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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

New Gloria Mixing Plainsong w/ Polyphony

Jeff Ostrowski · June 14, 2016

HE FOLLOWING SETTING did not exist before yesterday night, so technically it’s “new.” However, all I did was apply falsobordone from Lodovico da Viadana (d. 1627) to GLORIA IX—so it’s not really new. For centuries, plainsong (“without meter”) was mixed with polyphony (“mensural music”), but these days it’s not as common. I recorded the voice parts, to help my choir learn—but it will sound better with a full choir, and we currently have about 35 singers.

The polyphony begins at the 0:37 mark:

    * *  PDF Download • Viadana Falsobordone w/ Plainsong


REHEARSAL VIDEOS :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube   •   Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube   •   Audio

ALTO : YouTube   •   Audio

QUINTUS : YouTube   •   Audio

TENOR : YouTube   •   Audio

BASS : YouTube   •   Audio


Before using this piece, teach your choir GLORIA IX. You can download the score for your singers, and—to help them learn—consider this organ accompaniment by Flor Peeters:

    * *  PDF Download • Organ Accompaniment by Flor Peeters

I love Flor Peeters very much, and his accompaniment is fine—but it’s not his best. Perhaps he was in a hurry!

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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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

“And thus, when we renounce for Thee | Its restless aims and fears, | The tender mem’ries of the past, | The hopes of coming years, | Poor is our sacrifice, whose eyes | Are lighted from above; | We offer what we cannot keep, | What we have ceased to love.”

— Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman

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