Views from the Choir Loft

Free PDF Download: Complete Gospel Acclamations (172 pages) • Couture & Quentin

Corpus Christi Watershed · July 29, 2014

ANY CATHOLIC MUSICIANS have been downloading Gospel Acclamations each week from this website, which contains free musical settings by Jeff Ostrowski, Jon Naples, Royce Nickel, Aristotle Esguerra, Aurelio Porfiri, and many others.

Lulu is now making these scores available in book format. This is the second book, which has totally different melodies than the first book released a few weeks ago.

Hard copies are here:

* * Organist Book (172 pages) — $22.95

* * Vocalist Book (172 pages) — $15.95

The PDF Download is here:

* * PDF Download — Complete Gospel Acclamations (172-pages)

Save money with this Lulu Coupon—but notice the expiration date.

For your congregational “Order of Worship,” this might help :

Gregorian Notation (Image) • Modern Notation (Image)

They correspond perfectly with an exciting new publication for Catholics in the pews.

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

“Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

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