcing singers to experience the text in a ‘fresh’ and wonderful way. On the other hand, we sometimes encounter something I’ve called “PERNICIOUS HYMN PAIRINGS.” If you find the subject in intriguing, feel free to peruse an article I published in May of 2023. As always, my email inbox is open if you have a bone to pick with my take.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Pipe Organ “Answers” in Plainsong?
    In 2003, I copied a book by Félix Bélédin (d. 1895), who was titular organist—from 1841 to 1874—at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Lyon (France). In 2008, we scanned and uploaded the book to the Lalande Online Library. Nobody knows for sure when the book was published; some believe it first appeared in the 1840s. In any event, one who examines this excerpt, showing GLORIA IX might wonder why it says the organ answers in plainsong. However, the front of the book explains, telling the organist explicitly when to “respond in plainchant.” This is something called organ alternatim. Believe it or not, the pipe organ would take turns with the choir, playing certain texts instrumentally instead of having them sung. I’m not very well-versed in this—pardon the pun—but if memory serves, ORGAN ALTERNATIM was frowned upon by the time of Pope Saint Pius X. Nevertheless, French organists kept doing it, even after it was explicitly condemned as an abuse.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Gregorian Chant Quiz” • 24 March 2026
    How well do you know your Gregorian hymns? Do you recognize the tune inserted into the bass line on this score? For many years, we sang the entire Mass in Gregorian chant—and I mean everything. As a result, it would be difficult to find a Gregorian hymn I don’t recognize instantly. Only decades later did I realize (with sadness) that this skill cannot be ‘monetized’… This particular melody is used for a very famous Gregorian hymn, printed in the LIBER USUALIS. Do you recognize it? Send me an email with the correct words, and I promise to tell everybody I meet about your prowess!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)
    I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
    For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Many declare that Vatican Council II brought about a true springtime in the Church. Nevertheless, a growing number of Church leaders see this “springtime” as a rejection, a renunciation of her centuries-old heritage, or even as a radical questioning of her past and Tradition. Political Europe is rebuked for abandoning or denying its Christian roots; but the first to have abandoned her Christian roots and past is indisputably the post-conciliar Catholic Church.

— ‘Pope Francis’ Chief Liturgist (31 March 2017)’

Recent Posts

  • Music List • (Palm Sunday, 2026)
  • Easter • Would You Sing This Hymn?
  • “Priest Saying Mass” • Medieval Illumination
  • From Sentiment to Sacrament: Reclaiming Sacred Music for the Wedding Mass
  • Pipe Organ “Answers” in Plainsong?

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2026 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.