Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Cheat Sheet” for Easter Vigil

Jeff Ostrowski · April 20, 2019

WILL UNDOUBTEDLY regret doing this, but below I’ve made available the choir “cheat sheet” we are using this year for the (Pre-1955) Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. Not included are pieces we do in sacred polyphony, such as the KYRIE, GLORIA, and the Communion hymn:

* * PDF Download • “Cheat Sheet” for EASTER VIGIL (Pre-1955)

We normally sing the full Gregorian canticles (tracts) after the Prophecies, but this year we are using Psalm Tones because we are outside.

Yes, you heard me correctly…we are outside this year!

You see, our parish has grown so large, we no longer come close to fitting inside our {temporary} church. Until we can purchase a bigger church, we are forced to conduct Holy Week services in a parking lot, underneath a tent that can accommodate 600+ people. It is absolutely remarkable to observe the devotion of these Catholics, who sometimes kneel in a parking lot for 2-3 hours so they can take part in the ancient Catholic rites. Our pastor, Fr. James Fryar, built this temporary altar by hand:

84911 altar 002

84911 altar 001

If anybody wins the lottery and wants to buy us a large church, please let me know!

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

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).

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