Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • New Composition By Kevin Allen

Jeff Ostrowski · January 1, 2016

ATERSHED COMMISSIONED the following setting from composer Kevin Allen to help 2016 begin on the right foot. We hope you enjoy what he’s done with this famous hymn text. I particularly enjoyed the Alto line, and took the liberty of creating some unauthorized rehearsal videos to help amateur choirs. (You’ll find them at the bottom of the page.)

* * PDF Download • “JESU DULCIS MEMORIA”

To learn more about this composer, please visit Emporium Kevin Allen.

1. Jesu dulcis memória,
Dans vera cordis gáudia:
Sed super mel et ómnia,
Ejus dulcis praeséntia.

1. Sweet is the remembrance of Jesus, bringing man his heart’s true joy; but sweet beyond honey and all created bliss is His presence.

2. Nil cánitur suávius,
Nil audítur jucúndius,
Nil cogitátur dúlcius,
Quam Jesus Dei Fílius.

2. No theme is more agreeable in the singing, none more welcome in the hearing, none more comforting in thought than Jesus, the Son of God.

3. Jesu spes paeniténtibus,
Quam pius es peténtibus!
Quam bonus te quaeréntibus!
Sed quid inveniéntibus?

3. Jesus, hope of penitent souls, how gracious You are to those that ask, how good to those that seek; but who shall say what You are to those that find?

4. Nec lingua valet dícere,
Nec líttera exprímere:
Expértus potest crédere,
Quid sit Jesum dilígere.

4. No tongue can tell this, nor pen express it; but the one who has experience of it can know in his heart what it means to love Jesus.

5. Sis Jesu nostrum gáudium,
Qui es futúrus praémium:
Sit nostra in te glória,
Per cuncta semper saécula.

5. Jesus, one day to be our reward, be our joy in this life. May our glory be in You through all eternity.

Literal translation by Fr. Joseph Connelly.

REHEARSAL VIDEOS :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube • Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube • Audio

ALTO : YouTube • Audio

TENOR : YouTube • Audio

BASS : YouTube • Audio

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

How Well Does ICEL Know Latin?

This year, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June 2025) falls on a Sunday. It’s not necessary to be an eminent Latin scholar to be horrified by examples like this, which have been in place since 1970. For the last 55 years, anyone who’s attempted to correct such errors has been threatened with legal action. It is simply unbelievable that the (mandatory) texts of the Holy Mass began being sold for a profit in the 1970s. How much longer will this gruesome situation last?

—Jeff Ostrowski

Is the USCCB trolling us?

I realize I’m going to come across as a “Negative Nancy” … but I can’t help myself. This kind of stuff is beyond ridiculous. There are already way too many options in the MISSALE RECENS. Adding more will simply confuse the faithful even more. We seriously need to band together and start creating a “REFORM OF THE REFORM” Missale Romanum so it will be ready when the time comes.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Common” Responsorial Psalm?

I try to avoid arguing about liturgical legislation (even with Catholic priests) because it seems like many folks hold certain views—and nothing will persuade them to believe differently. You can show them 100 church documents, but it matters not. They won’t budge. Sometimes I’m confronted by people who insist that “there’s no such thing” as a COMMON RESPONSORIAL PSALM. When that happens, I show them a copy of the official legislation in Latin. I have occasionally prevailed by means of this method.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).

—Corpus Christi Watershed

When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962

There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop

—Veronica Brandt

The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum

Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.

—Daniel Tucker