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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

PDF Download: Father Charles Dreisoerner’s “Graduale Romanum” In English (202 pages)

Guest Author · December 22, 2014

537 Graduale Romanum ETWEEN the years 1964 and 1968 I was temporarily professed as a religious brother with the Society of Mary. At the end of 1964 the American bishops gave us the first English texts of the Mass. They were literal translations of the Propers and Ordinaries of the Mass. There were a few musicians, or aspiring musicians, in our novitiate class, so, in the absence of any real training in Gregorian chant, we set to work providing music for the Propers. In time, we began using guitar accompaniment to rhythmic settings of the set text.

After taking vows, we were sent to St. Mary’s University, where the brothers’ choir director was Fr. Charles Dreisoerner, SM, a classically trained musician and chant expert, as well as a professor of classics at the school. He found us young brothers to be unenthusiastic about singing chant, even though he had spent many hours matching the chant to the new English translations. Squeaky wheels got oiled back then, and our rebellion led to his being replaced by a younger musician after the first year. The idea that chant could set the English text, however, never left my mind.

      * *  PDF Download: Complete ROMAN GRADUAL in English (1984)

When I had the opportunity to direct a schola for an Anglo-Catholic parish some seventeen years later, I realized that the Anglican missal texts, being very close in meaning to the Latin originals, could be adapted to the authentic chants as found in the Liber Usualis. I had been hired to do some music engraving for a liturgy publication, so I had the tools and some time to take up Fr. Dreisoerner’s work. The result was Chants for the Church Year, which I self-published. It was produced in 8 ½ x 11 loose-leaf fashion, or spiral bound for use with church choirs. Because of the difficulty of the Gradual and Alleluia chants, those were set in simpler styles. I concentrated on the Introit, Offertory and Communion chants, and also engraved some of the chants from Tenebrae in Holy Week. I also wrote a short paper in defense of vernacular chant, which frankly admitted that the ideal was to sing chant in Latin and Greek, but suggested that the best way to preserve and promote it would be to introduce it to choirs in the vernacular.

534 Cunningham Economically, Chants for the Church Year was a losing proposition from the beginning. Fr. Francis Schmitt, who was in the early 1980s the choir director at Boys Town in Nebraska, championed the collection, as in a letter to The American Organist. He purchased a large number of copies for the boys choir at Boys Town. His support was heartening, but the project was, I now see, premature. My wife and I attended the 1983 International Symposium on chant in the liturgy at the Catholic University of America, where we heard several speakers denounce the idea of matching chant to the vernacular. Not long afterwards we left our positions as organist and choirmaster with the Anglo-Catholic parish, which had become one of the first parishes in the Anglican Use in the United States.

I still consider Chants for the Church Year to be a kind of homage to Fr. Charles Driesoerner, who patiently tried to teach us chant in the vernacular. He was right fifty years ago, and we were too cheeky to recognize it. It was at least a comfort to know that he was aware of my efforts to set the vernacular to authentic chant before his passing. May he rest in the peace of Christ, where he sings with all the other monks to whom we owe some of the most beautiful music on earth.


We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Deacon W. Patrick Cunningham.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Chants for the Church Year, Deacon Patrick Cunningham, Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers Last Updated: August 17, 2024

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on what each translator wants to emphasize and which source text is chosen. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF example) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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