• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Colloquium Update IV

Fr. David Friel · July 6, 2014

HERE IS SO MUCH to be learned about Gregorian chant, and the Colloquium is such a terrific place to learn it. I have spent all week chanting in a schola led by Scott Turkington, one of the true living masters of the art. My fellow chanters and I have learned many things under his direction.

On Friday morning, we were especially blessed to have an open discussion about one of the chants we were preparing. The piece was the offertory chant for the Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Improperium exspectavit Cor meum. (The same chant, in a slightly extended format, is used also on Palm Sunday.) The chant appears below in a photo, and here is the text (and translation) from Psalm 68:21:

Improperium exspectavit Cor meum et miseriam, et sustinui qui simul mecum contristaretur et non fuit; consolantem me quaesivi et non inveni.

My Heart awaited reproach and misery; and I hoped for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none; I looked for one who would comfort me, and found no one.

In our analysis of the piece, we observed that it would be difficult to tell the mode just on the basis of the opening phrase. The phrase et miseriam, however, removes all doubt that this is a mode VIII chant, since it launches from sol, returns to sol, and hovers around the reciting tone do. Moreover, the piece ends neatly on the final sol, as do all chants in modes VII & VIII.

We considered several episodes of obvious word painting. Perhaps the cleverest comes on the word Cor in the opening phrase. The repercussion on do, called for by the bistropha and subsequent tristopha, seems to simulate a heartbeat. Then, in the melody for miseriam, one finds three separate expressive puncta, which helps to convey the sense of real misery. As Turkington describes, expressive neums should not necessarily be sung with extra speed, extra delay, or greater volume; rather, they should exhibit a certain “fire” within.

Structurally, we took note of two very similar figures on the word et, at the end of the third staff and the beginning of the fifth staff. Both of these figures consist of a salicus with a terminal liquescent. Turkington contends that liquescents always serve a purpose, and, in this case, he suggested that they are an encouragement to the singer to close on “t” and begin the singable “n” of the following word. In the first instance, the salicus is built with a sol ti re progression, whereas in the second it consists of fa la do. The figure beginning with fa seems to come “out of nowhere,” and therefore adds a terrific element of surprise to the chant’s concluding phrase before it resolves in a lovely cadence on sol.

Even more surprising, perhaps, is the inclusion of the mi above the staff; not only is this the highest note in the piece, but it also lies outside the standard range of mode VIII (re to re). This should probably be interpreted as a case of word painting, wherein the composer is stressing the deep despair conveyed by the text. During our discussion, one of the participants suggested that it signifies the speaker of the Psalm, who goes everywhere—even outside the mode—looking for someone to comfort him, in the end desperately confessing that he has “found no one.”

Another remark that Turkington made about chant in general has stuck with me all week. He shared with us this idea: “In chant, there are no Gothic arches—only Romanesque arches.” In other words, the shaping of every phrase in chant should be a smooth arc, rather than an arc with sharp or jagged points. For example, in this piece, even the mi of the final line, which constitutes the physical highpoint of the chant, ought not to stick out unduly from the rest of the phrase.

All of this reflection arose from an impromptu discussion on a rather short piece of chant. When the propers, in their simplicity, contain such depth and meaning and spirituality, why would anyone want to sing a hymn instead?

Indy_Improperium

Colloquium Update I

Colloquium Update II

Colloquium Update III

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Gregorian Chant, Hymns Replacing Propers, Propers, Sacred Music Colloquium Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —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

“A striking detail: at Solesmes, we remember hearing Justine Ward criticize accompaniment sometimes or seeing her cover her ears, especially when the organ accompanied a soloist, which is something she could not accept.”

— Dom Pierre Combe

Recent Posts

  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • The Tallis Scholars
  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
  • Pope Saint Paul VI to Consilium (14 October 1968)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up