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

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Important Resources for Liturgical Reform (5 of 7)

Guest Author · August 12, 2014

EVERAL MONTHS AGO, VCL readers may recall, I posted about my work, the Simple English Choral Propers which uses the offertories from the “Simple English Propers” by Adam Bartlett (unaltered) as cantus firmi. The aim of these pieces: parish choirs of all sizes and skill levels who desire chant-based polyphony for their offertory Mass propers. They also propose a good stepping stone for the beginning choir to approach polyphony.

The strong response to my earlier post introducing these pieces shows 1) the enduring quality of the SEP themselves, 2) a desire on the part of parish choirs to choose a chant-based polyphonic setting of the offertory propers, 3) parish choirs preferring to eliminate the necessity of a second offertory song after a ‘compulsory’ propers chant exposition – as I have witnessed several parish choirs do since embracing the propers chants, and 4) the attractiveness of psalm tones proclaimed in choral harmony.

In the not too far off future, the entire cycle will be posted and a complete book will be available. At present, I am introducing a limited selection of the pieces that they may continue to get the ball rolling for parish choirs who find the SEP attractive and wish to explore more deeply the chant’s harmonic and rhythmic implications.

      * *  Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Free PDF

      * *  20th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Free PDF

      * *  23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time — Free PDF

      * *  28th Sunday in Ordinary Time — Free PDF

      * *  33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time — Free PDF

      * *  Christ the King Sunday — Free PDF

      * *  1st Sunday of Advent — Free PDF

      * *  2nd Sunday of Advent — Free PDF

      * *  3rd Sunday of Advent — Free PDF

      * *  4th Sunday of Advent — Free PDF

      * *  Christmas (vigil) — Free PDF

      * *  Christmas (midnight mass) — Free PDF

      * *  Christmas (daytime mass) — Free PDF

      * *  Epiphany — Free PDF

Assumed is a basic knowledge of the Simple English Propers as these pieces follow the same modus operandi. For those unfamiliar with SEP, they may want to look at this practical guide. A tutorial on SE Choral versions may be found here.


We hope you enjoyed this guest post by Jon Naples.



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: Simple English Mass Propers Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

“In the 17th century came the crushing blow which destroyed the beauty of all Breviary hymns. Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644) was a Humanist. In a fatal moment he saw that the hymns do not all conform to the rules of classical prosody.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

Recent Posts

  • 19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”
  • “Gregorian Chant Not In Danger Pope Tells French”
  • PDF Download • “O Salutaris” (Modern Setting)
  • Summer Ward Method Courses • CUA 2022
  • PDF Download • 2022 “Vespers Booklet” (99 Pages)

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant 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.