Views from the Choir Loft

Musical Resources • 1st Sunday of Lent (EF)

Jeff Ostrowski · February 14, 2016

RESPONSES FOR HIGH MASS

PDF Score (Singer) • printed on a single sheet

PROCESSIONAL • #828 Throughout These Forty Days

From the Campion Hymnal. • No organ during Lent, except on Laetare Sunday.

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 #3579 and until we learn the other parts will be sung with this score.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

You need to be practicing #3610 for when Lent is over.

GRADUAL & ALLELUIA

There is no Alleluia until Easter arrives.

As always, the verses are found in our GOUPIL GRADUAL books.

CREDO IV • Alternatim

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

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer)

OFFERTORY HYMN

Hymn to the Sacred Trinity can be found as #3473

SANCTUS & HOSANNA

The new Guerrero Sanctus & Hosanna can be found as #3496

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 “A”

“Jesu Dulcis Memoria” is number #4428.

COMMUNION POLYPHONY “B”

Ave Maris Stella is number #4669.

RECESSIONAL HYMN • 837 O Sacred Head, Surrounded

From the Campion Hymnal. • No organ during Lent, except on Laetare Sunday.

PRAYER WITH THE CHOIR (including excerpts from the CAMPION HYMNAL) :

757 Campion Missal

810 Endings Collects CAMPION MISSAL

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).

Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published

Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

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