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Views from the Choir Loft

New Release! • “Dies Irae” Rehearsal Video

Jeff Ostrowski · November 3, 2016

Here’s my attempt to provide a clear “Dies Irae” rehearsal video:


The DIES IRAE “gives us a new conception of the powers of the Latin tongue” according to Dr. Samuel Duffield. Here are two exceptionally powerful lines:

Then will be brought out the book in which is written
the complete record that will decide each man’s fate.

And when the Judge is seated, all secret sin will be made known,
and no sin will go without its due punishment.

IT WAS QUITE COMMON in the 1940s and 1950s to accompany the Requiem Mass on the organ, in spite of legislation to the contrary. Dr. Daniel T. Politoske, who allowed us to borrow his copy of the NOH for scanning, once said to me: “If I had a dollar for every Requiem I sang and accompanied on the organ myself in those days, I’d be a rich man.” Many tried their hands at writing harmonies for the DIES IRAE, but the version by Msgr. Jules Van Nuffel is probably the best. I must admit that accompanying the DIES IRAE seems 100% incorrect, in my view. It takes away the “austere” and beautiful sound of voices alone. 1

Here’s an Mp3 file of the above video. And here’s the fantastic score we use at FSSP.la, based on the work of Andrew Hinkley, which includes a literal translation by Fr. John Connelly:

    * *  PDF Download • DIES IRAE (Literal English Translation)



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The 1953 book “Chants of the Church” (by the Monks of Solesmes) includes a version in modern notation with a translation by Msgr. Charles E. Spence.

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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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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Quick Thoughts

23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I wasn’t looking for it. But, I stumbled across your hand-dandy arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon. Jeff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! I had to play a wedding on Saturday. The bride requested the Canon. There were 11 bridesmaids! The organ loft is a football field away from the communion rail. It’s so difficult to play and keep checking the mirror. Your arrangement is absolutely genius. One can skip and choose which variations to use. The chord names are handy so that when my eyes are off the music, I always know where I am at. A thousand times thank you for sharing this arrangement!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.”

— Blessed John XXIII (22 February 1962)

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