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

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Universal Music

Andrew Leung · April 9, 2015

CTL Universal Music T IS GOOD to be back on the blog after two weeks of silence. Some of you might know that this past Holy Week was pretty holy and crazy for me because it was my first one as a full-time music director. I have been serving in other area (not music) for the past few Holy Weeks. The Triduum this year was very fruitful and prayerful. As a musician, singing is such a natural way for me to pray. Being able to sing the pieces I picked based on beautiful and rich texts from the Triduum Liturgies deepened my prayer a lot!

Here is my little reflection on Holy Week. In many documents on Sacred Music, we see that the Church mentioned, over and over again, that universality being one of the three characteristics of Liturgical Music. I just want to share two personal experience of the universality of Sacred Music.

The first experience happened four years ago at World Youth Day 2011. I went to the World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, in 2011 with a group from home. We were on the street attending the opening ceremony of WYD with thousands of youth from around the whole world. It was a hot summer day and it was really crowded. The unforgettable part was the end of the welcoming ceremony when the Gregorian Salve Regina was sung. Everyone on the streets were united by this chant and were praying in one voice. Chanting with all the youth and our beloved Pope Benedict was a very moving experience for me. That was the first time I experience the universality of Gregorian Chant.

The second experience happened this past weekend during the Triduum and is still happening. My parish is a very diverse parish and we have people with many different cultural backgrounds. Prayers of the Faithful were read in seven different languages on Holy Thursday and there are few music groups that provide different styles of music regularly on Sundays. During Holy Week, my choirs did a wonderful job with the music. In the four days, we chanted all the Propers of the Liturgies and sang more than ten motets. At a diverse parish like mine, Holy Week is the one time a year that everyone attends the same Liturgies and music is sung by the “one choir”. One of my concerns before Holy Week was whether people would understand and appreciate the traditional Sacred Music. Well, it turned out really well and I have been hearing a lot of positive comments from parishioners with different cultural backgrounds.

Both of these experiences show the reason, importance and the application of the universality of Sacred Music. The universality of Sacred Music allows everyone on earth to sing and pray together. And when the music is universal, everyone can appreciate it.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“If the right is given to African tribes to include their pagan traditions in the liturgy, I think the same should also be given to the rite of a thousand year-old Christian Church, based on a much older Roman tradition.”

— Professor László Dobszay

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