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.”
Including a splendid harmonization of “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name.”
I wouldn’t argue if somebody made the claim that Sebastian Bach was “the most musical person who ever lived.”
According to Monsignor Franz Stemmer, the famous hymn “Praise to the Lord” originally came from the 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘩 (1665).
Rachmaninoff never forgave Prokofiev for this, as anyone with a melancholic temperament will understand.
Being hired as organist or choirmaster for Catholic weddings can be stressful.
We must never let criticism by ‘haters’ bother us. We must strive to block them from our minds.
The most comprehensive German hymnal ever printed? Well, this masterpiece by Monsignor Stemmer is certainly in the top five!
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.
A lovely offering by the “Chaumonot Composers Group.”
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 […]
My volunteer choir sang this arrangement during the offertory on Easter Sunday.
Dedicated to my brother, Father Mark Ostrowski.
Expect to hear Morales, Palestrina, Victoria, Pierre de la Rue, Tallis, Haydn, Gounod, Rovetta, Lassus, Byrd, Senfl, Taverner, Wingham, and more.
