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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Towards An Online (Modern) Palestrina Edition

Guest Author · March 24, 2018

89796 Gervais EFF OSTROWSKI’S blog article of 14/10/16 mentions Haberl’s complete edition of Palestrina online and of waiting for Nancho Alvarez to do for Palestrina what he did for Victoria, Guerro and Morales. It seems to me that it is going to have to be a collaborative project. I am about to retire, and I plan to spend a lot of time creating scores. I have 4 masses of Fayrfax, and several canzons and a sonata and some motets by Giovanni Gabrieli from sixteenth century part books on IMSLP, also the superb Missa Quando Lieta Sperai by Andrea Gabrieli, and the Magnificat, Lamentations a 6 and some psalm settings by Robert White, involving reconstruction of missing parts, on CPDL, and a few other things like Tovey’s completion of Bach’s Contrapunctus XIX from the Art of Fugue, and Felix Namque I by Tallis.

But I find the prospect of a complete Palestrina somewhat daunting. I have started. My edition of Missa Papae Marcelli went onto IMSLP recently, and I am now working on the six voiced Missa Ave Maria. Jeff Ostrowski talks of its “awesome power.” I might speak of its extreme beauty and eloquence, but the responses are clearly related.

The materials for a collaborative complete Palestrina are all freely available. The edition of Haberl is beautiful and accurate, and the original partbooks are there for the downloading on IMSLP. Perhaps a framework would be in order, firstly that the Sibelius or other notation files be uploaded. This would render the rest of the framework less pressing, but I would suggest the following as a starting point for discussion:

Appreciation of Palestrina has been severely hampered by failure to apply the clef conventions, and many performances lack a proper bass and go far towards hurting the ear. Pro Cantione Antiqua sang at a more correct pitch, but they had falsettists on the top line, whose gimlet power did nothing to serve the music. Much of Palestrina’s output is in chiavette—that is, “little clefs”—with an F clef on the middle line on the lowest part. This implies downward transposition of a tone or a fourth, as given in David Wulstan’s book “Tudor Music.” Transposition of a fourth is appropriate for Palestrina, and leads to a radically different sound world, which I have by no means fully assimilated. Neither has the recording industry. The danger then is too low a pitch, leading to impenetrable textures, but probably Roman pitch was approximately a tone higher than ours, as it certainly was in England. This should also be reflected in the editions. A C clef on the fourth line on the lowest part implies downward transposition of a fifth as in Missa Papae Marcelli. A C clef on the top line implies downward transposition of a fourth as in Fayrfax’ Missa Albanus. An F clef on the top line implies upward transposition of a tone, as in Taverner’s Quemadmodum, or a fourth as in Fayrfax’ Mass “O Bone Jesu.”

When these transpositions are applied, the voice types are a low soprano, called “Mean” in England and taken by an unbroken voice, high tenor, low tenor and bass. High tenor parts create problems for modern choirs. They go up to A quite often, but go down to E which is outside the range of the modern alto. One solution is to have both altos and tenors on the part, so that tenors can fade out when it goes too high, and altos when it goes too low.1 In Fayrfax the high tenor never goes above G, so can be sung comfortably by modern tenors. This is also evidence for the generation of the high tenor voice from the low tenor voice.

89795 Renaissance Jeff Ostrowski criticises the application of Musica Ficta in Haberl and others, which makes me wish that he would write a blog on the subject. I find that there is not much need for it in Fayrfax, but in Palestrina it needs to be applied freely, in the sharpening of leading notes, in avoiding the interval of a tritone within a part, and in the melodic construction of a note, adjacent note, first note, where the adjacent note will be sharpened or flattened to be a semitone away from the first note. This has odd sounding effects if applied to notes a long way from the final of the mode in the cycle of fifths, so probably the further away, the less likely it is to be applied. Necessarily it is a variable art, so variations must have been tolerated. Editorial accidentals are of course marked as such in the edition.

I prefer original note values, except in triple time sections, where I halve them. No doubt you can get used to seeing semibreves flashing by at a rapid rate, and minims used only for runs, but I haven’t yet.

There are some ligatures in Giovanni Gabrieli, and many more in Palestrina, but as they appear to have no effect on the performance, I see no need to note them, for the score should be as clear and unencumbered as possible.

For the same reason I question the need for dashes and underscores in the underlay. They are missing in the part books, and if they are missing in the scores too it makes for an increase in visual clarity. Often in KYRIE and AGNUS DEI the words are repeated many times, and the repetitions are marked by a repeat sign. These along with ampersands and abbreviations will be expanded as smoothly as possible, but I feel that such places should be unobtrusively marked, for the choir director might want to amend the underlay.

I don’t think I need to say why a complete Palestrina on line would be a good idea. The quality of the tiny part of his output which I know is consistently high, and often raises one to awareness of the Heavenly Presence. He effortlessly transcends confessional boundaries.

Email Gervais Frykman about this project at gervais153@talktalk.net.


We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Gervais Frykman.




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   This is something for which Jeff Ostrowski has persistently advocated, since Views from the Choir Loft first began in 2012.

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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President’s Corner

    New Bulletin Article • “14 September 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 14 September 2025) discusses OFFERTORY ANTIPHONS and contains a wonderful quote by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • Draft Copy (Pamphlet)
    A few days ago, I posted a draft copy of this 12-page pamphlet with citations about the laity’s “full, conscious, and active participation.” Its basic point or message is that choir directors should never feel embarrassed to teach real choral music because Vatican II explicitly ordered them to do that! We’ve received tons of mail regarding that pamphlet, with many excellent suggestions for improvement. Please feel free to chime in!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 23rd (Ordinary Time)
    This coming Sunday, 7 September 2025, is the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). You can download the “Entrance Chant,” conveniently located at the feasts website. I also recorded a rehearsal video for it (freely available at the same website). The Communion Chant includes gorgeous verses in FAUXBOURDON. I attempted to create a rehearsal video for it, and it’s been posted at the feasts website, called by some: “church music’s best kept secret.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Karl Keating • “Canonization Questions”
    We were sent an internet statement (screenshot) that’s garnered significant attention, in which KARL KEATING (founder of Catholic Answers) speaks about whether canonizations are infallible. Mr. Keating seems unaware that canonizations are—in the final analysis—a theological opinion. They are not infallible, as explained in this 2014 article by a priest (with a doctorate in theology) who worked for multiple popes. Mr. Keating says: “I’m unaware of such claims arising from any quarter until several recent popes disliked by these Traditionalists were canonized, including John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II. Usually Paul VI receives the most opprobrium.” Mr. Keating is incorrect; e.g. Father John Vianney, several centuries ago, taught clearly that canonizations are not infallible. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen would be another example, although clearly much more recent than Saint John Vianney.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Vatican II Changed Wedding Propers?
    It’s often claimed that the wedding propers were changed after Vatican II. As a matter of fact, that is a false claim. The EDITIO VATICANA propers (Introit: Deus Israel) remained the same after Vatican II. However, a new set of propers (Introit: Ecce Deus) was provided for optional use. The same holds true for the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great on 3 September: the 1943 propers (Introit: Si díligis me) were provided for optional use, but the traditional PROPRIA MISSAE (Introit: Sacerdótes Dei) were retained; they weren’t gotten rid of. The Ordo Cantus Missae (1970) makes this crystal clear, as does the Missal itself. There was an effort made in the post-conciliar years to eliminate so-called “Neo-Gregorian” chants, but (contrary to popular belief) most were retained: cf. the feast of Christ the King, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and so forth.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“Leave the Mass alone. Our churches are full—the Protestants, in spite of their vernacular, far otherwise.”

— Cardinal Godfrey (one of the Vatican II fathers)

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