Views from the Choir Loft

Feast of St. Cecilia – November 22nd

Gwyneth Holston · November 7, 2013 ·

[1] Click to enlarge image HE SCULPTURE OF Saint Cecilia (figure 1) by Stefano Maderno was commissioned in 1599 when her body was discovered incorrupt. The 23-year old sculptor depicted the position of her body as she was found, showing her fingers extended to represent one God in three persons. It is a haunting figure, particularly because her face is hidden from us. It is appropriate, however, because she is destined to look upon a different world.

[2] Click to enlarge image I LIKE TO THINK of the painting (figure 2) of St. Cecilia by John William Waterhouse (1895) as representing the moment after her death. She is just about to awake to the music of angels to find herself in a heavenly garden. As we look on, we can see that her every sense will be consoled. The flowers around her provide a delicate fragrance and someone has thoughtfully tucked pillows near her shoulders and feet. St. Cecilia’s rosy complexion affirms that she is not dead, but has merely fallen asleep in the Lord.

The contrast between the austere statue and the sumptuous painting is representative of the difference between the Baroque and Pre-Raphaelite movements. I often feel that Baroque artists emphasized the powerful presence of a supernatural reality whereas the Pre-Raphaelite artists focused on the entrancing loveliness of the supernatural world. Eternal themes can never be exhausted even when they are revisited every hundred years by a new art movement. Like the Cecilia in the midst of her slumber, I believe that today the Catholic Church is about to awaken to a revival in the arts.

About Gwyneth Holston

Gwyneth Holston is a sacred artist who works to provide and promote good quality Catholic art. Her website is gwynethholston.com. Read more.

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