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Views from the Choir Loft

Simply Stunning | Sacred Music of Paul Jernberg

Richard J. Clark · March 13, 2015

AUL JENBERG, Jr. has lead a most interesting life. Perhaps it is the various twists in following God’s plan for him that allow him to express the most profoundly sacred truths through music. From his website, here is only a glimpse of what lies behind his work:

In 1988, Paul helped prepare and then participated in a Scandinavian retreat with l’Arche founder Jean Vanier. His friendship with Vanier led him to a deeper awareness of the mentally handicapped and the vision of l’Arche, further studies in theology and Church history, and eventually in 1990 the decision to spend time living in a Franciscan monastery outside of Gothenburg. This was also a time of discovering the great beauty of Gregorian chant from the “inside”, that is from the perspective of singing it as prayer in the daily Mass and Liturgy of the Hours. This discovery, along with a grace-filled experience of the Catholic liturgical and sacramental life, brought a new sense of unity and mission to Jernberg’s work in sacred music.

Listen here to his simply stunning setting of the Salve Regina recorded by the Schola Cantorum of Saint Peter the Apostle, J. Michael Thompson, Director:

ANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD about Paul Jernberg’s Mass of Saint Philip Neri. This extraordinary work and his other sacred works including the Salve Regina is available for purchase on his website here.

The Mass of Saint Philip Neri can be sung with unaccompanied SATB choir, or very easily with organ accompaniment and unison schola. The layout of the SATB score in two lines makes this score quite flexible. Furthermore, the score is reminiscent of Theodore Marier’s Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Canticles in that it provides the ability to sing the entire mass as well as its multiple settings of various acclamations. The end result is also a mass that is very accessible to the congregation after hearing it just a few times.

His compositional voice is uniquely his, yet without pointing attention to itself. Paul’s rhythmic rendering of the text is simple, but never overshadows the music; it links accessible and sensitive rhythm with the freedom of Gregorian Chant. His music possesses sacred nobility, graceful humility, and simplicity, while reaching for the transcendent.

Listen here to his simply stunning setting of the Gloria from the Mass of Saint Philip Neri recorded by the Schola Cantorum of Saint Peter the Apostle, J. Michael Thompson, Director:

AUL JERNBERG IS CURRENTLY Music Director of St. Monica and St. Lucy Parishes in Methuen, Massachusetts. He is also Composer-in-Residence at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire and the founding director of the Magnificat Academy, a choir school for grades 4-12 in Warren, Massachusetts.

An educator at heart, Paul is a model servant of the Church. Please pray that his work may continue in great service to the Church, and please sing his glorious music!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Mass of Saint Philip Neri, Paul Jernberg, Singing the Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —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

«In the same quarter where he was crucified there was a garden.» (John 19:41) — The word “garden” hinted at Eden and the fall of man, as it also suggested through its flowers in the springtime the Resurrection from the dead.

— Fulton J. Sheen

Recent Posts

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  • “My First Year with the Latin Mass” • A Music Director’s Perspective
  • Boston Auxiliary Bishop: “In offering the Traditional Mass for the first time, after removing the vestments, I knelt in the back pew and wept.”
  • Now Available! • “Hymns of Cardinal Newman: Kevin Allen’s Legendary Choral Settings”
  • Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)

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