solfège

Dr. Charles Weaver · March 5, 2025

Solmization from the Inside, Part 3

Making the case for the (very) old method of solfège, or, what is so sharp about sharp notes?

“You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord…”

The Communion antiphon for this coming Sunday is quite beautiful (PDF). I’m not sure I know any other feast which does what the 1st Sunday of Lent does. Specifically, the text for the COMMUNION is identical to the OFFERTORY, except the Offertory makes “Dómine” explicit. The Introit, Gradual, and Tract also use that same psalm: viz. Psalm 90.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Entrance Chant” • 1st Sunday of Lent

You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the First Sunday of Lent (9 March 2025). Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. This English adaptation uses the same mode as the authentic version. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ. I believe this to be one of the finest organ accompaniments I’ve written. (Organ accompaniment is permitted during Lent “to support the voices” in both the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form.)

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • 8th Sunday (Ord. Time)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the “ORDER OF MUSIC” I prepared for the 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C (2 March 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The OFFERTORY ANTIPHON—Dómine Convértere from Psalm 6—is quite striking.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum

Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.

—Daniel Tucker

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music).

—Corpus Christi Watershed

The Lofty Nature of This Goal

It is important above all that we never lose sight of our true goal as church musicians: the right worship of Almighty God. This is not a pious sentiment that should cause us to be lax about technical elements of music. Rather, the lofty nature of this goal is should motivate and inspire us to pursue the techne of musicianship with even greater zeal.

—Dr. Samuel Backman