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Views from the Choir Loft

May 2016 • Major Choral Event In Dallas!

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · January 18, 2016

847 Frank La Rocca HIS EXCITING NEW major work by composer Frank La Rocca will receive its world premiere on Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 8:00pm in Dallas, Texas:

  * A ROSE IN WINTER • The life of Saint Rita of Cascia

Dr. La Rocca’s 90-minute oratorio for chorus, orchestra, and soloists was commissioned by Saint Rita Catholic Church (URL) in Dallas, and is the brainchild of Alfred Calabrese, director of music at the parish. The original libretto is by Matthew Lickona. Four outstanding American soloists will take part in the world premiere:

SOPRANO — Melanie Sarakatsannis
BARITONE — Sumner Thompson
TENOR — Brian Downen
BASS — Daniel Cole

The title role—that of Saint Rita—will be Ms. Sarakatsannis. The professional orchestra will be joined by the St. Rita Festival Choir, and the conductor will be Alfred Calabrese (BIO).

HE CONCERT on 21 May will be preceded by a three-day conference entitled “High Above the Stars: Sainthood, Beauty, and Catholic Artistic Expression.” The conference (May 19-21) is designed for musicians, artists, poets, theologians, and Catholic laity, and deals with the creation of sacred music and art, the promotion of beauty, and the quest for sainthood in everyday life. Masterclasses will be held for conductors, composers, and poets. Speakers include: Carmen-Helena Téllez, (University of Notre Dame); David Clayton, artist, writer and educator, and a regular contributor to the New Liturgical Movement website; Ron and Kathryn Rombs (University of Dallas); and the Very Rev. Michael F. DiGregorio, O.S.A, Prior Provincial of the Augustinians of the Saint Thomas of Villanova Province. Fr. DiGregorio is the former director of the National Shrine of St. Rita in Philadelphia and pastor of the parish.

All are invited and encouraged to come to Dallas for this event. A website is being developed for the concert and conference. There you will be able to find registration materials, a complete schedule of events, biographies of all of the principle players, information on travel to and from Dallas, housing options, and fun things to do and see while you’re here. All proceedings will be held on the north Dallas campus of Saint Rita parish, which is a mere 15 minutes from DFW Airport.

Please join us in May for this tremendously exciting moment in the Catholic musical world!

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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

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

Random Quote

“With all the powers of modern music open to him, from romanticism through French impressionism to the German and Russian modernists, he is yet able to confine all these contradictory forces on the groundwork of the Gregorian tradition.”

— Theodor Rehmann (on Msgr. Jules Van Nuffel)

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