Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • A Eucharistic Piece My Choir Loves

Jeff Ostrowski · November 8, 2019

ODAY, I am going to make news. For months, I have been assisting in proofreading the Choral Supplement to the Brébeuf Hymnal. Folks, a choirmaster’s life will never be the same once this book is released. It’s about 1,100 pages, and totally magnificent: unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We all know Catholic music is a mess right now, but this publication—in my humble opinion—will go a long way towards fixing things!

What Is The Purpose?

Put simply, the Choral Supplement provides SATB settings for the hymns in the Brébeuf Pew edition. For many reasons, we encourage choirmasters to emphasize “German style” in parishes: Unison + Organ. But there can be certain moments when SATB singing is desired, and that’s why this book was created. ¹

Here is a sample score:

* * PDF Download • EARLY RELEASE SAMPLE (Choral Supplement)

My choirs love to sing “Sancti Venite” from the Brébeuf Hymnal. We usually sing Unison + Organ, alternating between ladies and men—and it works extremely well. But the 9:00am choir really wanted to try SATB. A member of the Tenor section sent me an iPhone recording:

When you listen, please remember that this choir is 100% volunteers, and very few members read music. The more we sing it, the better it will get.

You can rehearse each individual part at the Brébeuf website. I wish more people would go explore the rehearsal videos; but nobody ever does. I’m not sure why this is…they are so much fun! Anyhow, the JP2 Institute has requested that no more rehearsal videos be posted until the Choral Supplement has been released—so be prepared for a whole bunch more videos soon!

When Is The Release Date?

The Choral Supplement is expected to be released on 8 December 2019, a date which had special meaning for Saint Jean de Brébeuf and his companions. One reason it took so long is the beautiful formatting. Do you see the difference between “standard” formatting by a program such as Sibelius?

80858-why-we-format-yellow-sm

This book is a supplement.

In other words, the Choral Supplement only makes sense used in conjunction with the Pew Edition. All the literal translations, color pages, footnotes, etc. are found in the Pew Edition.

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1 To say nothing of descants, alternatim between genders, organ interludes, and so on.

About Jeff Ostrowski

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004), and did graduate work in Musicology. He serves as choirmaster for the new FSSP parish in Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife and children.

Too much music!

Choosing music for the Sacred Music Symposium requires careful consideration. We make sure (always) to have great variety. Because the schedule is so full, there’s never sufficient time to discuss the music fully—indeed, we could easily do a month-long seminar on each piece! For example, last year Dr. Calabrese conducted a setting of the Magnificat by Father Guerrero (d. 1599). It is one of the most magnificent (pardon the pun) pieces ever written, and I wish I had time to point out the brilliant way he syncopates the word “dispersit,” which means “He has scattered” or “He has dispersed.” Superb!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Sharing Is Caring”

I would like to share a message from a highly respected scholar. (His articles appear in distinguished journals such as Études grégoriennes and Oxford’s Early Music.) He wrote as follows:

The Brébeuf Hymnal is very tastefully done. Your team has exquisite literary and musical taste. I see from my copy of the hymnal that you also set Ex more docti to “Rockingham” (one of my favorite melodies for “When I survey the wondrous cross”). I especially appreciate the background information at the bottom of the page. When I played at the Lutheran church, I would always have a little note about the music, sometimes about a hymn, if the “Hymnal Companion” offered something of interest. The church we attend has battered Worship II hymnals (one per pew), but almost nobody seems to want to sing. I congratulate you on the staggering amount of work it took to produce the Brébeuf hymnal: excellent contents and production.

—Jeff Ostrowski

What Frightens Me

The world’s experts have been releasing contradictory statements Re: Covid-19. I am neither a doctor nor a scientist, so I won’t comment; but I have something to say about the spine-tingling predictions made by certain politicians. When I was growing up, they told us “within ten years” we would starve due to overpopulation. The next year, they said “within ten years” we would fry due to global warming. The next year, they told us “within ten years” the oceans would have no fish because of overfishing. The next year, they told us “within ten years” the deficit would become unsustainable and we’d all go bankrupt. The next year, they told us “within ten years” there would be no clean water due to pollution. None of these things happened.

I believe in taking every precaution. I urge our readers to take Covid-19 seriously. At the same time, we have an obligation to consider the effects of our “reaction”—yet few seem to be doing this. And that really scares me.

—Jeff Ostrowski