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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Best Hymnal Ever Printed?

Jeff Ostrowski · January 4, 2018

90844 the Hymnary William Cooke UPPOSE YOU ASK the following question: “What was the greatest hymnal ever produced?” Be prepared for a fight. You’re going to have defenders of Hymns Ancient & Modern. You’re going to have defenders of the New Westminster Hymnal. You’re going to have people who love the New English Hymnal. You’re going to encounter supporters of Ted Marier, Cyr de Brant, and others—because there are many great hymnals.

The following should also be considered:

    * *  PDF • THE HYMNARY (665 pages) —38.8MB

It’s an Anglican hymn book 1 (edited by William Cooke & Benjamin Webb) but many of the texts were written by Catholic priests.

    * *  PDF Download • HYMN INDEX

Although the book carefully avoids mentioning this, it contains many English translations of Roman Catholic hymns, such as “Pange lingua gloriosi” and “Mundus effúsis redémptus.”

We’ve currently collected about 200,000 pages of hymnals as part of our creation work for the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.

If you like this book, stay tuned—because soon I’ll release an even more impressive hymnal (which you have never heard of) from the early 20th century that comprises 1,200 pages!



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Approximately 99% of the scanned books we upload are created by us; but in this particular case, the book was scanned by ARCHIVE.ORG. By the way, Benjamin Webb is known for several hymn translations, such as O Love, How Deep, How High, How Broad (“O amor quam ecstaticus”) and Sing We Triumphant Hymns of Praise (“Hymnum canamus gloriae”).

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download 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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

PDF • “Organ Interludes” (Manuals Only)

In graduate school, one is taught a valuable lesson: if you emphasize everything, nothing is emphasized. In other words, putting every other word in bold or italic (or both) wrecks your paper. I never to use the word “best”—but today I make an exception. The book of organ interludes released today by my colleague is without question the best I’ve ever seen. Including Dom Gregory Murray, Flor Peeters, Jacques Lemmens, John Lee, C. H. Rinck, Dom Alphege Shebbeare, Oreste Ravanello, Louis Niedermeyer, Eugène Gigout, Luigi Bottazzo, Johann Sebastian Bach, and many others. Learn more by clicking here.

—Jeff Ostrowski
For the Upcoming Choir Season!

Last week, I posted an SATB choral setting of the SANCTUS in a ‘contemporary’ style. You might want to consider this piece for two reasons: (1) It’s extremely brief; (2) Free rehearsal videos are available for each individual part. The piece is by Father Lhoumeau.

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • “Sunday Vespers” (22 pages)

When an organist accompanies Vespers, there is no time to think. It’s one thing after another: Bam – Bam – Bam. And that’s what makes Vespers difficult to accompany; there’s hardly even time to check the key signature for each piece! Therefore, although it’s far from perfect, I’m releasing this 22-page booklet:

PDF Download • SUNDAY VESPERS ACCOMPANIMENT

As time goes on, I will explain why I believe this booklet is important, my hopes for it, and why I selected the official edition, directly from the Vesperale Romanum. In spite of its imperfections, creating this (draft) booklet required much more effort than I had anticipated.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I have, on the other hand, retained several more or less traditional tunes, absolutely valueless and without merit from a musical point of view, but which seem to have become a necessity if a book is to appeal—as I hope this one will—to the varied needs of various churches.”

— A. Edmonds Tozer (1905)

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