Views from the Choir Loft

Musical Resources • 4th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

Jeff Ostrowski · June 21, 2015 ·

RESPONSES FOR HIGH MASS

PDF Score (Singer) • printed on a single sheet

PROCESSIONAL

Organist.

ASPERGES

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • Organist

INTROIT • Sung by the men only.

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

KYRIE ELEISON • Palestrina Parody Mass

To practice the polyphony for the 1st Section, you must locate #5054.

To practice the (solfège) polyphony for the 2nd Section, you must locate #5053.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS • Zachariis (†1594)

To practice, you must locate #5051.

GRADUAL & ALLELUIA

To practice, you must locate #5050.

You don’t need to practice the chant verses which change each week.

CREDO IV • Alternatim

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • Organist

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer)

OFFERTORY ORGAN MUSIC

Organist.

SANCTUS & HOSANNA • Palestrina (“Vexilla”)

To practice the polyphic “Hosanna,” you must locate #5048.

You don’t need to practice the Chant Part. You need to be learning “4912” if you don’t already know it, because we’ll be doing this one eventually.

AGNUS DEI • Guillaume Dufay (d. 1474)

To practice, you must locate #5047. These are passworded for FSSP.la.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

COMMUNION POLYPHONY

To practice, you must locate #4844.

RECESSIONAL HYMN • #933 Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven

From the Campion Hymnal. Organist.

About Jeff Ostrowski

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004), and did graduate work in Musicology. He serves as choirmaster for the new FSSP parish in Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife and children.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski