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Views from the Choir Loft

Rehearsal videos • “Veni Creator Spiritus” (Fauxbourdon)

Jeff Ostrowski · April 25, 2016

UILDING A CHOIR is like rolling a snow ball. Good singers are attracted by hearing other good singers, but it’s difficult until “the ball gets rolling.” At first, many choirmasters will use music for three voices, and some feel fauxbourdon is suitable for beginners. Others feel that fauxbourdon requires highly sophisticated ears, even though it looks simple. In any event—whether you begin or end with it—don’t neglect sensational composers like John Dunstable (d. 1453) and Guillaume Du Fay (d. 1474).

To give you an idea how this “Veni Creator” fauxbourdon sounds, I recorded rehearsal videos—but it sounds much better done by a real choir (especially with 12+ voices):

    * *  PDF Download • “VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS” (Fauxbourdon)

REHEARSAL VIDEOS :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube   •   Mp3 Audio

LADIES : YouTube   •   Audio

TENOR : YouTube   •   Audio

BASS : YouTube   •   Audio

More than fifty singers will use this version for a special ceremony in Los Angeles with Archbishop Gomez on Tuesday, 31 May 2016—everyone is invited!

Sometimes, modern ears don’t enjoy the sound of extremely ancient music, 1 but I love it! Moreover, when I hear this type of music, I feel like I’m being given a special glimpse into how polyphony was first developed. Choirmasters working with more advanced singers might enjoy the Du Fay version sent to me by Mr. Rick Wheeler.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Circa 1905, during the creation of the Editio Vaticana (which is still the official edition of the Catholic Church), Dr. Peter Wagner warned against the employment of ancient modalities offensive to the modern ear:

“He recalled the refined taste of the Germans in matters of music, and the severity that they would express in evaluating the Vatican Edition if it were to present the rough edges of a bygone era which can no longer be tolerated today.”

Although I respect Dr. Wagner very much, he had a poor sense of Gregorian modality, if his plainsong organ accompaniments are any indication. (Saying this gives me no pleasure.) In 2008, we placed a whole bunch of Peter Wagner accompaniments in the Lalande Internet Library; so you can judge for yourself.

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 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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

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