Views from the Choir Loft

Brand New • “Saint Paul Hymnal”

Jeff Ostrowski · March 15, 2016

ROM the Roman Catholic blog of Saint Paul’s in Harvard Square, we learn of a fantastic new hymnal, which seems to have been produced for their exclusive use. A description is provided, but no sample pages:

* * PDF Download • SAINT PAUL HYMNAL

The hymnal editors were Dr. Jonathan Wessler, Mr. John Robinson, and Fr. Michael Drea. I’m told that some of the traditional “American” Catholic hymns were included such as: Mother of Christ; Sweet Savior, Bless us E’re We Go; and Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All.

My friend Peter Meggison helped with this book and is listed in the acknowledgments as a contributor to the publication. Indeed, many names from the hymnal advisory committee will be familiar to CCW readers:

Msgr. Andrew R. Wadsworth
Executive Director, International Commission on English in the Liturgy

Fr. Michael E. Drea
Pastor and Senior Chaplain, The Parish of St. Paul

Fr. Jonathan M. Gaspar
Director of the Office of Divine Worship, Archdiocese of Boston

Richard J. Clark
Director of Music, St. Cecilia Parish

Chalon S. Murray
Director of Music, St. Helena’s Episcopal Church (Boerne, TX)

Edmund G. Murray
Director of Music, Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church (Houston, TX)

Dr. Susan Treacy
Professor of Music, Ave Maria University (Ave Maria, FL)

More information about the Saint Paul Boys’ Choir School can be found here, and I suspect our own Richard J. Clark and Dr. Lucas Tappan could (perhaps) tell us even more about this wonderful place!

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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

For the Upcoming Choir Season!

Last week, I posted an SATB choral setting of the SANCTUS in a ‘contemporary’ style. You might want to consider this piece for two reasons: (1) It’s extremely brief; (2) Free rehearsal videos are available for each individual part. The piece is by Father Lhoumeau.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Sunday Vespers” (22 pages)

When an organist accompanies Vespers, there is no time to think. It’s one thing after another: Bam – Bam – Bam. And that’s what makes Vespers difficult to accompany; there’s hardly even time to check the key signature for each piece! Therefore, although it’s far from perfect, I’m releasing this 22-page booklet:

PDF Download • SUNDAY VESPERS ACCOMPANIMENT

As time goes on, I will explain why I believe this booklet is important, my hopes for it, and why I selected the official edition, directly from the Vesperale Romanum. In spite of its imperfections, creating this (draft) booklet required much more effort than I had anticipated.

—Jeff Ostrowski

11 July 2022 • FEEDBACK

Someone who heard the CCW plainsong recordings with NOH accompaniment says: “For years I have travelled the continents and crossed the oceans of Gregorian chant in search of a composition and interpretation as sublime as this. The text and the melody are interwoven in a game of mirrors with the interpreters, the singer and the instrumentalist, so as to confer delicacy on the jubilation. The organ is soft, humble. This is what we hear from the singer. These artists have come together to produce beauty. In 1903, Pope Pius X, by motu proprio, restored Gregorian chant in the Latin Church. In his words: Sacred music must possess, to an eminent degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and notably the sanctity and delicacy of form, whence another characteristic spontaneously results, universality. I stress: the holiness and delicacy of forms result in universality, time and place. That is to say, sometimes the beauty of human hands gently caresses the face of the Eternal.”

—Jeff Ostrowski