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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Les Misérables and the Year of Mercy

Andrew Leung · April 21, 2016

VERY YEAR, there is a Women’s Appreciation Dinner at my parish in April and I was asked to sing a few solos this year. I have decided to sing a few pieces that are related to the Year of Mercy but would not be heard at Masses. The pieces that came to my mind first are from the Broadway musical, Les Misérables. I haven’t thought of it since the release of the movie in 2012. What a great story for the Jubilee Year of Mercy! It is a perfect story that help us to reflect and understand what mercy means.

Jean Valjean set some great examples of being merciful to others. At the beginning of the story, he received mercy from the bishop and the Church, and he was able to bring the grace to people around him. Like Jean Valjean, we have all received the love and mercy from God, through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confession, and we should be merciful to others. Fr. Robert Barron, who is now an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, made a commentary on the Les Misérables movie back in January 2013:



My suggestion is: to watch or listen to Les Misérables (movie or musical) during this Year of Mercy. I think that would be a very effective and enjoyable way to pray, especially for music lovers.

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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President’s Corner

    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Prex • Particularly Powerful
    The Third Edition of the SAINT EDMUND CAMPION MISSAL contains a Latin-English translation for the ‘old’ Holy Week published by Monsignor Ronald Knox in 1950. His version is utterly splendid, and it’s astonishing it was totally forgotten for 70+ years. I find his translation of a prayer from Palm Sunday (Deus qui dispérsa cóngregas) particularly powerful: “O God, who dost mend what is shattered, and what thou hast mended, ever dost preserve, thou didst bless the chance comers who met Jesus with branches in their hands. Bless these branches too, of palm or olive, which we take up obediently in honour of thy name; rest they where they will, let them carry thy blessing to all who dwell there. All harm thence banish, and let thy power defend us, in proof that thy Son, Jesus Christ, has redeemed us…”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Side-By-Side Comparison”
    Pope Urban VIII modified almost all the Church’s ancient hymns in 1632AD. The team responsible for creating the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal spent years comparing the different versions of each hymn: “Urbanite” vs. “pre-Urbanite.” When it comes to the special hymn for the upcoming feast (9 November)—URBS BEATA JERUSALEM—Dr. Adrian Fortescue pointed out that “the people who changed it in the 17th century did not even keep its metre; so the later version cannot be sung to the old, exceedingly beautiful tune.” Monsignor Hugh Thomas Henry (d. 1946), a professor of Gregorian Chant at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary (Overbrook, Philadelphia), wrote: “Of this hymn in particular some think that, whereas it did not suffer as much as some others, yet it lost much of its beauty in the revision; others declare that it was admirably transformed without unduly modifying the sense.” You can use this side-by-side comparison chart to compare both versions. When it comes to its meaning, there’s little significant difference between the two versions: e.g. “name of Christ” vs. “love of Christ.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I have devoted myself too much, I think, to Bach, to Mozart and to Liszt. I wish now that I could emancipate myself from them. Schumann is no use to me any more, Beethoven only with an effort and strict selection. Chopin has attracted and repelled me all my life; and I have heard his music too often—prostituted, profaned, vulgarized … I do not know what to choose for a new repertory!”

— Ferruccio Busoni (to a colleague in 1922, when he was 56 years old)

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