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).

Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”

Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦

Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?

—Jeff Ostrowski

Don’t You Agree About These?

If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?

—Jeff Ostrowski

Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note “Ut,” renaming it “Do.” He convinced his contemporaries to make the change by arguing that 1) “Do” is easier to pronounce than “Ut,” and 2) “Do” is an abbreviation for “Dominus,” the Latin word for the Lord, Who is the tonic and root of the world. There is much academic speculation that Giovanni Doni also wanted to imprint himself into musical canon in perpetuity because “Do” is also ulteriorly an abbreviation for his family name.

— Giovanni Battista Doni died in 1647AD