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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

[Book] Benedict XVI And Beauty In Sacred Music

Jeff Ostrowski · November 3, 2012

ASED ON THE NAMES of the contributors, this looks like a truly fantastic book. All the contributors are distinguished experts, and I have had the privilege of meeting several of them: His Eminence, Cardinal Burke; Dr. William Mahrt; Fr. Michael Uwe Lang, Cong. Orat.; and Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB.

Some I only met briefly, so I have no idea whether they would remember me. Apropos of this, there was a pianist named Sviatoslav Richter, who, while probably one of the greatest “modern” pianists, was also pretty much insane (as so many great pianists were). For years, Richter carried around a red stuffed lobster, without which he could not function. Anyway, they say Richter could not sleep at night if he forgot the name of any person he had ever met. As you can imagine, he met thousands of people during his long career. Only after he remembered the missing name could he relax. By the way, his memory was unbelievable: they say he had forty (40) full-length concert programs memorized, in addition to all his concerti and chamber music. In case you are wondering, other great pianists who were “disfunctional” as human beings were Cortot, Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Gould, Lhevinne, and even Josef Hofmann (perhaps the most outstanding pianist of all time).

      Benedict XVI and beauty in sacred music [URL] — Janet E. Rutherford, editor

Contributors: Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke (Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura), D. Vincent Twomey SVD (St Patrick’s College, Maynooth), Andreas Andreopoulos (U Winchester), Sven Conrad FSSP (Priestly Fraternity of St Peter), Alberto Donini (Diocese of Brescia), Thomas Lacôte (Conservatoire d’Aubervilliers-La Courneuve/Conservatoire d’Orléans), Uwe Michael Lang CO (Consultor to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff), William Mahrt (Stanford U), Kerry McCarthy (Duke U), Ite O’Donovan (DIT Conservatory of Music), Stéphane Quessard (St Stephen’s Cathedral, Bourges), Alcuin Reid, Samuel Weber OSB (Institute for Sacred Music, Archdiocese of St Louis).

The Fota International Liturgy Conferences are dedicated to the elucidation and promotion of Benedict XVI’s vision of liturgical reform, emphasizing the importance of beauty in the celebration of the Church’s rites, and the necessity to go forward into the future as part of our inherited tradition. The proceedings of the Third Fota International Liturgy Conference, contained in this volume, explore the ideas advanced in the Holy Father’s writings on liturgical music. It also provides a forum for a younger generation of liturgists and musicians, drawn from various countries, who are presently engaged in the recovery and promotion of the Church’s musical heritage for liturgical use or in composing beautiful new and uplifting works of sacred music.

Dr. Janet E. Rutherford is Honorary Secretary of The Patristic Symposium, Saint Patrick’s College Maynooth, and Irish Correspondent to L’Association Internationale d’Études Patristiques.

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 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

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

In the ’60s, I thought this emphasis on congregational singing was to encourage good Catholic hymns like “Immaculate Mary” and so forth … but after the Council, they threw them out, too!

— ‘Fr. Valentine Young, OFM (2007)’

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  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
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