Views from the Choir Loft

“Pius X Hymnal” (1953) by Ted Marier … free online!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 13, 2013

HEODORE MARIER’S beautiful hymn book, the PIUS X HYMNAL, is now available online. You can freely download the complete PDF using the link below.

Published in 1953, it was edited by the faculty of the Pius Tenth School of Liturgical Music (Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, NY). Note: a different 1950s book called “Pius X Hymnal” was published by a group in Australia.

* * Organist & Choir Edition • 536 pages

* * Congregational Edition • 51 pages

IT’S INTERESTING TO NOTE that Marier’s Pius X Hymnal has just 58 metrical hymns for the congregation, whereas the Campion Hymnal has 140 metrical hymns for the congregation, which you can see by viewing the fact sheet.

The St. Edmund Campion Hymnal, a congregational book, cannot substitute for crucial choir materials like the Liber Usualis, Cantus Selecti, and so forth. However, those who consider 140+ English Hymns and 20+ Latin Hymns insufficient should consider the words of Msgr. Richard Schuler (1984):

“How many hymns does a parish need? Certainly not the vast number crowded into so many modern hymnbooks. If a parish has twenty-five good hymns, it can develop a great enthusiasm for singing. The people don’t mind repetition of good music; in fact, the more they sing the great hymns the more they love them.”

View a video of Dr. Marier conducting Gregorian chant by clicking here. I’m told that a DVD wherein Marier explains how to sing chant can be purchased here.

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

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).

6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski

2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

31 December 2020 • “COMITES CHRISTI”

The feasts for Saint Stephen Proto-Martyr (26 December), Saint John the Evangelist The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (27 December), and the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December) seem untouched by any liturgical reforms. These are very powerful feasts—I believe they once possessed octaves—and I believe they could sometimes “overpower” a Sunday feast. The rules for octaves in the olden days are extremely complex. These feasts are sometimes referred to as a single entity as: Comites Christi (“Companions of Christ”). This is just a guess, but there seems to be a triple significance: STEPHEN martyred after Christ lived, JOHN was a martyr who knew Christ personally, and the HOLY INNOCENTS were martyred before Christ’s birth.

—Jeff Ostrowski