• 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)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Video • “Vidi Aquam” Organ Accompaniment By Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski · May 4, 2015

WO SUNDAYS AGO I had a liturgical experience I’ll never forget, singing the “Vidi Aquam.” When the Celebrant reached the Altar, we hadn’t yet arrived at the Antiphon, so I signaled the choir & organist to psalm tone it. At this point, you’re probably curious why this was a great moment for me. Well, during the 1990s, we had an “authentic” traditional Pastor (ordained in 1956). He said his seminary choir usually sang recto tono on the repeat. His exact words were, “The Vidi Aquam—it’s a pretty little thing but excessively extends past the time required to sprinkle the congregation.” Until a few weeks ago, I never tried his method.

Why was it a great moment? I think it had to do with perfectly matching the liturgical action. Indeed, Pope St. Pius X wrote in 1903: “it must be considered a very grave abuse when the sacred liturgy is made to appear subservient to the music.” By the way, Rev. Andrew Green, OSB, wrote a famous “simplification” of the Vidi Aquam in the 1940s.

Here’s an organ accompaniment I recently created:

    * *  PDF Download • Organ Accompaniment by Jeff Ostrowski

Here’s a rehearsal video: 1


You will want to download the PDF for Singers.

Great liturgical moments come at unexpected times. If anyone wants to share a favorite liturgical moment on the CCW Facebook page, I encourage this. 2 For example, I remember a Mass in the Extraordinary Form offered at Corpus Christi Cathedral. The organist played this piece as Bishop René H. Gracida processed in wearing a gorgeous vestment I didn’t even realize bishops were allowed to wear. The seriousness of the Mass—as well as the holy calling of a bishop—was made clear in a mysterious way which assisted my devotion.

Click HERE to download the “Vidi Aquam” as seen in 1400AD. 3

TO A LARGE EXTENT, the art of Gregorian accompaniment seems to have been lost. This was one of the reasons our organization went to great lengths making 3,000+ pages of Gregorian accompaniments available back in 2008. We also made sure to place online several versions of the “Method of Gregorian Accompaniment” (1943) by Flor Peeters, which has never been surpassed. After carefully explaining the rationale behind the NOH, Peeters makes it clear that Gregorian chant can be harmonized in countless ways:

    * *  PDF Download • Flor Peeters “Different Approaches” (excerpt)

Some who attempt to create Gregorian accompaniments completely ignore voice leading—as if voice leading is something which (somehow) doesn’t apply to Gregorian accompaniment. Others attempt to create a very subtle accompaniment, but end up with the opposite. They fail to realize the best way to achieve a subtle accompaniment is to use soft organ stops. To “camp out” on the same chord excessively introduces dissonances an amateur ear might not perceive. In fact, a careful treatment of dissonance is the sine qua non of proper Gregorian accompaniment. This “opposite effect” reminds me of another opposite effect described by Sir David Frost:



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   You can also watch it on YouTube or download the Mp3 Recording.

2   I don’t have a Facebook, but I can view comments made on the CCW facebook page.

3   Moreover, if you look at page 2, you’ll see that Catholics in the 14th century did not repeat the entire Antiphon. Rather, they started at the words “et omnes ad quos pervenit”—which is interesting.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“In everything of any importance at all, Sarum (and all other mediæval rites) was simply Roman, the rite which we still use.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1912)

Recent Posts

  • Vespers for Easter Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
  • Hidden Gem: Ave Regina Caelorum (Steven Talley)
  • Four (4) Shimmery Hymns for Lent & Passiontide
  • “Go!” • The Word That Changed My Life Forever
  • Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues 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.