Views from the Choir Loft

Sacred Music Symposium (2018)

Corpus Christi Watershed · June 3, 2018

HE SUCCESS of the Symposium has exceeded anything its founders could have hoped for. With great excitement and gratitude to God, we announce our third annual event, designed especially for (but certainly not limited to) choir directors. ¹

* * PDF Download • Testimonials from 2017|
* * PDF Download • OFFICIAL SCHEDULE for 2018

Read about what happened in 2018, and watch videos!

Not to be missed is marker 59:47 of the final Mass.

Each year we retain familiar faces while adding fresh faculty and events:

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Full Resolution Poster : (PNG) • (PDF)

Excited about this 2018 event?

To receive your application, kindly email dom.mocquereau@gmail.com before the 31 March deadline. Space is limited. Thanks to a generous grant, the conference fee is just $85.00—in addition to the mandatory application fee. Purchasing the meal plan ($145) is recommended, so that you can enjoy a week of catered meals. During the same week, at the same location, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter will be conducting an Altar Server training camp and private instruction for priests. (Information on these will be released soon.)

From the 2016 Symposium :

2016 • TESTIMONIALS from 2016|
2016 • REHEARSAL the first day|
2016 • REHEARSAL in the Church|
2016 • FINAL CEREMONY with Archbishop Gomez|
2016 • VIDEO PRESENATION explaining the goals

From the 2017 Symposium :

2017 • SLIDE SHOW|
2017 • REHEARSAL FOOTAGE|
2017 • ALLELUIA & IMPROVISATION|
2017 • HOSANNA “Live”

90283 • Los Angeles • Sacred Music Symposium 2017

90282 • Los Angeles • Sacred Music Symposium 2017

90281 • Los Angeles • Sacred Music Symposium 2017

Examples of faculty in past years: Dr. Alfred Calabrese, Dr. Lucas Tappan, Pete Avendaño, and Dr. Meaghan King.

All Symposium events will take place at St. Therese in Alhambra (1100 E Alhambra Rd, Alhambra, CA 91801) with its magnificent organ.

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 Those who aren’t professional musicians (but love singing) will take delight in learning from friendly conductors who are the world’s experts. Don’t let fear prevent you from attending!

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

PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)

I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Cantus Mariales” (192 pages)

Andrea Leal has posted an absolutely pristine scan of CANTUS MARIALES (192 pages) which can be downloaded as a PDF file. To access this treasure, navigate to the frabjous article Andrea posted Monday. The file is being offered completely free of charge. The beginning pages of the book have something not to be missed: viz. a letter from Pope Saint Pius X to Dom Pothier, in which the pope calls Abbat Pothier “a man versed above all others in the science of liturgy, and to whom the cause of Gregorian chant is greatly indebted.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (1 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its somber INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with its fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski