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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

OFFERTORY: Chant Propers in Three Parts for Sundays & Feasts

Fr. David Friel · June 14, 2015

629 Naples MONG THE MOST neglected of the propers is the offertorium. The Gregorian propers assigned to this moment of the liturgy are exceedingly rarely heard, yet so many of them are exquisitely beautiful.

There are numerous reasons why they are so often ignored, including their relative complexity. Many choirs & scholae do not have the time to practice these chants week to week, or they simply choose to focus their efforts elsewhere. The offertory chants have also been somewhat overlooked in the revolution of new vernacular resources we have seen in the world of sacred music over the last decade.

The need for more quality resources for the offertory has now been supplied.

Today, I would like to introduce to our readership a unique resource: Offertory, a new publication by Dr. Jon Naples. Offertory is a volume of choral chant propers in three parts for Sundays and feasts (complete). The project utilizes the Revised Grail Psalm texts for the verses and takes the antiphon texts from the Graduale.

Here are two audio samples (sung by Matthew Curtis) to give you a sense of the compositional style:

    * *  Audio Sample • EASTER SUNDAY OFFERTORY

    * *  Audio Sample • PALM SUNDAY OFFERTORY

There are several strengths worth highlighting about this collection. First, it is well organized and cleanly engraved, making it very user-friendly. Additionally, the composition is limited to only three voices, making each antiphon & verse accessible to a wide range of choirs. These voices are easily invertible, such that the various parts may be sung variously by men or women.

Moreover, this volume shows great respect for the unmetricality of English vocabulary and syntax. The employment of Psalm tones by Fr. Samuel Weber & Adam Bartlett make this a useful book for easily singing propers in English. For most Sundays and feasts, the composer has provided two disparate settings of the antiphon. In both, the melody remains the same, but the harmonization has been changed, lending greater musical interest when these options are used in alternatim.

Finally, these settings were developed by a parish musician in the context of his own parish choir, so they are practical in addition to being beautiful. I would recommend this work for parish & seminary use. It draws its inspiration from the chant tradition, and it offers beautiful settings of proper English texts.

Offertory was released earlier this year and is now available for purchase HERE. A few sample pages are available HERE.

R. JON NAPLES holds his D.M.A. in Music Composition from the University of Southern California (1995), where he studied under Morten Lauridsen. He has a background in several instruments and voice. His compositions have placed in major competitions, and he has work published through CanticaNOVA Publications. He is now in his 11th year as Director of Sacred Music at St. Margaret Parish in Oceanside, CA. Dr. Naples was also involved in the Adventus Dona conference that I covered HERE back in November.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Polyphony For Three Voices, Proper of the Mass in English, Simple English Mass Propers, Simple Steps To Improve Parish Music, Singing the Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The Sanctus and Benedictus are one text and should be sung through without a break. The practice—once common—of waiting till after the Consecration and then singing: “Benedictus qui venit…” is not allowed by the Vatican Gradual.

— Father Fortescue, writing in 1912

Recent Posts

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  • “Puzzling Comment” • By A Respected FSSP Priest
  • New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
  • “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
  • “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)

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