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Views from the Choir Loft

Counter-Melodies • “Accompaniment of Psalm Tones”

Jeff Ostrowski · December 17, 2018

NE OF THE ABSOLUTE “best kept secrets” of Catholic music was revealed to me by Fr. Valentine Young, OFM. It is Albert Bloomfield’s astounding 465-page book, which allows any parish to sing Sunday Vespers. 1 Each Sunday, we have been using this magnificent book at Saint Vitus—our whole parish sings Vespers, and it is fantastic! I have started to accompany Vespers on the organ, with great success, using the NOH. We alternate between men and women. Once the congregation becomes familiar enough, I want to start adding counter-melodies to the psalmody.

Do you know what counter-melodies are?

Answer: Go to the 1:07 marker and you will hear something worth dying for:


The organist used to belong to a monastery in England—a Catholic monastery, not Anglican. I think he does a magnificent job, although the pause between each verse needs to be shortened; it is just a tiny bit too long. There should be a definite pause, but it should not be too lengthy. If you go back and read the “visitations” from the 15th and 16th centuries, 2 you will notice this is something monks and nuns complained about: when the pause in the middle of each psalm verse was prolonged too much. They also complained about too many dogs in church…I guess bringing dogs into church was common in those days.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   I hope Mr. Bloomfield creates another edition which includes starting pitches.

2   Each year, the visitation was when a bishop would visit the monastery or convent and speak privately with each member. That was an opportunity for the member to complain about whatever was bothersome—and some of these make for fascinating reading!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Vespers 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

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
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

Random Quote

“There is no music worth hearing save that written in the last 40 years.”

— Johannes Tinctoris (1477)

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