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Views from the Choir Loft

Victoria Alleluia • Extraordinary & Ordinary Form

Jeff Ostrowski · July 26, 2016

VEN THOUGH VATICAN II COUNCIL mandated that Latin be preserved—inserting specific language that was no mere “recommendation”—many priests have forbidden their choir directors from singing in Latin, which means 98% of the sacred treasury mentioned by Vatican II can’t be used. Cardinal Antonelli, the first secretary of the Consilium, has affirmed that Latin should have been preserved.

Inexplicably, these same priests usually do permit other foreign languages to be used at Mass, such as Greek (Kyrie Eleison) and Hebrew (Alleluia, Hosanna). Cardinal Antonelli’s successor, Archbishop Bugnini, tried to eliminate AMEN, which he described as a “meaningless sound.” However, in a very unusual move, the Sacred Congregation of Rites overruled the Consilium, and AMEN was retained in our liturgy. 1

To summarize, musicians need not worry about their priest getting angry when they sing ALLELUIA before the Gospel. Here’s a beautiful version based on the “Ave Maris Stella” plainsong:

    * *  PDF Download • ALLELUIA by Fr. Tomás Luis de Victoria

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube   •   Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube   •   Audio

ALTO : YouTube   •   Audio

TENOR : YouTube   •   Audio

BASS : YouTube   •   Audio

At our EF Mass, we always sing a polyphonic Alleluia, then our ladies sing the verse, then we repeat the polyphonic Alleluia. The same could be done in OF Masses, but some priests might insist upon having the congregation sing “Alleluia.” If that’s your situation, do it like this:

(1) Cantor intones the following (from the Graduale Simplex):

289 Graduale Simplex ALLELUIA

(2) Entire congregation repeats the Alleluia.

(3) Choir sings the verse, according to the mode in the polyphonic score (see above).

(4) Everyone repeats the Simplex Alleluia, but at the end, the choir sings the polyphonic “extension” where the blue arrow is.




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   One of the letters sent in opposition said: “Furthermore, the proposal to change the AMEN is illogical, because those who wish to translate AMEN into the vernacular wish to maintain intact the word ALLELUIA.”

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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Jeff Ostrowski

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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20 January 2021 • REMINDER

We have no savings, no endowment, and no major donors. You can help us (please) by subscribing to our mailing list. It’s incredibly easy; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address. Thank you!

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We must say it plainly: the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone. Some walls of the structure have fallen, others have been altered—we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building. Think back, if you remember it, to the Latin sung High Mass with Gregorian chant. Compare it with the modern post-Vatican II Mass. It is not only the words, but also the tunes and even certain actions that are different. In fact it is a different liturgy of the Mass.”

— Fr. Joseph Gelineau (1978)

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