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Views from the Choir Loft

The Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music

Fr. David Friel · June 9, 2019

OLLOWING the implementation of the Roman Missal, third edition, in English in 2011, a flurry of “Mass settings” were published. Some are good, many are bad. Among the worst are those compositions which rehash previously existing settings, simply force-fitting the new texts into old wineskins. Among the best is the Mass of St. Philip Neri by Paul Jernberg (available from the composer’s own website).

Jernberg serves as executive director of the Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music, which has recently launched a new website. The goal of the site is to offer resources to those responsible for sacred music in parishes and other communities. These resources include new repertoire along with opportunities for ongoing formation and inspiration. In time, the Institute plans to offer one-day seminars, weeklong workshops, and even consulting services in support of their vision for a four-pronged approach to the renewal of sacred music: theoretical, practical, spiritual, and apostolic.

Based in Lancaster, MA, the Institute began a new phase in 2018. Its history, however, stretches back to the 2005 founding of Magnificat Academy, formerly a choir school for grades 4–12 in Warren, MA. The academy was transferred to the Cathedral of St. Paul in Worcester in 2008. Then, from 2011 until 2017, it shifted its focus to supporting sacred music projects by means of collaboration with various schools and institutions. This re-founding as the Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music, therefore, is exciting news.

OME of the strengths of Jernberg’s Mass of St. Philip Neri include its flexibility, accessibility to congregations, and musical interest. It can be sung unaccompanied with SATB choir, or it can be sung in unison with organ accompaniment.

Check out this 2014 recording of the setting’s Gloria, sung by the schola cantorum of St. Peter the Apostle Church in Chicago under the direction of J. Michael Thompson:


Jernberg’s bio is available here.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ICEL New Translation of the Roman Missal, Paul Jernberg, Roman Missal Third Edition 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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    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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No concession should ever be made for the singing of the Exsultet, in whole or in part, in the vernacular.

— ‘Fr. Augustin Bea, S.J. in the years immediately before the Second Vatican Council’

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