Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download: Eucharistic Verset By Palestrina

Jeff Ostrowski · January 27, 2015

ELOW, YOU WILL FIND a Eucharistic Polyphonic Verset adapted from a larger work by Palestrina. It’s a bit challenging, so polyphonic practice videos & audio files have been provided. The verset works very well in between verses of a Pange Lingua (Gregorian chant) taken from the Liber Cantualis of Solesmes.

* * PDF Download • Polyphonic Verset

* * Audio Recording • Polyphony Only (by Matt Curtis)

When you’re teaching your choir the chant, try this organ accompaniment. ¹ I recommend having your Tenors or Sopranos only sing the chant verses.

To help your choir learn, practice videos & audio files are available:

Practice Video: SOPRANO • Mp3 Practice File: SOPRANO

Practice Video: ALTO • Mp3 Practice Audio: ALTO

Practice Video: TENOR • Mp3 Practice Audio: TENOR

Practice Video: BASS • Mp3 Practice Audio: BASS

Once they’ve learned their parts, have them practice against the Equal Voices audio recording (SEE ABOVE).

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 I wouldn’t use the organ accompaniment when you mix the chant with polyphony.

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

All of the chants for 27 July 2025, which is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down.” The COMMUNION ANTIPHON—both text and melody—are particularly beautiful and exceedingly ancient.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser

To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Errors in Latin: “17th Sund. Ordinary”

The COMMUNION for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) contains several typos in the Jogues Illuminated Missal with regard to the Latin text. That particular COMMUNION ANTIPHON is extremely ancient, and the English Adaptation is utterly gorgeous. For the record, it’s normal for books to contain typos; even books by Father Fortescue and Monsignor Knox have errors. Books by Solesmes Abbey—surely among the finest ever produced—contain many printing errors. Click here to see a few examples of typos.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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