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Views from the Choir Loft

Important Resources for Liturgical Reform (4 of 7)

Jeff Ostrowski · August 11, 2014

965 Gregorian HOULD CHURCH MUSIC be fun? I think so, but only recently realized this. A few months ago, I was alone in a room with a keyboard, waiting for my ride to arrive. The only book there was my collection of Chabanel Psalms. In case you don’t know, I usually detest my compositions after they’re published. (My friends who compose admit the same thing, so hopefully I’m not crazy.)

I began to play through some of my pieces. “Wow,” I thought, “this one isn’t horrible after all.” A while later, I was saying, “Hey, I actually kind of like this one.” As time went on, I realized that many of my psalm settings were really nice, and I was having fun singing through them. Then, I got worried.

“This is Church music. Is it supposed to be fun?”

YES, SINGING CHURCH MUSIC should be fun, although “fun” isn’t the best word. Singing the Psalms should be A DELIGHT. From what I can tell, the Church has always placed a great value on “keeping things interesting” at Mass. After all, we’re only human. So, the delightful melodies, the stained glass windows, the incense, and the entire liturgy ought to help us pray. As I mentioned in this article, variety helps prevent our minds from wandering. In the early centuries of the Church, the variety of antiphons and psalm tones helped the monks memorize the different Psalms—and there were tons of them! Nevertheless, the Church documents 1 have always stressed that everything done at the liturgy must be dignified.

You might like some of my psalm settings. You can download the entire collection here:

      * *  Saint Noël Chabanel Responsorial Psalms — 607 pages

You can also purchase bound books at that link (for a very reasonable price), but why purchase hard copies when you have the PDF file? I recommend doing so for the following reasons:

(a) it’s cheaper than printing on your own;

(b) bound books with beautiful covers are nice;

(c) you should obtain these while you can, because the future is unpredictable—even in the best of times!

NOW, LET ME TELL YOU about a truly marvelous collection you need to obtain. This collection of organ interludes for manuals only was composed by Dom Gregory Murray, and you can read the Preface by clicking here.

These pieces are TREMENDOUS.   Here’s a sample score:

      * *  100 Easy, Beautiful Organ Interludes for Manuals Only — Dom Gregory Murray

Here’s where you can purchase the complete collection:

      * *  Purchase this collection — from SheetMusicPlus

You won’t regret purchasing these!

Once upon a time, Watershed was going to look into publishing these, since many were written in the 1930s. However, this seems unlikely at this point. For one thing, I’ve been extremely ill since April, and this has made life quite difficult. That’s why I said above: “The future is unpredictable.”


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



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Several significant quotes are given during this exuberant video.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dom Gregory Murray 100 Organ Interludes, Free Responsorial Psalms Organ Vocalist Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Unfortunately, on the one hand a deadly error in judgment placed the official leadership of this committee into the hands of a man who—though generous and brave—was not very knowledgeable: Cardinal Lercaro. He was utterly incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the mealy-mouthed scoundrel that the Neapolitan Vincentian, Bugnini, a man as bereft of culture as he was of basic honesty, soon revealed himself to be.”

— ‘Fr. Louis Bouyer, an important member of the Consilium’

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