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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

Mesmerizing Credo Setting (SATB) • After Machaut

Jeff Ostrowski · April 3, 2017

HIS YEAR’S Symposium will be spectacular, and the response—from all over the world—has been overwhelming. The musical program, which is close to being finalized, almost seems a direct response to an article I wrote last January entitled True Vs. False Diversity. We have a bewildering variety of styles, and new works by famous composers will be revealed.

The Credo, arranged by Chaumonot, uses 14th-century polyphony by a Catholic priest named Guillaume de Machaut, who died in 1377AD:

    * *  PDF Download • CREDO based on Guillaume de Machaut

Fr. Machaut’s harmonies begin at the 0:28 marker:

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice—along with PDF score—await you at #5984. If you like them, please consider donating $5.00 per month.

274 CREDO TWO YOUNG LADIES IN HIGH SCHOOL, Sarah and Jacqueline, generously helped record the rehearsal videos for these 14th-century harmonies. Sing through each individual line (cf. #5984) because the power is revealed “horizontally.” We created the rehearsal videos to help choirmasters, who have such a difficult vocation! Just the other day, I was pondering how many things music directors do behind the scenes that nobody sees. Even staying in contact with the choir members—phone calls, text messages, emails, and so forth—requires much time and energy. It’s truly a “twenty-four seven” job.

The PDF score mentions how Canon Machaut lived during a difficult period of church history. The Avignon papacy and the Western Schism were both longer in duration than I’d realized. The times in which we live are also difficult, especially from the standpoint of certain members of the hierarchy. Last month, for example, I read a scandalous interview with a high-ranking cardinal that can only be described as disgusting and heretical. For myself, I find it comforting to study history and recall how much the Church has withstood.

Good Catholics in those days sought divine assistance, and we must do the same. Moreover, when you examine the 14th-century Credo used for Chaumonot’s edition, you’ll agree they certainly knew how to create beautiful manuscripts in those days!

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

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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

“You have thereby removed from the celebration of the Mass all superstitions, all greed for lucre, and all irreverence … removed its celebrations from private homes and profane places to holy and consecrated sanctuaries. You have banished from the temple of the Lord the more effeminate singing and musical compositions.”

— ‘Bishop Racozonus, speaking at the last session of the Council of Trent (1563)’

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