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Views from the Choir Loft

Is The Brébeuf Hymnal Too Scrupulous?

Jeff Ostrowski · May 31, 2018

HE SAINT Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal project has been underway for five years, and will soon be released. You would not believe the amount of research even one hymn requires. Creating even one table 1 can take an entire week. I recall one instance where the committee argued about a single word for more than a week. Sometimes the mind can play tricks. Sometimes our committee asks: “Are we being too scrupulous? Why so much deliberation over every choice? Why so much discussion about a single stanza, or even a single word?”

We took as our models the most beautiful and meticulously produced books of all time. Many were produced at Solesmes, and it can be a great consolation to find mistakes even in the most respected books. For example, a famous (and fantastic) book produced by Solesmes Abbey in 1885 has this glaring mistake:

88789 Homer Nods SOLESMES


(They corrected this in later books.)

Can you spot the egregious error in this 1913 book by Fr. Adrian Fortescue?

Hint: It has to do with an accent mark.

88787 FORTESCUE ERROR ACCENT


No matter how much effort our committee exerts, I’m sure there will be typos. We also have a group of proofreaders who have promised to assist—which is awesome. Remembering that someone as great as Fortescue made errors is a consolation.

Even Homer nods.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   When I reference “tables,” I’m referring to huge sheets of paper containing as many as 24 different translations. As part of the editorial process, we assemble every translation ever made for each Breviary hymn. Only by this process can the best translations be chosen. In some instances, we have commissioned translations by modern experts.

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

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When a friend speaks of his accomplishments and triumphs, he stands at a distance from our heart. When he shares his weaknesses and failings, he’s very near.

— Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

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