Views from the Choir Loft

“Requiem pour une américaine à Paris” on “Sounds from the Spires”

Richard J. Clark · October 11, 2013

NSPIRED BY THE GREGORIAN CHANT propers of the Requiem Mass, the CD Requiem pour une américaine à Paris was recently featured on “Sounds from the Spires” on SIRIUS XM 129 Radio, The Catholic Channel.

Trumpet player, Richard Kelley and I had the opportunity to speak with the program’s host, Dr. Jennifer Pascual, Director of Music for Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Dr. Pascual is an incredibly down to earth and welcoming host!

• PODCAST • Listen here to the program broadcast on 10.6.2013:

• The CD is available for purchase ($9.99) and for download ($6.93) (Also available on iTunes)

• You may listen and follow the scores below on YouTube. (Score available at RJC Cecilia Music)

      YouTube:  I. Introit | Requiem aeternam”
      YouTube:  II. Gradual | Requiem aeternam
      YouTube:  III. Dies Irae
      YouTube:  IV. Jubilis!
      YouTube:  V. Offertory | Domine Jesu Christe”
      YouTube:  VI. Communion | Lux aeterna
      YouTube:  VII. Last Farewell

• BONUS PODCAST! Here is my 2012 interview on “Sounds from the Spires.”

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

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

22 October 2021 • “Sad & Unnecessary”

The USCCB has completely deleted a section of their website which (before they deleted it) contained helpful resources for the classical Roman Rite. Something cool they had included (before they deleted it) was a link to the new prefaces, approved by Pope Francis on 25 March 2020. Will this madness never end?

—Jeff Ostrowski

11 October 2021 • “Sing All Verses?”

Some claim Catholics deserve condemnation because (unlike Protestants) Catholics often omit verses when singing hymns at Mass. Is that true? The wonderful Sophia Institute Press—as part of a series on authentic sacred music—has provided an answer (PDF) to this question.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Where do Catholics find hymns?

The wonderful Sophia Institute Press has begun a “Q+A” section which tackles common liturgical questions, and here’s a sample: “At a conference I recently attended, the speaker said hymns don’t belong at Mass; was he telling the truth?” And you can read the answer. To access the complete set (which is a work in progress), scroll towards the bottom of this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The representative Protestant collection, entitled “Hymns, Ancient and Modern”—in substance a compromise between the various sections of conflicting religious thought in the Establishment—is a typical instance. That collection is indebted to Catholic writers for a large fractional part of its contents. If the hymns be estimated which are taken from Catholic sources, directly or imitatively, the greater and more valuable part of its contents owes its origin to the Church.

— Orby Shipley (1884)