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Views from the Choir Loft

Does Polyphony “Fit” Ordinary Form Masses?

Jeff Ostrowski · July 11, 2017

URING THE SACRED MUSIC SYMPOSIUM, I described how to painlessly add polyphony to the Ordinary Form by “sneaking it in” with choral extensions. So much information was shared during our conference—from 7:30am until 9:30pm each day, literally—that I wasn’t able to spend sufficient time explaining.

Therefore, I’ve created this video:

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice await you at #4884.
As always, the PDF score can be downloaded there, too.


If you desire an Mp3 version of this video, click here.


IF YOU DON’T HAVE enough voices to do the example above, consider the following: Guerrero “Iste Sanctus” (#5294); Palestrina Short (#6482); Palestrina Longer (#6995); Guerrero “Beata Mater” (#3347, #3661, #3579); Durieux (#4638); Palestrina “Impleta sunt” (#5053, #5054); Brudieu (#4327).

The Mass setting in the video is from Victoria’s Officium Defunctorum. This is a famous piece, and I was too scared to “vandalize it” by transposing it up a whole step—but my choir will most likely do so. Fr. Victoria’s work is based on the Requiem KYRIE, so I could have chosen the plainsong accordingly, but only if we were singing it for an actual Requiem. Despite what some assert, these are not rigid rules that can’t be changed. For example, most editors choose Mode II for Allegri’s Miserere Mei, but the actual music is based on the Tonus Peregrinus. Indeed, Sanctus VIII was taken verbatim from O Quam Suavis Est; but does that mean Sanctus VIII can only be sung on feasts where that Antiphon is employed? I think not.

I recorded all the voices for the above video except the third section, which was recorded by volunteers at Sacred Music Symposium 2017. Can you hear the difference? Listen closely to the richness in the third section, which begins at the 2:17 marker.

Don’t expect the congregation to understand immediately when they are supposed to sing. It will take at least a year before they begin to understand. At the Symposium, we spoke of the importance of using the same structure every Sunday for a long time before the good fruits become evident. That is why I would never dream of introducing the propers at OF Masses unless the congregation had a book such as the Isaac Jogues Pew Lectionary, which has 100% of the propers in Latin and English. I repeat: it takes years to reintroduce authentic liturgy, because our people have been robbed for half a century.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: O Quam Suavis Est Last Updated: June 3, 2021

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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).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “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

Random Quote

“I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian chant; nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy to Gregorian chant.”

— Statement by the Supreme Pontiff (Sacramentum Caritatis, 22-feb-2007)

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