• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

How did your Holy Week go?

Veronica Brandt · April 11, 2015

candle OLY WEEK IS A MASSIVE EVENT. Singing for the Sacred Triduum and Easter ceremonies is an awesome privilege. The more you think about it, the more enormous it seems. And after it passes there is an enormous relief. Coming out the other side can be very sweet indeed, even when things didn’t always go quite as planned.

In the spirit of a overwhelmed and collapsed inarticulate person, I’ll proceed in disconnected recounts:

Most memorable moment:

The Litany of the Saints when miss 2 demands help with her socks. The three of us leading were kneeling in the back pew, well out of view. I tried as best I could between invocations to figure out what she wanted and keep her happy. It must have impressed her because she started singing along with “ora pro nobis”.

Of course everyone complimented her on how well she behaved throughout the week.

Favourite music:

The Reproaches. We only sang from Popule meus down to the end of Sanctus Immortalis. My eldest son was choir 2. I was choir 1. Have I mentioned we could use some more choir members?

My introduction to this piece of music was by way of Victoria’s polyphonic setting, which is awesome. I was disappointed at first with the plainchant original, but it has definitely grown on me since then. The more you get into the chant the more it gets into you.

Trickiest music:

Easter Sunday Day Mass offertory and communion – but mostly because I overlooked practising sufficiently for them. Fortunately my mother was there with more experience and I could lean on her. The rest of the choir had been focused on learning the Ordinary parts of the Mass. After that we had only got as far as the Introit and Haec Dies. You do what you can.

Notes for next time:

Remember that they use incense for Holy Thursday so make use of the extra verses for the Introit. Booklights for the Easter Vigil Canticles and make sure there are no page turns while singing. Also pick the recessional hymn ahead of time and tell any potential singers about it a good week in advance. Also have someone with you while you play the organ who can keep an eye on what’s happening up the front. If you’ve run out of verses and you’re still waiting for the priest to come past then it could just be some slow servers.

And get a T-shirt made with the slogan: “Silence is Always an Option”

After all that, there were many, many compliments. Lots of people enjoyed the music.

Happy Easter! Christos Anesti!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty, Holy Week Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

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
7 June 2022 • FEEDBACK

From Chelan, Washington: “CCWatershed is a God-sent resource that I can’t function without! Such great work by the team to bring beauty back to our liturgy!” From Gainesville, Florida: “I am so appreciative of the work, of my brothers and sisters in music!” From Troutman, North Carolina: “Keep up the excellent work in service of the Liturgy!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The authority of the Pope is not unlimited. It is at the service of Sacred Tradition. Still less is any kind of general ‘freedom’ of manufacture, degenerating into spontaneous improvisation, compatible with the essence of faith and liturgy. The greatness of the liturgy depends—we shall have to repeat this frequently—on its lack of spontaneity.”

— Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (2000)

Recent Posts

  • “How Has Nobody Done This Before?” • Vol. 1
  • “Exceeded Every Expectation!” • Mr. O’Brien’s Review
  • “81 Photos” • Sacred Music Symposium 2022
  • Photograph • Dom André Mocquereau (d. 1930)
  • “I Found Myself Weeping, Almost In Disbelief…”

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.