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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Lucis Creator Optime” (Vespers Hymn)

Jeff Ostrowski · January 21, 2020

HEN I PLAY organ for Vespers on Sunday afternoon, sometimes I have to jump in and sing. It doesn’t happen often—because we usually have at least 30-40 singers—but on certain days it’s necessary…such as the Sunday before Thanksgiving, when the attendance was quite sparse! We normally do the “Lucis Creator Optime” to a metrical hymn setting, taken from the Brébeuf Hymnal (since everything else is sung in plainsong) but sometimes we sing the plainsong version.

I composed this organ accompaniment following the “Brébeuf method,” where every verse is written out:

*  PDF Download • “Lucis Creator Optime” (Vespers Hymn)

Perhaps my favorite thing about the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal is how every single verse of the organ accompaniments is carefully written out. It makes life so easy, I actually feel guilty! Notice how the accompaniment provides contrasting accompaniments for the same melodic phrase; one has the bass line in descending stepwise motion, while the other has the bass line in ascending stepwise motion:

But the Brébeuf Hymnal is hardly the first book to recognize how essential it is to write out every verse. Take a look at this special Paris edition of the Antiphonale, printed in 1913:

By the way, the approbation in the front of that book is by Cardinal Martinelli, who wrote a very important letter condemning the “Mocquereau” rhythm, the “Wagner” rhythm, and the “Haberl” rhythm. We shall speak of that letter another day…

I think you’ll agree we have made tremendous progress since 1851, when this accompaniment appeared:

(That is from an 1851 book called “Hymnarium Vesperale.”)

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

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Filed Under: Articles, Featured, PDF Download Tagged With: Gregorian Chant Accompaniments Last Updated: February 18, 2021

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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

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

Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note “Ut,” renaming it “Do.” He convinced his contemporaries to make the change by arguing that 1) “Do” is easier to pronounce than “Ut,” and 2) “Do” is an abbreviation for “Dominus,” the Latin word for the Lord, Who is the tonic and root of the world. There is much academic speculation that Giovanni Doni also wanted to imprint himself into musical canon in perpetuity because “Do” is also ulteriorly an abbreviation for his family name.

— Giovanni Battista Doni died in 1647AD

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