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Views from the Choir Loft

My Soul Proclaims

Fr. David Friel · October 28, 2012

ECENTLY, I ATTENDED a tremendous concert at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul, here in Philadelphia. The hour-long program by Choral Arts Philadelphia presented Rachmaninov’s Opus 37 (often called Vespers, although it is more properly a collection of texts from the All Night Vigil liturgies).

The most striking aspect of the program for me came at the Magnificat, which began in Old Church Slavonic: Velichit dusha moya Gospoda. It was not the words, however, that struck me. It was the musical artistry. As I sat in the pew preparing to hear the Magnificat section, I was imagining famous paintings of the Visitation—the moment when Mary first uttered this great canticle of praise. I thought I was prepared, but when the singing began, I was stunned.

Rachmaninov chooses to place these opening words first on the lips of basses. This seemed a poor fit with all the scenes of the Visitation I had imagined; it would have been better, I thought, to highlight the female voices in this section. All in an instant, though, I changed my mind, because I began to think of the rich symbolism Rachmaninov may have intended. I began to consider how profoundly deep were these sentiments of praise in the heart of the Blessed Lady.

Indeed, Mary probably proclaimed Magnificat from the deepest recesses of her immaculate heart. She cried out, I can now imagine, de profundis—“out of the depths” of her soul.

Through this experience, I have come to understand with greater clarity the words of Sergey Bulgakov: “Orthodoxy is first of all the love of beauty.”

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 Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Goupil deserves the name of martyr not only because he has been murdered by the enemies of God and His Church while laboring in ardent charity for his neighbor, but most of all because he was killed for being at prayer and notably for making the Sign of the Cross.

— St. Isaac Jogues (after the martyrdom of Saint René Goupil)

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