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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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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 served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony. — One of our volunteer choirs also sang that SANCTUS on 24 September 2023, and you can listen to how that came out.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Saint Phillip Neri founded a religious congregation called the Oratory. Animuccia was involved from early on and remained “maestro di capella” of the Oratory until his death. The Oratory was able to attract many musicians who volunteered their services, including the famous singer Francesco Soto de Langa from the Capella Sistina, the composer Palestrina, and probably the composer Tomás Luis de Victoria who lived in the same house as St. Phillip Neri for five years.

— Source Unknown

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