Views from the Choir Loft

Sing everyday! Regina Caeli!

Veronica Brandt · April 29, 2017

INGING WELL takes practice. Lots of people get an idea that they can’t sing, so they don’t sing and then they can’t sing.

Now is a great time to bust the cycle with an ancient Easter Hymn to Our Lady:

Regina Caeli

There’s a great opportunity three times a day during Easter.

I’m not sure if every reader here would know about the Angelus that was customarily said three times a day not so long ago. The Angelus can be sung, though I haven’t really seen that take off.

In Easter time this the Regina Caeli takes its place – and this is really easy to sing: see Regina Caeli sung by young children.

There is Organ Accompaniment from the Vatican II Hymnal here and I have a special page for the Regina Caeli at my New Book of Old Hymns website with the sheet music, translation, crossword puzzle and vocabulary set.

Set a reminder for 6am, midday and 6pm – or whenever it fits into your routine. I’m sure it will bring a smile to those in heaven as well as on earth.

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).

30 November 2020 • “Case in point”

The Solesmes rhythmic markings, which often contradict the official rhythm, do such damage to the antiphons of the Divine Office that—in my humble opinion—they should be abandoned. (In reality, this will never happen.) But sometimes, they do great damage to the melody of the Graduale Romanum, and I would offer the Offertory for the 1st Sunday of Advent as a “case in point.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

27 November 2020 • ACCENTS

Certain Latin words are constantly mispronounced. For example, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana is supposed to be pronounced “Cármina” but people frequently pronounce it as “Carmína”—wrong! Another example: Nova organi harmonia is supposed to be pronounced “órgani” but many people erroneously say “orgáni.” A somewhat tricky word is incipit. In Latin, it would be “íncipit” while some believe it has entered the English language as “incípit”—but I’m not convinced…

—Jeff Ostrowski

20 November 2020 • Epiphany Sequence?

A very interesting Missale from 1759AD has a Sequence for the Epiphany, but I don’t know where one could find the musical notation. The Seqence is called: “Prompto Gentes Animo Ferte Nunc Altissimo Honorem Et Gloriam.”

—Jeff Ostrowski