The Actual Authentic Writing Of Palestrina

Jeff Ostrowski · December 3, 2014

OLIN MAWBY former Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, travels to Rome in this video, letting you see an original manuscript of Palestrina. Also, he interviews Domenico Cardinal Bartolucci and Msgr. Philip Whitmore. (Skip to the 12:45 marker to see Palestrina’s authentic manuscript.)

Palestrina is not my favorite Renaissance composer: too vanilla for me, most of the time. I much prefer Victoria, Marenzio, Lassus, Morales, and several others. By the way, Mawby mentions the fact that “Palestrina” is not his name—it’s where he lived. I believe the same is true of a fantastic Renaissance master Verdelot.

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

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).

Hymn Lyrics Which Don’t Fit

If we grow up singing hymns, we’re incapable of judging them—because we’re “too close” to them. People who know and love “Abide with me, fast falls the eventide” probably never realized the first word is one of the most egregious examples of incorrect accentuation. (The correct accent for “abide” is on the second syllable, not the first.) Similarly, when “O God, our help in ages past” is sung to SAINT ANNE, the word “under” should be replaced with “beneath”—otherwise the accentuation is incorrect. Another egregious example would be “Come Holy Ghost” (sung to LAMBILLOTTE), which incorrectly accents the final syllable of the word Comforter (“O Comforter, to Thee we cry…”).

—Jeff Ostrowski

12 July 2021 • FEEDBACK

A reader from Chicago writes: “Your work is exemplary, and these past 15 months have put into clear focus for me just how important Corpus Christi Watershed is as an evangelizing voice in the Church. During this pandemic, we have moved away from the ‘big publisher’ psalters, employing nearly exclusively your settings, which (in my opinion) are melodically appealing and perfectly embody the essence of ‘sacred music’—evoking chant, but looking forward to the future. Bravo, composers! We are pleased to have been able to contribute a small gift toward the vast amount of CCW music we have used in the past 16 months. Your site is professional, and your content is excellent. Moving from hymnody to propers during the pandemic was a revelation.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PT Barnum, Henri Herz, + 1,000 candles

In the annals of pianism, there were some fakers: Vladimir de Pachmann, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Leopold de Meyer, and Henri Herz. A hilarious story is told by Harold C. Schonberg about Henri Herz, his manager (Bernard Ullman), and 1,000 candles. I think you will enjoy reading it.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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