Views from the Choir Loft

The Sequences as Popular Works of Liturgical Creativity

Fr. David Friel · May 28, 2017 ·

HE SEQUENCES of the Roman Rite have been a special interest of mine for several years. Their historical development, poetic composition, and liturgical codification are among the numerous facets of the sequentiarium that one can explore. The sequences are also among the most interesting musical aspects of the Mass, and they are especially notable for their charming piety.

About a year ago, I posted a Mini History of the Sequences that sketches the broad outline of how the sequences first came to be, how they proliferated, and how they were eventually curtailed.

I have written a new article in this month’s Adoremus Bulletin that presents a more detailed account of the sequences’ history and their importance within the Roman Rite. The fundamental assertion of the article is that the sequences are examples of authentic liturgical creativity. Born from within the liturgy, itself, the genre of the sequence came into being organically and was allowed to flourish.

The article takes a close look at the four sequences codified in Missale Romanum 1570 and the one added to the missal in the 18th century:

Victimae paschali — Easter

Veni Sancte Spiritus — Pentecost

Lauda Sion — Corpus Christi

Dies irae — Requiem

Stabat mater — Our Lady of Sorrows (added in 1727)

The full article is freely available on the Adoremus website: Liturgically Creative Writing: Popular Development of the Sequences in the Missale Romanum.

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served for five years as Parochial Vicar at St. Anselm Parish in Northeast Philly. He is currently a doctoral candidate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski