Views from the Choir Loft

Summer Sacred Music Workshop • This Weekend!

Andrew Leung · July 21, 2016

HE WORKSHOP is finally here. The Summer Sacred Music Workshop 2016 will be held at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Chattanooga this weekend, from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening. Information including the full schedule of this year’s workshop can be found on the official website of Southeastern Sacred Music. I am sad to inform everyone that I won’t be able to attend this workshop. I will stay in touch with the faculty members and post a report about the event later. I am also hoping to release here, on Views from the Choir Loft, the two plenary talks: “The Spiritual Fruits of Gregorian Chant” by Dr. Jennifer Donelson and “The Revolution of Obedience” by Fr. David Carter.

Everyone is invited to join the Solemn Vespers at the basilica at 7pm on Friday. Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB, has been commissioned to develop the program for this Sung Vespers. It will be premiered on the very first Feast of St. Mary Magdalene.

Following Vespers, there will be an organ recital featuring four talented organist: Joseph D’Amico, Bruce Ludwick Jr., Ericka McCarty and Andrea Tierney. This organ recital will showcase the basilica’s historic pipe organ as the King of Instruments of sacred music. A range of musical styles and levels of difficulty will be presented, as an inspiration for all parishes and aspiring organists. There is also an “Open Mic” opportunity for organists attending the workshop.

The Closing Mass at 4pm on Saturday is also open to the public. The Sung Mass will be offered in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite by Fr. David Carter, the rector of the basilica. The music, including the Propers, Gregorian Ordinaries and two motets, will be provided by the participants.

Don’t miss these events and the basilica’s holy door if you are in the area! Please keep all the attendees in your prayers, for safe travels and fruitful experience.

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).

PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)

I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Cantus Mariales” (192 pages)

Andrea Leal has posted an absolutely pristine scan of CANTUS MARIALES (192 pages) which can be downloaded as a PDF file. To access this treasure, navigate to the frabjous article Andrea posted Monday. The file is being offered completely free of charge. The beginning pages of the book have something not to be missed: viz. a letter from Pope Saint Pius X to Dom Pothier, in which the pope calls Abbat Pothier “a man versed above all others in the science of liturgy, and to whom the cause of Gregorian chant is greatly indebted.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (1 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its somber INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with its fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski