Views from the Choir Loft

Made in China

Andrew Leung · June 23, 2016

T IS GOOD TO BE HOME! I have mentioned in a post in the past that there is a diocesan hymnal published by the Sacred Music Commission of the Diocese of Hong Kong. And this hymnal can be found in every single parish in Hong Kong. There are a lot of great hymns in the diocesan hymnal. However, there is basically no Gregorian chant in it except for a few devotional and seasonal hymn like Adoro te devote, Attende Domine and Veni, Veni, Emmanuel. And even these chants are included, the texts of these hymns are only printed in Chinese and singing them in Latin is not an option.

This past week, I visited many beautiful and old churches in Hong Kong with a friend of mine. We visited Rosary Church, one of the oldest churches in Hong Kong (actually the oldest in Kowloon). As I was praying and looking through the pews, a card caught my eyes. This is not just one of those “prayer cards” or holy cards, this card provides some basic Gregorian chant for the congregation. It has four pages and this is how they look.

CTL Made in China 1

CTL Made in China 2

CTL Made in China 3

CTL Made in China 4

They have included the Missa de Angelis, Missa Jubilate Deo and the four Marian Anthems. And just like the Roman Missal, the faithful are supposed to follow the instructions in red and sing the text in black. Chinese translations are provided beneath each of the chant. I thought they picked some good ones to start with. What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave comments on our Facebook page.

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

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).

16 September 2021 • Fulton J. Sheen

Here is a photograph of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen celebrating Mass in Jerusalem. That image was included in the “Fulton J. Sheen Sunday Missal” (1961), which was edited by Father Caramen and has an IMPRIMATUR by William Cardinal Godfrey, who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1956 until his death in 1963. The Fulton Sheen Missal can be freely downloaded as a PDF file, thanks to Corpus Christi Watershed.

—Jeff Ostrowski

15 September 2021 • Offertory Problem

I submit to you that nothing is gained by these slight variations in the repeats for the Epipany Offertory. The edition is by Carl Ott, a musicologist. Almost nothing is about Carl Ott—as far as I can tell, nobody even knows when Carl Ott was born or when Carl Ott died.

—Jeff Ostrowski

A Truly Insane Liturgical Practice

In 2013, I began speaking of an insane liturgical practice which was allowed by Pope Pius XII—but nobody realizes this. If you tried to do this at the Traditional Latin Mass, you would most likely be run out of town on a rail. However, for the record, the FULTON SHEEN MISSAL (edited by Father Caraman) specifically mentions this type of participation … and you can see for yourself.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note “Ut,” renaming it “Do.” He convinced his contemporaries to make the change by arguing that 1) “Do” is easier to pronounce than “Ut,” and 2) “Do” is an abbreviation for “Dominus,” the Latin word for the Lord, Who is the tonic and root of the world. There is much academic speculation that Giovanni Doni also wanted to imprint himself into musical canon in perpetuity because “Do” is also ulteriorly an abbreviation for his family name.

— Giovanni Battista Doni died in 1647AD