Views from the Choir Loft

A Traditional—But Bizarre!—Way To Assist At Mass

Jeff Ostrowski · January 31, 2020 ·

ECAUSE I served on the committee which produced the Brébeuf hymnal, I was allowed to examine all the source material. Our team spent five years scanning thousands of pages of old Catholic hymnals, so we would be fully aware of the traditions. (The quality of the hymns varied greatly.) Something we found often was a tradition of singing English throughout Low Mass. I know it sounds incredible, but Catholics used to sing vernacular hymns while the priest was quietly offering Mass in Latin. If you doubt what I say, feel free to examine the full documentation.

I won’t repeat what I’ve already explained about this bizarre practice, which I don’t endorse. Some people will probably object, saying children need a way to participate in Mass; and I do understand such a sentiment. But—in my humble opinion—these musical compositions and the poetry (see below) are of a very poor quality. Pope Leo XIII said people should pray the Rosary during Mass, and I feel that makes a lot more sense than (for example) singing English hymns while the priest quietly proclaims the Gospel. I don’t want to condemn people’s devotion; it just strikes me as bizarre.

Today, I release for your consideration another example of singing English during Low Mass, taken from the Crown of Jesus Roman Catholic Hymnal (London, 1864):

Here is page 23:

Here is page 24:

Here is page 25:

Here is page 26:

Here is page 27:

Here is page 28:

Here is page 29:

Here is page 30:

Here is page 31:

Here is page 32:

Here is page 33:

Here is page 34:

Here is page 35:

A closer view of that page:

Here is page 36:

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.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski