Views from the Choir Loft

Christus Vincit – Laudes Regiae

Veronica Brandt · October 29, 2016

YPING UP CHANT was what drew me into the world of Sacred Music. A professor of mathematics recommended using the esoteric document preparation system known as LaTeX for my undergraduate thesis. Some time later I volunteered to type up Adoro Te Devote for an after-school catechism class. After some frustration with Meinrad fonts, I started using OpusTeX. The rest is history.

This goes some way to explain why I don’t always know where the music I type comes from. I just type up what I’m given.

Here I have two versions of Christus Vincit in chant notation, 4 pages each in pdf:

* * Christus Vincit in a Sarum style, typed up for the Ballarat to Bendigo Christus Rex Pilgrimage

* * Christus Vincit in a more generic style transcribed from Percy Jones’ Pius X Hymnal

Only today I read the some of the story behind the music and learned that this piece is better known as Laudes Regiae or Royal Praises. This music goes back to the time of Charlemagne!

And they sing it in the Vatican:

Also at CMAA Chant Intensives.

And there are many more recordings out there.

For all you Extraordinary Form attendees, I wish you a fantastic Christus Rex Sunday for tomorrow. For all the rest, you still have time to prepare for this feast between Holy Souls and Advent. All up a great time of year.

Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat!

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

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Sometimes the organist must simultaneously serve as the CANTOR. (Those who work in the field of church music know exactly what I’m talking about.) One of our contributors composed this simplified keyboard accompaniment for Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” a piece which is frequently requested for Catholic funerals and weddings. In terms of the discussion about whether that piece is too theatrical (‘operatic’) for use in Church, I will leave that discussion to others. All I know is, many church musicians out there will appreciate this simplified version.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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