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Views from the Choir Loft

“Proper Of The Mass” (Ignatius Press) • Part 1 of 7

Andrew R. Motyka · April 15, 2015

921 Samuel Weber Proper English Ignatius Press ATHER SAMUEL WEBER’S new resource, The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities, may not be a game-changer in its novelty, but its execution sets an extremely high bar for those of us interested in the musical proper of the Mass. The usefulness of this book to the average 1 choir is evident even at first glance.   (View Images)

As its title suggests, this is a full set of the Proper of the Mass for each Sunday of the liturgical year. What sets this book apart, however, is the approach which Fr. Weber took in his treatment of each psalm. He is undoubtedly one of the modern masters of setting English chant.

Most propers in the book have four (!) different settings:

1. A MELISMATIC SETTING (sample video) that is not a direct transcription of the Gregorian original, but quotes it extensively, making modifications to elucidate the English text rather than the Latin.

2. A SIMPLIFIED SETTING (sample video) of the above, which is through-composed but much more accessible to singers who are not quite as strong at chanting. I would say these are comparable to the Graduale Simplex in their difficulty.

3. A GREGORIAN PSALM TONE (sample video) setting of the text.

4. AN ENGLISH PSALM TONE (sample video) setting of the text.

Overall, I would say this is the closest thing I have seen to an English spiritual descendent of the Graduale Romanum. Furthermore, each setting contains several psalm verses. These are extremely useful since they are not printed in the Latin Gradual (just the Scriptural citations). Being so closely adapted from the Gregorian originals, these “smell” of the liturgy, which is always a good thing. Recalling Pope Saint John Paul II’s statement that the sacrality and liturgical appropriateness of a piece can be judged by comparing it to the Gregorian form, we have here a strong contender.

What does this mean for your choir (and mine)? For me, it adds yet another option for singing the Proper of the Mass, which is something I am always on the lookout for. At my parish, we use a combination of St. Meinrad psalm tones, hymn settings of the Introit texts, chants from the Simple English Propers, my own Communion settings, and settings from the Graduale Romanum as rehearsal time permits. Fr. Weber’s new book is one I will gladly add to the above, in any iteration of the text.


This book could actually be a great way to teach a beginning schola how to chant from Gregorian notation. By beginning with the simplest settings, one could easily introduce the early concepts of mode, neumes, and the style of proclamation, gradually (get it?) progressing to the more ornamental settings. This book is not only useful as a liturgical resource, but a pedagogical one.

We here at Views from the Choir Loft will have a lot more to say about this wonderful resource in the coming days, and all of it will be deserved. It calls for three cheers from the liturgical music community.

This article is part of a series on Fr. Weber’s Book of Propers:

Part 1 • Andrew Motyka

Part 2 • Richard Clark

Part 3 • Veronica Brandt

Part 4 • Fr. David Friel

Part 5 • Andrew Leung

Part 6 • Dr. Lucas Tappan

Part 7 • Jeff Ostrowski



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Or above average, or even advanced!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Proper of the Mass in English, Propers Ignatius Press by Fr Samuel Weber Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew R. Motyka

Andrew Motyka is the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgical Music and Cathedral Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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

Random Quote

What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.

— Pope Benedict XVI, Letter accompanying “Summorum Pontificum” (7/7/07)

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