Views from the Choir Loft

Rehearsal Videos • “Sanctus & Hosanna” (Guerrero)

Jeff Ostrowski · May 23, 2017

KNOW A SECRET. Would you like to hear? Once upon a time, Roman Catholic composers were trained from birth in a special art of musical composition. This situation produced masters whose liturgical works contain unthinkable beauty, waiting for all to enjoy. They would combine plainsong themes in supremely brilliant ways, and I have tried to indicate such places by means of red ink: ¹

* * PDF • SANCTUS & HOSANNA (“Missa Iste Sanctus”)

For years, I hoped other Catholic websites would promote the gorgeous compositions by such giants as Palestrina, Verdelot, Victoria, Guerrero, Lassus, Marenzio, and others. However, very few do—although they exert tremendous energy complaining about “bad liturgy.” Therefore, I began making rehearsal videos in which I sing all the vocal parts (even the soprano notes!) to help this music live again in our churches:

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice await you at #5454.

Many people (inexplicably) do not visit LALEMANT POLYPHONIC, where individual voice parts are located. That’s a huge mistake, because the whole point of these tracks is the individual voice tracks—and we’ve seen marvelous results from their use here in Los Angeles. By the way, those who attend Sacred Music Symposium 2017 will learn how to create these recordings.

Could anyone listen to the Tenor Rehearsal Video (at the “Hosanna” section) and not be overwhelmed by the majestic dignity and holiness of these melodies?

The Benedictus is forthcoming.

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 The red ink refers to the motet which serves as the basis for this parody Mass.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!

A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)

I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Yahweh” in church songs?

My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Hybrid” Chant Notation?

Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).

—Corpus Christi Watershed

When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962

There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop

—Veronica Brandt

Had the Church never spoken on this matter, it would still be repugnant to our Catholic people’s sense of what is fit and proper in the holiest of places, that a priest should have to struggle through the prayers of the Holy Mass, because of such tunes as “Alice, where art thou?” the “Vacant Chair,” and others of more vulgar title, which, through the carelessness or bad judgment of organists, sometimes find their way into our choirs.

— Preface to a Roman Catholic Hymnal (1896)