Views from the Choir Loft

Lord of the World

Veronica Brandt · January 31, 2015

Fr. Robert Hugh Benson, 1907 OPE FRANCIS RECOMMENDS THE novel, Lord of the World by Mgr. Robert Hugh Benson. This has been mentioned a few times in the news, but I only stumbled across it today.

I found this particularly reassuring as I have loved many of Mgr. Benson’s novels, starting with Come Rack, Come Rope, borrowed from the church library where I went to primary school. His novels probably sound a little melodramatic to modern ears, but once you acclimatize there are many wonderful stories to enjoy as he did write quite a few novels and short stories. Many are available for free at Project Gutenberg.

Lord of the World shows something of a pessimistic view of the future, extrapolating from trains of thought current around 1900. The similarities to propaganda and events in the world wars is sobering. Monsignor Benson died in 1914, so never saw these ideas play out. It is rather spooky to see the evils foreseen way back over a hundred years ago. There is much, much food for thought in there.

I loved the book so much that it was one of the first that I formatted to make a paperback which is still available at Lulu. Today I spent way too long making an ebook version to go with the paperback.

The main thing which stayed with me from this book was the ending. Now, I don’t want to give too much away, but just let me say that some familiarity with Pange Lingua comes in handy. I remember having to look up quite a few things when I read the book for the first time. When I put together my edition of the book I added in footnotes to save readers some trouble. The author could take for granted that the reader would understand a reference to Adeste Fideles or the odd fragment from the better known psalms – all in Latin. That was the common canon which brought a wealth of associations from just a few words. I wish we could still rely on that today.

I hope you find some treasures in Mgr Benson’s books. His background as a high profile convert to the Catholic faith is worth a read too. It is rather awesome to be part of this Church.

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

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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 • “Cantus Mariales” (192 pages)

Andrea Leal has posted an absolutely pristine scan of CANTUS MARIALES (192 pages) which can be downloaded as a PDF file. To access this treasure, navigate to the frabjous article Andrea posted Monday. The file is being offered completely free of charge. The beginning pages of the book have something not to be missed: viz. a letter from Pope Saint Pius X to Dom Pothier, in which the pope calls Abbat Pothier “a man versed above all others in the science of liturgy, and to whom the cause of Gregorian chant is greatly indebted.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (1 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its somber INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with its fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski