Views from the Choir Loft

Hymn by Professor at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary

Jeff Ostrowski · October 30, 2017

ONSIGNOR Ronald Knox (d. 1957) translated six verses of “Ave Vivens Hostia”—and the full version will be included in the St. Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal. The original hymn (by Iohannes Pecham, Archbishop of Canturbury, who died in 1292AD) has fifteen verses, and was discussed during the 2017 Sacred Music Symposium. The choir sang the Knox version, conducted by Dr. Alfred Calabrese.

A different translation was made by Msgr. H. T. Henry (d. 1946), who taught Gregorian chant at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania: ¹

* * PDF Download • SCORE (Latin, Literal English, and Rhyming English)

I declare to you: No microphone can capture choral sound.

Consider the rehearsal video we recorded yesterday:

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice await you at #4148.

It’s okay, but let me assure you it’s absolutely nothing compared to what I heard when it was sung at the 2017 Symposium. I sat in front while Dr. Calabrese was conducting, and I was (quite literally) shaking. I’d never heard anything so beautiful. I came close to tears—the sounds were out of this world.

For the second time: No microphone can capture choral sound.

Now listen to a recording from the 2017 Symposium, using the version by Msgr. Ronald Knox. What comes through on the microphone doesn’t come close to an accurate reproduction of the choral sound:

* * Mp3 File • “Live” Version (30 June 2017)

A third time I proclaim: No microphone can capture choral sound.

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 Read the literal translation at the top of the score (by Fr. Valentine Young, OFM) and notice how skillfully Msgr. Henry matches the meaning. Bravo!

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).

“Music List” • 6th Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 6th Sunday of Easter (25 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are provided at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gloria in Spanish” • Free Accompaniment

Several people have requested an organ accompaniment for the GLORY TO GOD which prints the Spanish words directly above the chords. The Spanish adaptation—Gloria a Dios en el cielo—as printed in Roman Misal, tercera edición was adapted from the “Glória in excélsis” from Mass XV (DOMINATOR DEUS). I used to feel that it’s a pretty boring chant … until I heard it sung well by a men’s Schola Cantorum, which changed my view dramatically. This morning, I created this harmonization and dedicated it to my colleague, Corrinne May. You may download it for free. Please let me know if you enjoy it!

—Jeff Ostrowski

How Well Does ICEL Know Latin?

This year, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June 2025) will fall on a Sunday. It’s not necessary to be an eminent Latin scholar to be horrified by examples like this, which have been in place since 1970. For the last 55 years, anyone who’s attempted to correct such errors has been threatened with legal action. It is simply unbelievable that the (mandatory) texts of the Holy Mass began being sold for a profit in the 1970s. How much longer will this gruesome situation last?

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum

Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.

—Daniel Tucker