Views from the Choir Loft

Musical Resources • Feast of the Holy Family (Extraordinary Form)

Jeff Ostrowski · January 9, 2016

RESPONSES FOR HIGH MASS

PDF Score (Singer) • printed on a single sheet

PROCESSIONAL • #810 Of The Father’s Love Begotten

From the Campion Hymnal. • Organist

ASPERGES

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • Organist

To practice the new section of the Asperges, you must locate #4550.

INTROIT • Sung by the men only.

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

KYRIE ELEISON

The new “Kyrie” is #3661 and until we learn the other parts will be sung with this score.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

Singer Score (PDF) and you can practice with #5051.

GRADUAL & ALLELUIA

To practice the new Palestrina ALLELUIA, you must locate #4470. The other one we know is #5050.

You don’t need to practice the chant verses which change each week.

CREDO IV • Alternatim

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • Organist

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer)

OFFERTORY POLYPHONY

Here’s the Singer Score (PDF) and practice with #3792

SANCTUS & HOSANNA

We have been singing #4912 and will sing it again this Sunday.

Sometimes—but not this coming Sunday—we sing a different polyphonic “Hosanna,” which is #5048. You don’t need to practice the Chant Part.

AGNUS DEI

The new setting currently lacks rehearsal videos.

To practice the Agnus Dei by Philippe Verdelot (d. 1531), you must locate #4801.

Don’t forget our other setting, #4347.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

COMMUNION POLYPHONY

“Jesu Dulcis Memoria” is number #4428.

COMMUNION HYMN

Singer Score (PDF) • Organist

RECESSIONAL HYMN • #819 As With Gladness Men Of Old

From the Campion Hymnal. • Organist

PRAYER WITH THE CHOIR:

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).

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)

With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Luis Martínez Must Go!

Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]

—Jeff Ostrowski

Pope Pius XII Hymnal?

Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Hybrid” Chant Notation?

Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

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