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Views from the Choir Loft

A Tale Of Two Monsignori: Schmitt & Vyverman

Jeff Ostrowski · April 22, 2013

EADERS KNOW very well my admiration for Flor Peeters and his associates at the Lemmens Institute, so I need not repeat that at this time. However, I need to remind readers the Lemmens Institute is located in a place called “Mechelen” in Belgium. It turns out “Mechelen” can also be written as “Mechlin” and “Malines,” depending on which language a person is using at the moment. In the article below, I notice that Msgr. Schmitt (who liked to be called “Father Schmitt”) spells the region as “Malignes.” Fr. Schmitt was a notoriously bad editor when it comes to spelling and proofreading (and he often made fun of his abilities in these areas). I’m not sure whether “Malignes” is technically a correct variant spelling or simply an error on his part. Very soon, this Blog will allow comments. If we had comments enabled right now, I’m sure some Dutch-speaker could tell me whether it was a typo. In any event, I thought it would be fun to use “Malign” in the subtitle (hence: Did Schmitt malign Vyverman of Malines?).

Here’s the article I spoke of by Fr. Schmitt:

      * *  7521 • Article by Msgr. Frank Schmitt (Winter, 1962) [pdf]

As alluded to above, Msgr. Jules Vyverman was an associate of Flor Peeters at the Lemmens Institute. Vyverman contributed to the Nova Organi Harmonia, along with Msgr. Jules Van Nuffel, Marinus de Jong, Gustaaf Nees, Henri Durieux, and Edgard de Laet. A picture of Vyverman is in the upper right corner.

In Schmitt’s article, he mentions a chant method by Msgr. Vyverman. I’ve never seen it. I sure would like to obtain it someday.

As I was reading, I saw that Schmitt spelled Joseph Gogniat as Joseph Cogniat. I thought to myself, “Ouch, there’s a typo.” Reading more, I saw that Schmitt spelled Gogniat as Cogniat a second time. That would seem to indicate he truly forgot Gogniat’s name, which is really odd considering Schmitt’s admiration for Dr. Peter Wagner and his student (Gogniat).

P.S.

Don’t be to bothered by Schmitt’s attacks on the Solesmes ictus. This is a constant theme (obsession?) with him. It would have been better for Schmitt to have simply said, “I don’t like the ictus. I don’t find it helpful to make my choirs sing beautifully.” Instead, he chose to write volume after volume about the ictus. In the end, it made very little difference. Schmitt pushed for Rembert Weakland to be CMAA President. (Weakland is a disgraced Catholic bishop who did tremendous harm to the Catholic Church). Schmitt thought having a bishop as President would make the Conference of Catholic Bishops listen to the CMAA. It totally backfired. Weakland ended up pushing for the “hootenanny Mass” and I think he only lasted one year as CMAA President.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Monsignor Francis P Schmitt Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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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Can You Spare 33 Seconds?

Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski
5 April 2021 • When Girls Sing

Covid restrictions here in California are still extremely severe—switching “two weeks to flatten the curve” into “two years to flatten the curve.” Since 2020, we’ve had police breaking into our church to check if everyone is wearing a mask…even when only 5-6 people are present! But we were allowed to have a small percentage of our singers back on Easter Sunday, and here is their live recording of the ancient Catholic hymn for Eastertide: Ad Cenam Agni Providi. The girls were so very excited to sing again—you can hear it in their voices!

—Jeff Ostrowski
29 March 2021 • FEEDBACK

“E.S.” in North Dakota writes: “I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for all the hard work you have put—and continue to put—into your wonderful website. In the past two years, my parish has moved from a little house basement into a brand new church and gone from a few families receiving Low Masses twice a month to several families (and many individuals) receiving Mass every Sunday, two Saturdays a month, and every Holy Day. Our priest has been incorporating more and more High Masses and various ceremonies into our lives, which has made my job as a huge newbie choir master very trying and complicated. CCWatershed has been an invaluable resource in helping me get on my feet and know what to do!!! Thank you more than I can express! May God bless you abundantly and assist you in your work and daily lives!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“So, as in delirium a man talks in a long-forgotten tongue, now—when her heart is rent—the Catholic Church drops twenty centuries without an effort, and speaks as she spoke underground in Rome, and in Paul’s hired house, and in Crete and Alexandria and Jerusalem.”

— A non-Catholic describing the “Hagios O Theos” of Good Friday in 1906

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