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Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

New Resource! • Chant Videos for Treble Voices

Fr. David Friel · February 23, 2019

OUNTLESS schola directors and choristers make regular use of the thousands of practice videos published freely here at Corpus Christi Watershed. Among the practice videos are recordings of the complete Kyriale (all 18 Gregorian Masses), the Ordinary of ICEL’s 2011 translation of the Roman Missal, the Simple English Propers, as well as an astonishing collection of polyphonic pieces. The wealth of assistance now available to parish musicians is truly remarkable.

Thanks to the contributions of a start-up website that went live in early 2019, those resources continue to grow.

Entitled Chant for Trebles, this new site is the work of Mrs. Sipkje Price, a Catholic convert, music educator, and director of a women’s chant schola in Jackson, MI. Working with her singers, Sipkje found that many of them expressed difficulty matching pitch with practice videos featuring a male voice a full octave below their own. Thus was born the concept of Chant for Trebles.

The goal of the project is ambitious: to create practice videos for the full Gregorian chant Propers for each Sunday (and select feasts) of the liturgical year, based on the 1962 calendar. The videos will feature sound recordings paired with the printed version of each chant.

Sipkje has begun with the pre-Lenten season. The chants for Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima are presently available on the site, and the plan is to add each week’s videos in time for local singers to rehearse with them. To see an example video, check out the communion chant for next Sunday (Quinquagesima) on YouTube:


The approach Sipkje takes to the musicality of these videos is closely considered. The recordings are being made with high quality equipment in a real acoustic, with no added reverberation and minimal editing. With respect to interpretation, she intends to take a relatively conservative approach, aiming for solid pitches and straightforward rhythmic readings, in order to allow schola directors to shape the chant phrases as they wish.

OT TERRIBLY LONG ago, resources to assist parish musicians in singing the treasury of Catholic sacred music were often crude, sometimes expensive, rarely accessible, and otherwise non-existent. So much has changed in the last decade or two. The Internet, alone, boasts a richness of resources that are free, easily available, and often of exceptional quality, for both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite.

Chant for Trebles fills a need and expands these resources. We look forward to the completion of the full year of videos!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Youth Choirs, Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, Gregorian Chant, Liturgy For Children, Resources for training in Church music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“How can we account for differences in the Gospel accounts? Well, suppose after we left Church today, there was a terrible accident or explosion or fire. Soon the news media would be here, interviewing people as to what they saw or heard. Each person would probably say or report what struck him—or what he saw or noticed. All these reports would be different and yet they would be true.”

— Fr. Valentine Young (February 2019)

Recent Posts

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  • “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Worship the Lord in Holy Attire
  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

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