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Views from the Choir Loft

Can Girls In The 2nd Grade Sing SATB Hymns?

Jeff Ostrowski · July 18, 2019

T WOULD BE DIFFICULT to think of a text treated more thoroughly by the Brébeuf Hymnal than “Cónditor Alme Síderum” (changed in 1631AD to “Creátor Alme Síderum” during the Urbanite reform). It is fully dealt with in the “Ancient Hymns” section, but then it’s given even more space on Color Plate 19, which makes some fascinating observations. Needless to say, I’m not going to reproduce all that information in this article.

A famous Advent melody is called “O Heiland Reiss,” and the Brébeuf Hymnal uses that melody with several different texts, including an English translation of “O Heiland Reiss” by an FSSP priest. I played the tune on the piano 5-6 times, and a girl in 2nd grade was able to pick up the tune. (She has never studied music formally, but does have “music class” in her school).

I’ve said many times the Brébeuf melodies are simple enough to be learned by anyone:

You can hear the individual tracks if you visit the Brébeuf website and scroll to #188.

MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE a stick at, it turns out the people who claim to be “the world’s experts” on hymnody actually know very little. One such person wrote to us, saying that “O Heiland Reiss” can be used for one text only—and any other approach is wrong.

He clearly was ignorant of examples like these:

    * *  O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf • Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959)

    * *  O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf • Catholic Hymnal (1957)

    * *  O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf • Catholic Hymnal (1936)

    * *  O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf • Catholic Hymnal (1910)

    * *  O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf • Catholic Hymnal (1885)

    * *  O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf • Catholic Hymnal (1989)

I promised not to repeat what is contained in the Brébeuf Hymnal, and I won’t. Let me just say that what Monsignor Knox did with this ancient Latin poem is spectacular.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal 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

“In everything of any importance at all, Sarum (and all other mediæval rites) was simply Roman, the rite which we still use.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1912)

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