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Views from the Choir Loft

The Only Hymn Father Fortescue Ever Wrote

Jeff Ostrowski · November 24, 2018

HE BRÉBEUF HYMNAL is finally available for purchase, after five years of painstaking production. The hymnal came out a million times better than any of us could have hoped. We began the project with a “no garbage” policy; we would only accept excellent texts, excellent tunes, and excellent translations. We never broke this policy, and the resulting hymnal—932 pages long!—is absolutely breathtaking.

The Church’s oldest known Latin Eucharistic Hymn is “Sancti Venite,” from the 7th century. Father Adrian Fortescue wrote a translation in 1913…matching the original meter! The Brébeuf Hymnal contains multiple settings. Consider this contemporary melody by Peter Lejeune:


As far as I know, that is the only rhyming hymn Fortescue ever wrote.

THAT IS JUST ONE SETTING, OF COURSE. The Brébeuf Hymal contains several more, as well as additional translations. Moreover, the Brébeuf provides a literal translation—which it does for all the major Latin hymns. Ours is the only source containing literal English translations for certain hymns, such as Jam Desinant Suspiria and Rebus Creatis Nil Egens—how cool is that?

Those of us who participated in editorial work received “proof” copies, printed on loose-leaf paper. Here’s a sneak peek:

87052 - Fr Adrian Fortescue Hymn • SANCTI VENITE

By the way, you will notice that rehearsal videos are starting to appear.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal, Rev Fr Adrian Fortescue Liturgy Last Updated: September 17, 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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Quick Thoughts

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

Random Quote

“Edwin Fischer was, on the concert platform, a short, leonine, resilient figure, whose every fibre seemed to vibrate with elemental musical power.”

— Daniel Barenboim (1960)

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