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Views from the Choir Loft

Pedagogy, propers and psalm tones

Veronica Brandt · October 5, 2013

E CAN ALWAYS PSALM TONE IT, is a common catch cry in less experienced choirs when things get difficult singing the prescribed Latin propers. Those lines of a single note repeated can look pretty attractive when faced with unusual melismas and intervals that defy our ear’s expectations.

While psalm tones are comparatively simple, understanding them is still a learned skill. There is a little theory to learn – terms like incipit, mediant and final are handy to have when explaining the tunes. Singing technique for rendering the verses in a pleasant way is important too. All this learning is good grounding for more involved chant later on.

Some of my intrepid volunteer singers keep asking for recordings. Through some crazy mix up I have two sets to showcase here today. See what you think. Would recordings like this help you? Would it be better to focus more on getting choir members reading music independently?

20th Sunday after Pentecost

Last week I went to the Psalm Tone Tool (now with Novus Ordo Latin propers too!) and generated this pdf and handed it out after Mass to some willing volunteers. Who thereupon asked for recordings. So I made recordings: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory and Communion. (Thanks go to my mother, Teresa, for singing with me)

21st Sunday after Pentecost

This time I found some old files from last year on my computer, so here is the pdf. You may notice the Introit is not a straight psalm tone, but the antiphon has been simplified heavily. And I have left out the jubilus from the Alleluia. Here are the recordings: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory and Communion.

These are for the Extraordinary Form or Vetus Ordo, where there is a bit of a jump between the Low Mass and a Sung Mass. The Ordinary Form has a lot more flexibility. Still the note from the Liber Brevior is worth bearing in mind:

These abridged chants are intended exclusively for churches where it is not possible to properly execute all the melodies of the Roman Gradual and for which a simple melody of the Sacred Texts is tolerated (S. C. R. N° 3697). Where there are Choirs sufficiently trained, the official Chant of the Gradual must be kept.

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 Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

The People’s Hymnal suffers from a too literal and awkward translation. And even in the lovely Slovak “Memorare” in The Saint Gregory Hymnal we are still asked to sing “that anyone who sought thee, or made to thee his moan.” Why not “groan” or “bone” or even “phone?” The only thing necessary, it seems, is that it rhyme with “known.”

— Mons. Francis P. Schmitt (1958)

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