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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Hymns Of The Roman Liturgy” (Rev. Joseph Connelly, 1955)

Jeff Ostrowski · April 27, 2015

864 Connelly Hymns HOSE INTERESTED in hymns will want to download this extremely famous (yet rare) book by Fr. Joseph Connelly, which we make available online for the first time ever. This is being done as part of the preparation for an exciting Catholic hymnal that’s being created. Connelly’s work includes 154 hymns, chiefly from the Breviary. The hymns are given in Latin, along with English translations and commentary:

    * *  PDF Download • Rev. Joseph Connelly HYMNS

This is a good book to have as a reference, although Msgr. Schmitt is correct when he says that Fr. Britt’s work 1 is even more valuable.

Msgr. Francis P. Schmitt mentioned Connelly’s work in the Spring of 1964 while talking about the liturgical changes in the wake of the Second Vatican Council:

The New Breviaries :

E CARRY NO REVIEW of the two Englished breviaries, partly because we haven’t received any (and don’t intend to buy any) and partly because some might think, as the publishers must, that such a review would be clean out of our domain. But we might be permitted to say a word about the hymns of the breviary—that other lingering vestige of sung common—and not necessarily monastic prayer. We can say it quickly, since we have seen only reviews and blurb samples. One review, which is also used as a blurb, waxes ecstatic over the fact that the translation used is from Father Connelly’s altogether worthwhile work, Hymns of the Roman Liturgy. The reviewer liked these especially because they were not in hymn form. The unfortunate samples cited in the blurb make less sense in English than the Latin originals would to a North Korean. No slight to Father Connelly’s valuable work (but not as valuable as Britt’s)—he makes it plain in his forward that the translations were added as an afterthought, without much scholarly concern, as a help to those who pressed him for this addition. Little could he have thought then that these addenda would one day become official vernacular “hymns.”

Readers are probably sick of me saying this, but the writings of Msgr. Schmitt are extremely valuable and interesting to church musicians who wish to know what life was like in the early years following the Council. For instance, read what Msgr. Schmitt has to say here.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The 1922 masterpiece by Fr. Matthew Britt, OSB, is called Hymns of the Breviary and Missal. It is readily available; just search Google.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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).

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Can You Spare 33 Seconds?

Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski
5 April 2021 • When Girls Sing

Covid restrictions here in California are still extremely severe—switching “two weeks to flatten the curve” into “two years to flatten the curve.” Since 2020, we’ve had police breaking into our church to check if everyone is wearing a mask…even when only 5-6 people are present! But we were allowed to have a small percentage of our singers back on Easter Sunday, and here is their live recording of the ancient Catholic hymn for Eastertide: Ad Cenam Agni Providi. The girls were so very excited to sing again—you can hear it in their voices!

—Jeff Ostrowski
29 March 2021 • FEEDBACK

“E.S.” in North Dakota writes: “I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for all the hard work you have put—and continue to put—into your wonderful website. In the past two years, my parish has moved from a little house basement into a brand new church and gone from a few families receiving Low Masses twice a month to several families (and many individuals) receiving Mass every Sunday, two Saturdays a month, and every Holy Day. Our priest has been incorporating more and more High Masses and various ceremonies into our lives, which has made my job as a huge newbie choir master very trying and complicated. CCWatershed has been an invaluable resource in helping me get on my feet and know what to do!!! Thank you more than I can express! May God bless you abundantly and assist you in your work and daily lives!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

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