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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Video • Why is Modern Art so Bad?

Andrew Leung · March 3, 2016

HIS QUESTION is probably one of the those that we all have in our minds: “Why is modern art so bad?” People have built so many ugly churches and created many ugly pieces of art for the Church in the past century. The same thing happened to liturgical music as well. Robert Florczak is going to explain what happened to art in the 20th century in this video:



O, WHAT CAN WE DO? As Florczak said towards the end of his presentation, we can make our opinions known by only purchasing the quality art and music. Instead of buying missalettes with poor music every four months, we can make a one-time purchase of hymnals and missals like the St. Isaac Jogues series, the Lumen Christi series or the St. Michael Hymnal. We can also support composers who write beautiful and holy music, like my fellow bloggers, Richard Clark and Chris Mueller.

Another way to contribute to the restoration of Sacred Art and Music is to support CCWatershed financially by donating $5.00 per month. I would like to wrap up this post by quoting Robert Florczak, “Let’s celebrate what we know is good, and ignore what we know is not.”

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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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I would hope there is a place [at Mass] for the avant-garde in the same way I think there has to be a place—and we have to be careful with this—a place for Jazz and a place for Evangelical and all of that. […] On theological grounds, I do think we need interaction with the culture at the level of high art or at the level of more commercial pop culture.”

— Fr. Anthony Ruff (22 June 2016)

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.