Views from the Choir Loft

Gather Hymnal Vs. Gregorian Chant

Corpus Christi Watershed · June 19, 2013 ·

OST PEOPLE REALIZE that Gregorian chant was often sung from large scores during the Middle Ages, since paper was so hard to come by. Some conductors still use this technique, as it tends to help choirs sing “together” — musicians understand what it means for a choir to sing, breathe, feel, and think together. Here is Dr. William Mahrt:

However, GIA’s Gather Hymnal performed this way does not seem to possess the same charm, possibly because Gather contains so little Gregorian chant, as opposed to newer Catholic publications like the Vatican hymnal:

AS MANY HAVE POINTED OUT in the past, most of the major “hymnals” (Gather, Glory & Praise, JourneySongs) should not be called “hymnals.” They are songbooks. They are books containing (mostly) songs. How can you tell the difference between a song and a hymn? If it requires accompaniment, has extremely long note values and rests, emphasizes vague notions of “gathering,” and sounds like it could be used in a Disney movie, it’s most likely a song.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski