Views from the Choir Loft

Musical Resources • 2nd Sunday of Lent

Jeff Ostrowski · February 26, 2015

RESPONSES FOR HIGH MASS

PDF Score (Singer) • printed on a single sheet

PROCESSIONAL • #901 The Word, Descending From Above

No organ — sung in unison from Campion Hymnal.

ASPERGES

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • No Organist

INTROIT

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

KYRIE ELEISON • Palestrina Parody Mass

Part 1 • Part 2 • Practice the Solfège

GRADUAL & TRACT • Mode III

PDF Score (Singer)

CREDO IV • Alternatim

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • No Organist

OFFRT. ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer)

OFFERTORY HYMN • Pange Lingua (from Liber Cantualis)

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • No Organist

SANCTUS • Morales & Plainsong

Score & Practice Videos

AGNUS

Du Fay Agnus Dei • Score • {Women Voice} • {Middle Voice} • {Men Voice}

COMM. ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

COMMUNION POLYPHONY

Engagé Section

Donné Section

With Gregorian chant: PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

RECESSIONAL HYMN • #829 Forty Days And Forty Nights

No organ. Sung from Campion Hymnal.

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).

“Tonus Solemnior” • How old is it?

In the 1962 Missal, a section called “præfationes in tono solemniore” contains ornate melodies for the Preface. An article posted on the blog of the Church Music Association of America claims the tone comes from “the late 19th century” and said its elimination “is one of the very few good things which the post-Conciliar reform did for Gregorian chant.” The author said: “The Roman solemn preface tone is already beautiful enough, there was no need to give a more Romantic feel.”

Some have asked us whether the tonus solemnior comes from “the late 19th century.” It does not. Their author was wrong by at least 400 years. I have seen this tone in MSS from the 1400s—and it may go back even further. Here is an example from 1494AD. And here’s another from the 1400s. The FSSP priests use these tones on high feasts, and the effect is unforgettable.

—Jeff Ostrowski

6 January 2022 • Quick!

A short version of the INTROIT for the feast of the Epiphany has been added to the Saint René Goupil Gregorian Chant Website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Confusing Feasts of Christmas

Whether one considers the Missale Vetustum or the post-conciliar calendar—or even the 1908 calendar—the feasts which follow Christmas are very confusing. Last year I created this comparison chart. I hope you find it helpful. As far as I can tell, my chart is the first effort to carefully detail the changes made to post-Christmas feasts (unless we also count the rather basic one by Lauren Pristas).

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Our Christian people regard with great joy everything that contributes to the splendor of the ceremonies. Jesus—who was poor in His private life—received ointment on His feet. See Thomas Aquinas (Prima Secundae, q. 102, art. 5, ad 10) and the holy Curé of Ars. The Church has always loved beautiful churches, and so forth. We must preserve our sacred patrimony and make sure sacred objects do not become secular possessions.”

— Abbot & Council Father denouncing “noble simplicity” during Vatican II