Views from the Choir Loft

SATB “Alleluia” By Palestrina • Brief, Easy, & Sumptuous

Jeff Ostrowski · August 25, 2015

HEN JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH visited King Frederick II on 7 May 1747, the king gave him a challenging fugue subject, which Bach used to create gorgeous music. Something similar was done with the melody of “Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La” by the great composers. My choir has already done a version by Morales, and now we are doing one by Palestrina:

* * PDF Download • ALLELUIA “Ut Re Mi Fa Sol La”

By the way, both those composers—Palestrina & Morales—wrote full Masses in which the theme constantly appears in the most ingenious ways.

The following rehearsal videos provide Solfège versions, and I believe that using Solfège will allow you to teach your choir this piece in no time flat. (Pardon the pun!)

Rehearsal Videos :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube • Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube • Audio incl. Solfège

ALTO : YouTube • Audio incl. Solfège

TENOR : YouTube • Audio incl. Solfège

BASS : YouTube • Audio incl. Solfège

You owe it to yourself to sing through the Alto line … such fun!

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

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).

4 March 2021 • Can you spare 15 seconds?

Due to Covid-19, California has basically been under “lock down” for 11 months, and these restrictions have had quite a detrimental effect on our choral programs. We are frequently limited to just 2-3 singers, on account of regulations by the government and our Archdiocese. However, although the number of singers is quite small, I was struck by the beauty of the singing last Sunday. Listen to this 15-second live excerpt and see if you agree?

—Jeff Ostrowski

3 March 2021 • “A policeman” — really?

According to Monsignor Frederick R. McManus, there were “policemen” serving the Sanhedrin in the time of Our Blessed Lord. Look at this awful translation in the 1966 “Saint Andrew Bible Missal” from 1966. Yuck!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note “Ut,” renaming it “Do.” He convinced his contemporaries to make the change by arguing that 1) “Do” is easier to pronounce than “Ut,” and 2) “Do” is an abbreviation for “Dominus,” the Latin word for the Lord, Who is the tonic and root of the world. There is much academic speculation that Giovanni Doni also wanted to imprint himself into musical canon in perpetuity because “Do” is also ulteriorly an abbreviation for his family name.

— Giovanni Battista Doni died in 1647AD