Views from the Choir Loft

Sacred Music Camp for Children in Philadelphia

Fr. David Friel · June 10, 2018 ·

HILADELPHIA’S Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul has a rich musical history, which was nicely summarized in a booklet published a few years ago. This summer, however, will mark a musical first for the basilica.

The inaugural Cantate Domino Festival is a musical camp open to boys and girls, 7–15 years of age. The event will span two weekdays in July and conclude with an evening concert. Participants will receive training in singing technique and music theory, reinforced through exposure to sacred repertoire.

The Festival will be held July 23 and 24, 2018, from 9 AM to 5 PM. The concluding event will be a concert in the basilica at 7 PM on July 24, 2018.

This camp will be staffed by a group of experienced and well-trained musicians, including:

Charlene Angelini, Director of Music at the Cathedral Basilica

Danielle Molan, Archdiocesan Children’s Choir Director

Nathan Knutson, Director of Sacred Music, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary

Lisa Knutson, Administrator, Zipoli Institute for Sacred Music

Mark Loria, Principal Organist at the Cathedral Basilica

More information and the registration form for the Cantate Domino Festival are available here.

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served for five years as Parochial Vicar at St. Anselm Parish in Northeast Philly. He is currently a doctoral candidate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski