Views from the Choir Loft

Simple Mass Propers (1909)

Jeff Ostrowski · August 30, 2018

ID YOU EVER WONDER how “back in the day” small choirs managed to sing the Propers? In some places, even though it contradicted the rubrics, choirs simply skipped the Propers. In other places (and this was extremely common) choirs would sing them recto tono—that is to say, all on one note, often with organ accompaniment. Dr. Peter Wagner and the committee which created the Editio Vaticana considered the possibility of allowing small choirs to skip the chants between the Epistle and Gospel, or to prepare a “simple” version. The idea ended up going nowhere, because the committee soon fell apart due to irreconcilable differences.

Here’s an example of how the Proprium Missae could be made easier to sing:

* * PDF Download • Simple Propers for Easter Sunday (1909)

Here is a 1909 article explaining what this is all about:

87742 simple propers

In some ways, what Amatucci did seems more difficult than singing the actual plainsong…

By the way, Schwann—a company very much associated with Dr. Peter Wagner—in 1917 published an edition with simple versions of the chants between Epistle and Gospel. You can download that book at the St. Lalande Library.

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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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