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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.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Reflections on the Liturgy by Andrew Nash

Jeff Ostrowski · February 9, 2013

ANY ARTICLES printed over the years in the Sacred Music Journal have more to do with Liturgy and Theology than they do with the subject of music. However, this is not meant to be a criticism. Many of them are quite interesting and worthy of careful reflection. Furthermore, they serve as a “testimony” to the times, providing a window, as it were, for future generations into “what was happening” with the Liturgy in 1930, 1940, 1970, etc.

I was recently reading the following article by Andrew Nash. (You can download the entire thing as a PDF below.) Sacred Music usually does a really nice job providing a Bio of each contributor, usually at the end of the issue. However, for some reason, no Bio was provided for Andrew Nash. Perhaps this was an oversight.

      *  “The Liturgy Vacuum: A Personal Viewpoint” [pdf]

In my opinion, his piece is worth reading in its entirety. Here are two excerpts:

But even brief comments are comments. They assume a need to comment. The liturgy has become an activity which is no longer self-explanatory. It is not something which it is natural just to do. It has become an artificial activity—something which doesn’t come naturally. Contrast it, for instance, with the natural rituals of daily life. When we shake hands, we do not feel the need to explain, “By this gesture I am establishing contact with you.” Even more, when we express affection by an embrace or tousling a child’s hair, this needs no explanation. The rituals of family life—singing “Happy birthday to you,” putting up a Christmas tree, cutting a wedding cake—need no explanation and would of course be killed by one. Communal worship, however, has apparently ceased to be something we can do without constant explanatory comment. This is a most extraordinary state of affairs.

. . . None of these [hymns] was liturgical. They were imported into the liturgy but were massively supplemented, indeed soon swamped by, the Protestant hymnody. Many of these are very splendid hymns— but they necessarily brought with them their contexts of Anglican or evangelical worship. Their melodies, rhythms, vocabulary, diction, sometimes even theology and certainly spirituality, were non-native to the Catholic liturgy. (Even those which are translations of ancient hymns from the divine office had never existed in their vernacular form as such.) It is significant that the most progressive liturgists quickly found them unsatisfactory— they were old fashioned and formal. What was wanted was something friendlier and more informal. And so 1960’s “folk” music was imported into the new liturgy.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“However well equipped and trained a choir may be, all its good points may be obscured by an unsuitable accompaniment. In fact the organist can, in a large measure, either make or mar his choir. It must be owned, however, that the accompanist of Plainsong has to contend with many difficulties. […] The purist will still find his best enjoyment of the chant when it is sung unaccompanied, but to most a becoming accompaniment gives an added charm.”

— Benedictines of Stanbrook (1905)

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