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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

“Sanctus” Recorded By Young Ladies From Las Vegas • Fabulous!

Jeff Ostrowski · November 1, 2016

E’RE CURRENTLY IN THE MIDST of planning next year’s Sacred Music Symposium. During last year’s event, I had the pleasure of meeting members from a wonderful Schola Cantorum in Las Vegas. These young ladies were bright, energetic, and had the most pure voices! They really took to heart what Dr. Calabrese and Dr. Buchholz taught them.

Several members agreed to help record a Palestrina SANCTUS (PDF), and I think you’ll agree the results are magnificent:

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice have been created: locate #6962.


You owe it to yourself run through the Tenor rehearsal video. Could anything be more fun, especially in the Hosanna?

THIS SANCTUS IS FROM the same Mass as this Kyrie, so I won’t repeat what I wrote about the hymn tune. I would mention, however, that Palestrina adds a free countersubject to the Sanctus (marked in green). In the Benedictus—which we’ll upload soon—he adds two more! I eliminated the trio Palestrina wrote for “pleni sunt coeli” because that would have made the piece too long for our FSSP.la Masses—causing a delay for the priest. 1

When composers like Palestrina based Masses on a tune, it’s remarkable to see how they change their treatment in each movement. It could be as simple as adding a new countersubject. Or, it might be something “structural” like never beginning more than one movement with the same voice. In the KYRIE, the Soprano entered last, whereas in the SANCTUS it enters second.

I feel there’s something amazing about polyphony—something which grabs the ear of “homo modernus” instantly. Plainsong is powerful in a different way; perhaps a deeper way. For example, no one who sang the full version of the Offertory on 1 November, as we did, could fail to be moved. Consider the significance of the word “autem,” and the marvelous attention the unknown Gregorian composer draws to this crucial word.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Did celebrants pray slower in Palestrina’s day? Or did they sing faster? This is not easy to answer with certainty.

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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Victoria not only made his professional debut as church organist: he also continued active on the organ bench until the very eve of his death. Indeed, during his last seven years at Madrid (1604-1611) he occupied no other musical post but that of convent organist.”

— Dr. Robert Stevenson (1961)

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