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Views from the Choir Loft

Brave Schola Director Posts iPhone Recording

Jeff Ostrowski · September 30, 2019

NE OF THE CHOIRS I direct has rehearsal every Thursday night. We did something rare on 26 September 2019—we canceled rehearsal. Instead, the singers from that choir sang for a special Mass, since it was the feast of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America: SS. John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and companions.

The balance of voices isn’t quite right—as we would expect from an iPhone resting in somebody’s pocket—but here’s a little Palestrina:


And here’s some Guerrero—with the normal caveats 1 about trying to capture choral sound:


Sometimes it seems like evil will prevail. Sometimes it seems we choirmasters have so many obstacles to overcome. Reading the lives of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America will remind us that serving Jesus Christ is all that matters. Let us repeat the prayer of St. Gabriel Lalemant during his martyrdom: “Jesus, have mercy on us!”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Choral sound cannot accurately be captured by microphones, and necessarily sounds “harsh” when reproduced on an iPhone or some other device. Nothing can substitute for the physical presence of a true choral sound.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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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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

Random Quote

Soloists are dangerous in any church choir! Their voices frequently do not blend with those of the other singers to form a rich, integrated tone.

— Roger Wagner

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