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Views from the Choir Loft

The Theology of a C-sharp Minor Chord

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · January 7, 2016

Calabrese Tavener c sharp chord ID THE CELEBRATION of the birth of Jesus Christ rock your world this year? Did it cause a seismic shift in your life? Did it change everything? If not, then perhaps listening to one C# minor chord will do the trick.

In Sir John Tavener’s (1944-2013) God Is With Us for eight-part choir and organ, we are immersed in the key of C major (with some Lydian F# passing tones). For more than three-fourths of the piece, both choir and tenor soloist cry out the prophecy, “God is with us…Hear ye people…the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light…for unto us a child is born…” and so on. Byzantine microtonal ‘breaks’ in the voice and an occasional A-flat cannot unhinge us from the purely diatonic nature of C major. So long are we kept here, and so forceful is the a cappella singing, that we are lulled into a sense of normalcy.

But what does this C major mean? Perhaps it has a theological or even historical meaning. I believe that the stability of C major is directly related to the important line of the Christmas Proclamation, “the whole world being at peace.” Just at the time of Jesus’ birth, all seemed well, solid, and stable. What could be more stable than C major?

This must be all there is, we think. Perhaps this is just an announcement of the birth of another prophet. And besides, how can this thing happen, “God is with us?” How? The choir proclaims the answer – “Christ is born!”

And now everything is changed.

For after the choir sings “Christ is born,” suddenly and out of nowhere, the full organ enters on a an astonishing C# minor chord! It’s as if the whole world has suddenly shifted off of its axis. Everything we thought was normal is gone. Everything we’ve gotten used to is changed. Tavener has completely and totally explained the impact and import of the birth of Jesus Christ with one chord! With this birth nothing can and will be the same ever again.


Every time I listen to this piece, even though I know what’s coming, I’m still shocked. The theology of this cataclysmic event is all contained in one single chord. Listen to this great piece as the Christmas season comes to a close and see if you agree.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Dr. Alfred Calabrese

About Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese is Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. He and his wife have two children.—(Read full biography).

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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
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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“Before any seminarian is accepted for ordination, he must not only strive for chastity but actually achieve it. He must already be living chaste celibacy peacefully and for a prolonged period of time—for if this be lacking, the seminarian and his formators cannot have the requisite confidence that he is called to the celibate life.”

— Archbishop Viganò (16 February 2019)

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