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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Erunt Signa In Sole” (Advent)

Andrea Leal · November 21, 2019

80768 sperabo NE OF THE challenges of a small choir is having enough singers to pull off any kind of polyphony. Last year I came across a series of Advent motets by Deigo de las Muelas (1698-1743). He was a Spanish composer who served as the “maestro de capilla” for the cathedrals of Astorga and Santiago de Compostela. The original voicing for the 1st Sunday in Advent (“Erunt Signa in Sole”) is for SATB. However, last year this was not something we could have managed. Therefore, I studied the music (briefly, because I do everything with multiple children hanging from each of my limbs) and arranged it for SAT. If you have enough voices for SATB, the original can be found on cpdl.

I recorded each of the parts for my choir last year. Perhaps these tracks will be useful to some of you with smaller volunteer choirs this Advent:

* *  PDF Download • Erunt Signa Sole for Three Voices


Our YouTube channel has rehearsal videos for each individual voice. You can see where the text comes from by downloading the 1st Sunday of Advent and looking at the Gospel:

(Luke 21:25)

Et erunt signa in sole, et luna, et stellis,
et in terris pressura gentium
præ confusione sonitus maris, et fluctuum…

The sun and the moon and the stars will give portents,
and on earth the nations will be in distress,
bewildered by the roaring of the sea and of its waves…

Remember that 99% of the people attending Mass on Sunday have no idea what it “ought” to sound like. Music scholars might need their smelling salts and a fainting couch when they hear about this guerrilla tactic, but if you have to reduce an SATB piece to just SA, ST or SB, then do it. This will help you get started in singing some polyphony until your choir’s abilities progress. You can still pull off something pleasing to the Lord that is worlds better than a typical jingly jangly modern hymn. It is true that some pieces of music cannot be reduced because they simply lose too much beauty in the harmonic progression of the chords. This is a judgement call you will have to make.

If you just aren’t sure it will work, use your phone to record your choir singing the reduced version of whatever amazing polyphonic piece you want to try. Then let a friend, co-worker, family member, or Sharon from the soccer carpool take a listen. If they hear it and make a face like they just bit into a lemon, then fine—maybe it won’t work. But if they find it pleasant to listen to, then press on. Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Background For This Article

Anyone who has built a choir from the ground up knows that there are some things that simply cannot be circumvented no matter how badly you want to. For example, singing the full propers when your volunteer choir is just starting out is virtually impossible. So you rely on psalm tone propers and try to learn one or two full chants a month. You build from there, and every year you add to the repertoire until one day you find that your choir is not only capable of singing all of the propers for the year in full, they can even sight sing Gregorian chant. But this does not happen overnight. The process can take years. It is not for the faint of heart or the impatient soul! There are a myriad of obstacles along the way, not the least of which is sometimes…you. As music directors we are limited by our imperfections and our own gaps in knowledge. Sometimes, we are learning right alongside choir members—and that’s ok. Maybe you got thrown into the position by default because there was no one else who was remotely capable of leading a choir. I know there are a lot of music directors reading this right now who have minimal formal musical training, if any. Maybe “music director” is even too lofty a title for what you do (this is definitely true of me). You are out there, trying your best to build up something beautiful and sacred that will befit the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. You might be in it virtually alone, but you desperately want to help draw souls to Christ. And it’s hard. I know because I am right there with you.

We have seen many articles on this website of incredible scholarly insight. We have heard from the absolute best professionals in sacred music. We have benefited tremendously and soaked up every bit of knowledge offered. And now…you get to go slumming with me! Over the next few months, I will humbly offer some of the “guerrilla tactics” in sacred music that I have learned along the way. This is for all you church musicians who just got thrown into the pool even though you didn’t know how to swim. Sometimes, we are going to make the rules up as we go along. But this is always in order to glorify God as deeply as we know how. We are going to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make it happen!

Andrea Leal
Choirmaster, Latin Mass Parish in Las Vegas
(Parish Website)
(Latin Mass Facebook Page—Las Vegas)


We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Andrea Leal.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 12, 2020

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About Andrea Leal

Andrea Leal is a wife and homeschooling mother of 6 children. She serves as choir director for the Traditional Latin Mass in Las Vegas.—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

He stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor Pope Pius IV to his face when he wanted to make a 13-year-old member of his family a cardinal and subsidize a nephew from the papal treasury.

— Re: Pope Saint Pius V (d. 1572)

Recent Posts

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  • Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
  • “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
  • Little Encouragement?

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