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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.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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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Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“At the hour for the Divine Office, | as soon as the signal is heard, | let them abandon whatever they may have in hand | and hasten with the greatest speed, | yet with seriousness, so that there is no excuse for levity. | Let nothing be preferred to the sacred liturgy.”

— Rule of St. Benedict (Chapter 43)

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