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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)

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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

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “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

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

“Urban VIII appointed four Jesuits to reform the hymns, so that they should no longer offend Renaissance ears. These four, in that faithful obedience to the Holy See which is the glory of their Society, with a patient care that one cannot help admiring, set to work to destroy every hymn in the office.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1916)

Recent Posts

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  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

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