If we feel compelled to condemn these changes, let’s at least spend time learning what they are!
Main Content
Help! • Seeking “Machine Gun” Singing Technique
It was without question the wildest thing I ever heard.
Three (3) Cheerful Items • “Sacred Music Revolution”
Dallas, Singapore, Los Angeles…there’s so much good in the world!
Who Should Sing the Passion? What about Tracts?
“I am of the opinion that women are not to participate in the singing of the crowd parts and that the manner of alternation in the tract is merely a matter of custom, preference, or practicality.” —Patrick Williams
Three (3) Tricks Every Choir Director Should Learn
Conscientious choirmasters know it’s crucial to get “as much bang for your buck” as possible.
Question: “How Do You Read The Official Edition?”
A reader asks: “No Dotted Neumes?”
PDF Download • “Organ Accompaniment Booklet” (Passion Sunday Vespers) — 24 pages
Fulton J. Sheen considered Monsignor Knox’s English translation of the Bible to be the greatest ever created.
Vespers for Easter Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
A ramble about open source software and three PDF files for 1962 Vespers for Ferias 4-6 in the Octave of Easter.
Hidden Gem: Ave Regina Caelorum (Steven Talley)
This sweet, simple SATB motet provides a contrast to heavier, darker Lenten repertoire. But it’s going out of season soon.
Four (4) Shimmery Hymns for Lent & Passiontide
“In nothing are English Catholics so poor as in vernacular hymns. The real badness of most of our popular hymns (endeared, unfortunately, to the people by association) surpasses anything that could otherwise be imagined.” —Father Fortescue
“Go!” • The Word That Changed My Life Forever
As Americans, we’re “bred from birth” to think of ourselves as little gods who already know everything and require no correction.
At the Cross • Stabat Mater
“The devotional version of this hymn employs a later tune erroneously called ‘plainsong’ in various sources.” —Patrick Williams
Summer Ward Method Courses • CUA 2023
The Ward Method is a classical pedagogy designed for pre-K through eighth grade music classes in Catholic schools.
PDF Download • Vespers Organ Accomp. Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent) — 24 pages
This is probably too late … but there’s always next year!
Mass and Motets
This little booklet has had a long influence on choirs, but isn’t very widely known. How many of these pieces are you familiar with?
Sneaky “Salicus” Statements by Solesmes
Let there be no mistake about it: Dom Mocquereau (illicitly) added the “salicus” in hundreds of places where the official edition has none.
“Lætáre Jerúsalem” • Introit (4th Sunday of Lent)
Sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
“Solesmes Ictus” • Can It Be Justified? (Examples)
“If you begin by telling a man that in a word like 𝐷𝑒𝑢𝑠 the first syllable corresponds to the weak beat, the second to the strong beat of a modern bar, the only thing accomplished will be to bewilder him thoroughly.” —Father Bewerunge
Ictus Fictus!
“Hardly any of this made-up system has its basis in medieval music theory or in the manuscripts themselves.”—Patrick Williams
Rhetoric, Number, Measure, and Historicism
The beginnings of a response to mensuralism from the classic Solesmes point of view.
The Cathedral and Diocese of Leeds Expands Its Musical Outreach Yet Again
In my own diocese, “The Catholic Academy of Sacred Music” was incorporated for that very purpose last summer.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Clap Your Hands!” (10 Mar 2023)
“With my questions unanswered by those objecting to rhythmic markings based on the oldest sources, it is difficult to take their arguments seriously.” —Patrick Williams
PDF Download • Belgian “Ordinary of the Mass” (Organ Accompaniment) — 191 pages
This volume has been professionally scanned—and you’ll love the results!
Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New
Every Gregorian melody is a precious gift, and every time we meet a melody again, we have a chance to consider some new aspect.
PDF Download • “Spanish Missal for the Traditional Latin Mass” (Madrid, 1961) — 860 pages!
Let me explain why this 1961 Spanish Missal is so important.
Grant Awarded for Digitizing Over 400,000 Pages of Ancient Solesmes Manuscripts
REPERTORIUM has been awarded a large grant to scan and digitize over 400,000 ancient manuscript images from the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes archive.
PDF Downloads
“Greatest Choral Piece Ever Written” • What Is It?
By March 1596 Marenzio had arrived in Poland. In October of that year, he directed a Mass he’d written in the form of an “echo.”
PDF Download • “Quinquagesima Sunday” Organ Accompaniment Booklet (25 pages)
The word “Alleluia” changes to: “Praise be to Thee, O Lord, King of eternal glory.”
PDF • 2014 Dissertation: “Plainchant Influence on the Liturgical Music of Dr. Marier” (324 pages)
This treatise (324 pages) is a “must read” for anyone who cares about liturgical music in the Catholic Church.
PDF Download • “Gorgeous Image!”
Saint John Mary Vianney (d. 1859) is one of my favorite saints. Our readers will want to download this gorgeous stained glass window which depicts Father Vianney, the holy Curé d’Ars.
PDF Download • Symposium Kyrie Revealed
People often complain: “Catholic priests won’t pay a living wage for choir directors, yet gladly pay millions to purchase a pipe organ.”
Filling Up Fast! • Sacred Music Symposium
“The Sacred Music Symposium was a vehicle of grace that changed my life.” —2019 Participant