Views from the Choir Loft

Epiphany Proclamation

Veronica Brandt · December 19, 2015 ·

HEREBY ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE of the Proclamation of Moveable Feasts for 2016! You can download it here.

Many years ago (thirteen to be exact) the resident Parish Liturgical Experts gave me a manuscript to be typeset for the upcoming feast of the Epiphany. That was straightforward – the experts had done all the difficult part of arranging the words and music. I just typed it up.

In the following years, usually just after Midnight Mass, one Liturgical Expert would ask that dreaded question “Did you receive my email?” Then, on Christmas Day, I would take the words and fit them to the music to the best of my meagre ability.

It was not a thrilling job and I made sure the source code was available online for anyone else to take over from me, but still each year I was asked and each year I managed to put it together.

Then that particular Liturgical Expert passed away.

So now each Christmas I remember Mr Michael Pearce and fix up an Epiphany Proclamation, even though my local Latin Mass does not use it. Some years I have thought to let it slide only to be reminded by someone across the globe.

There is no compulsion to sing the Epiphany Proclamation or “de publicatione Festorum mobilium”. I have been told it is only for Cathedrals, but some parishes use it too. I am not a liturgical expert – I just type things up.

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. As editor, she has produced fine publications (as well as valuable reprints) dealing with Gregorian chant, hymnody, Latin, and other subjects. These publications are distinguished on account of their tastefulness. She lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her husband Peter and six 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