Views from the Choir Loft

Most Pure Heart Schola Cantorum in Rome (Part 2)

Lucas Tappan · January 27, 2016 ·

AST WEEK I posted two videos of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum singing in Rome at the Church of St. Peter in Chains. This week I would like to share two final videos. The first one was taken inside the Basilica of St. John Lateran when the choir decided on its own to spontaneously break into Silent Night. The mother of three of our choristers had this to say about it in our diocesan newspaper:

“It wasn’t like the choir director said, ‘we’re going to sing now.’ The children just sang. The children were just in awe of the church’s beauty, and so they offered their gift of song. Everyone was speechless.”

I have to admit, it was one of my favorite moments—and yes, I sang along!

Finally, here’s the MPHM Schola premiering a new Ave Maria by SIR COLIN MAWBY in concert at the Basilica of St. Ignatius in Rome. Mr. Mawby flew in from Ireland with his wife Ann, met and ate with the choristers and shared some stories of his time at Westminster. ¹ He also came to St. Ignatius to listen to the choristers and later had this to say in an email “I have such happy memories of the performance. Meant a great deal to both Ann and me.”

One of our high school gentlemen shared this in the same diocesan news article:

“The piece has a particularly solemn sound. It puts your heart in a reflective mood. It’s very moving.”

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

SEE ALSO :

* * YouTube • Alternate View of the Mawby Debut

* * Leaven Newspaper • “Topeka children’s choir sings for pope”

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 If I ever again think I am too busy, I will just remember the Holy Week schedule that Westminster Cathedral Choir kept during the 1960s!

About Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four 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