• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

  • Our Team
  • Catholic Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

“Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above” • Nine Organ Accompaniments

Jeff Ostrowski · March 30, 2016

HAT IS IT ABOUT DESCANTS that we love so very much? I believe I know the answer. Our minds already know the tune—and love it—but the added embellishment is refreshing and awesome. I believe this is the same reason we love polyphony so much, with its heavy use of imitation and canons.

Here’s a Descant Setting by Jacques de Nouë, taken from a Canadian collection: 1

    * *  PDF Download • “Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above” w/ Descant

I recorded the voice parts, to demonstrate how it sounds. The descant begins at the 0:46 marker:


Below are several other organ harmonizations for “Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above” you might find useful:

    * *  PDF Download • Campion Hymnal (organist)

    * *  PDF Download • New Saint Basil (1958)

    * *  PDF Download • Fr. Carlo Rossini (Latin)

    * *  PDF Download • Pius X Hymnal (1953)

    * *  PDF Download • Fr. Carlo Rossini (1936)

    * *  PDF Download • Standard Catholic Hymnal (1921)

    * *  PDF Download • Lawrence Gagnier (1962)

    * *  PDF Download • J. Vincent Higginson Hymnal (1955)

If you appreciate things like this, please consider donating $5.00 per month.

REHEARSAL VIDEOS :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube   •   Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube   •   Audio

ALTO : YouTube   •   Audio

TENOR : YouTube   •   Audio

BASS : YouTube   •   Audio



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   This small collection lacks a date of publication, but most likely appeared circa 1945. Many music journals & scores published in the war years lack such information. I have never been able to ascertain, for example, when the NOH first appeared.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Jeff Ostrowski

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Worse, composers are now setting the introits of the missal [instead of the Graduale] to music, even to chant, though these texts were explicitly for spoken recitation only.”

— ‘Dr. William Mahrt (Fall, 2015)’

Recent Posts

  • (Screenshots) • Proving Holy Saturday Took Place In The Morning
  • “Homily: Second Sunday of Lent” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
  • Part 2 • “Starting Your Own Traditional Latin Mass”
  • Is This Really The Same Church??
  • Solmization from the Inside

Copyright © 2021 Corpus Christi Watershed · Charles Garnier on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

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.