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Views from the Choir Loft

Church Music Dubia Remain Unanswered

Jeff Ostrowski · September 29, 2017

Y PARENTS raised us to behave in a certain way. We were taught to treat others with respect, use our time wisely, place God before anything else, and never be dishonest. My mother grew up in extreme poverty, causing a special sensitivity for the poor. She would personally drive mothers in desperate situations to the supermarket and let them buy 5-6 bags of groceries—and then she would pay the bill. Along with her on such errands would come all five children (including me). Both my parents had zero tolerance for laziness or disrespectful behavior.

Today’s world strikes me as a completely different place: a real clown show! Even things everyone used to agree on, such as standing during the National Anthem, are out the window.

Many people, even those who self-identify as “traditional” Catholics, sit on Twitter and hurl childish insults in a most disgusting and reprehensible manner. Decent people these days seem few and far between.

Perhaps this is why the “Church Dubia” remain unanswered. We’ve stated the Dubia over and over on this blog, as our readers know (e.g. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08) and I won’t be going through all that again.

ONE OF THE MAJOR QUESTIONS in the “Church Dubia” is as follows:

What styles of music should be forbidden at Mass?

For fifty years, progressive liturgists have insisted that all styles of music are “equally suitable” for use during Holy Mass. But sensible people realize different styles of music do different things. For example, it’s hard to imagine anything more repugnant than WWF wrestling. But if you look on YouTube, the music they choose is perfectly suited to that trashy “sport.”

Consider the following (which is not church music, but still very nice):

    * *  Mp3 Audio • Excerpts from Gladiator Movie

Can there be any doubt that different styles of music evoke different feelings?

I fear that a serious discussion regarding which styles of music are appropriate for the Holy Mass will not commence until a generation arrives that can process a statement longer than 140 characters. I hope I am wrong.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Friedman met Egon Wellesz in Altaussee on one of the walks, and Egon started to speak about atonal music—and Ignaz replied: “No, no, no. Melody for me.”

— From the Life of Ignazy Friedman

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