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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Rare German Hymnal

Jeff Ostrowski · October 17, 2017

4195 In Dulci Jubilo HE Brébeuf Hymnal project is really coming along. I have been privileged (for several years) to serve on a committee creating this book. One of the members is a veritable encyclopedia of hymnody, and it’s difficult to find a tune, text, or author he doesn’t know. The amount of material we have unearthed is overwhelming, and I hope someday 100% can be released online.

We have commissioned a remarkable amount of new texts and melodies for this book. However, we will also include historic Catholic tunes that have been (unfairly) neglected—and the following book by Dreves has several nice ones.

For the first time in history we have placed this celebrated German hymnal online:

    * *  PDF Download •   O CHRIST HIE MERK!   (Rev. Dreves, 1885)

Fr. Robert Skeris, perhaps the world’s preëminent scholar of hymnody, wrote about Dreves:

In order to make available in practise some of the results of his research work, DREVES published two small books which were important and influential in the continuing discussion: Ein Wort zur Gesangbuchfrage and “O Christ hie merk!” DREVES intended his “Wort” as “building material” for an eventual German national hymnal. If the “Wort zur Gesangbuchfrage” is more theoretical, then “O Christ hie merk!” is completely practical: a hymnal with 150 tunes illustrating the principles set forth in the “Wort.” WITT identified himself with this “word” by saying that it expressed “the principles of the Caecilian Society on this point.”

Fr. Guido Maria Dreves was a Jesuit priest who died in 1909. He’s responsible for the definitive work (55 volumes) on Latin hymnody: Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi.

DESCRIPTION OF THIS BOOK :

Dreves, Guido Maria S. J. — “O Christ hie merk!”
Ein Gesangbüchlein geistlicher Lieder. Freiburg im Breisgau.
Herdersche Verlagshandlung. 1885.
Mit Approbation des hochw. Herrn Erzbischofs von Freiburg.

S. Halbleinen-Bibliothekseinband mit Leinenecken und marm. Deckeln. Handbeschr. Rückenschild oben sowie Bibliotheksschild auf V-Deckel, gestempelt. Kanten und Deckel berieben, sonst gut. Innen stärker gebräunt, die ersten Seiten mit zahlreichen Bibliotheksstempeln und handschr. kleinen Eintragungen. Nach S. X im Gelenk angebrochen. Vorsätze sowie Innendeckel und erste bzw. letzte S. gilbtleckig, sonst sauber.

Zweck dieses Gesangbüchleins ist einzig und allein, die echt christlichen, echt volkstümlichen Lieder, wie sie von Anfang bei unseren Vorfahren in Brauch und Übung gewesen, dann aber in glaubensschwacher, nüchterner Zeit über Bord geworfen oder bis zu Unkenntlichkeit entstellt wurden, unserem Volke zurückzugeben, und zwar in einer Gestalt, die sich möglichst innig der überlieferten Urform des Liedes anschlösse (…) Aus dem Vorwort.

Mit zahlreichen Notenbeigaben.

DREVES. Guido Maria, Jesuit, Hymnologe und geistlicher Lyriker, * 27.10. 1854 in Hamburg als Sohn des Notars und Dichters Leberecht D., † 1.6. 1909 in Mitwitz bei Kronach (Ober.franken).

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

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

Palestrina wrote two Masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin—one “a 6” before the Council of Trent, consequently with the tropes, and first published in 1570. In 1599 it was republished in Palestrina “Missarum Liber III” with the tropes removed, and in their place the liturgical words of the “Gloria” reiterated.

— Henry Coates

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