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Views from the Choir Loft

Pavane for a Dead Princess — Maurice Ravel

Jeff Ostrowski · July 16, 2013

658 North American Martyrs ACH DAY only has so much time. There are thousands of things I would like to accomplish, but I end up doing only a few, and that’s difficult to accept. One thing I’ve wanted to do for years is write about the Jesuit Martyrs of North America and help make their heroism better known. I have failed in this task. It’s very hard to find the time. As my dad would say, “Time is a premium.”

Anyway, one excerpt from the life of St. Gabriel Lalemant comes to mind. John A. O’Brien wrote that Lalemant was “grateful to his family, most particularly to his mother, for a childhood and youth of rare happiness and love.” Similar words were written about St. Charles Garnier and his family. More on this below.

GREAT MUSIC is powerful, and truly can move the emotions. Randomly, totally out of the blue, Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess came to my mind. I remember hearing my brother play this piece. My brother is scheduled to be ordained a priest this coming May. He’s a truly great person and friend. His interests included conducting, piano, organ, singing, history, theology, and every form of sports you can imagine. He seemed to have every player memorized, be it tennis, basketball, football, baseball, etc.

Here’s a rendition by Shura Cherkassky, a pupil of the great Josef Hofmann, but I prefer the way Mark used to play it:

      * *  Pavane for a Dead Princess [mp3]

I cannot begin to express the emotions that are brought back when I hear this melody, and remember the sacrifices my parents made to provide for us children “a childhood and youth of rare happiness and love.” I suppose that makes me a wuss.

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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For the Season of Pentecost”
    During the season of Pentecost, you might consider using this 2-page Piece “for the season of Pentecost.” Rehearsal videos are available at #40691, but the lyrics are different. Therefore, make sure your choir members understand that one can rehearse songs that have different lyrics (“CONTRAFACT”).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“From six in the evening, his martyrdom had continued through the ghastly night until nine o’clock in the morning. After fifteen hours of torture rarely if ever surpassed in the bloody annals of the Iroquois, the soul of Gabriel Lalemant was freed from its charred and mutilated prison and summoned to join his comrade Jean de Brébeuf in the radiant splendor of God. March 17th, 1649, was the date; for Brébeuf it had been the sixteenth.”

— ‘Fr. John A. O’Brien, speaking of St. Gabriel Lalemant’

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