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Corpus Christi Watershed

Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Important Resources for Liturgical Reform (3 of 7)

Fr. David Friel · August 10, 2014

LOVE DICTIONARIES. Online dictionaries are the best invention ever, because they save me tons of time. It wasn’t the act of breaking open a paper dictionary, itself, that used to take up so much time; rather, it was the stopping at every page on which I spotted an unfamiliar word that drew out the process. With online dictionaries, though, I simply type in a single word and move on without being distracted by the latent treasures of our plenitudinous English language.

Another good place to get lost in time is clicking through the scores available on the Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL). This site is a magnificent reserve of some of the greatest sacred music ever written, and it is all FREE for the download. Some pieces even have multiple versions from which you might choose, featuring different keys, arrangements, file-types, etc. If you have never wasted time perusing CPDL, you should try it. You’ll meet composers of whom you never heard and pieces that you’ve never sung. Fair warning: afterwards, you may question the need ever to buy another octavo.

HERE ARE, of course, plenty of published resources that deserve a choir director’s investigation. Allow me to mention two publishing houses outside “the big three” that offer serious, quality, sacred music.

First, there is “The Cathedral Series” of sacred works available through MorningStar Music. You can see a full list of products in this series HERE. While I have not reviewed every piece offered therein, those that I have are all well suited to the liturgy. Some of the pieces are ritual music, while others are motets, Mass parts, organ works, etc.

Music directors of small, country parishes should not be scared off by the word “Cathedral” in the title. Many of these pieces would be within the capabilities of the average volunteer choir.

HE SECOND RESOURCE for published music, I admit, is a bit of a repeat. Even though Richard Clark already highlighted CanticaNOVA Publications in his introduction to this series, I must echo his praise. The planning resources available through CanticaNOVA are well researched, well organized, and well worth a look. Furthermore, among the published music available through their catalog, you will find the names of a few composers familiar to you as contributors on Views from the Choir Loft:

Richard J. Clark

Fr. David M. Friel

Andrew R. Motyka

Aurelio Porfiri

INALLY, if you are looking for a new English Mass setting to introduce to your congregation, the best place to browse is right HERE on Corpus Christi Watershed. All of these Masses are faithful to the Missal texts, composed in sacred style, and FREE for the download.

Among them, you will find the works of numerous Views contributors available freely through the Creative Commons. Several of the Masses are composed with chant-like melodies and have free rhythm, which is better suited to the sacred liturgy that the strict confines of metricality. One Mass posted there is the Mass of St. John Neumann, which I composed as a dignified metrical setting for parishes in which a free-rhythm ordinary is still too much of a leap. In such places, while free rhythm should remain the goal, a metrical setting marked by holiness, beauty, and universality is still a significant step forward.

If you are looking for resources to help in leading grassroots liturgical reform at your parish, these are a few ideas to assist you as you get started. Stay tuned to this series for more ideas.


7-part series:   “Important Resources for Liturgical Reform”

FIRST PART • Richard Clark

SECOND PART • Veronica Brandt

THIRD PART • Fr. David Friel

FOURTH PART • Jeff Ostrowski

FIFTH PART • Jon Naples

SIXTH PART • Andrew Motyka

SEVENTH PART • Peter Kwasniewski

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Reform of the Reform, Sheet Music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 19th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (10 August 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    This Sunday’s Communion Antiphon
    This coming Sunday—10 August 2025—is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON is really gorgeous, and two of its features are worth mentioning. First of all, the Gospel reading assigned is from Saint Luke, whereas the the antiphon—although it matches the account—comes from Saint Matthew. (If anyone can point to a similar example, please notify me.) Furthermore, if you look at the authentic Gregorian Chant version posted on the feasts website, you’ll notice that it’s MODE III but ends on the ‘wrong’ note. A comparable instance of such a ‘transposed’ chant would be KYRIE IV.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Using “Ye” Vs. “You” Correctly
    Using “Ye” vs. “You” is rather tricky, because it depends upon which era one is trying to recreate—if that makes any sense. In other words, the rules haven’t always been the same for these two. Nevertheless, Father Philip George Caraman (the legendary Jesuit scholar) gives us a masterclass using Saint Luke’s Gospel. Father Caraman was close friends with Monsignor Ronald Knox, Evelyn Waugh, and Sir Alec Guinness.
    —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

Ralph Vaughan Williams “was an atheist during his later years at Charterhouse and at Cambridge, though he later drifted into a cheerful agnosticism: he was never a professing Christian.”

— Dr. William Mahrt, CMAA President (2021)

Recent Posts

  • Is this what the new “Youth Mass” looks like?
  • “Music List” • 19th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • This Sunday’s Communion Antiphon
  • Using “Ye” Vs. “You” Correctly
  • Installment #3 • “Serious Problems with the Lectionary Translation”

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