Views from the Choir Loft

Incredible Opportunity In Kansas City

Lucas Tappan · February 12, 2020 ·

WOULD like to share information about an incredible sacred music position in Kansas City, Kansas, recently created by a good friend of mine, Fr. Nick Blaha, at Christ the King Catholic Church and School. Fr. Blaha, a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College in California, as well as a veteran FOCUS missionary, was made pastor of CTK last year and already is transitioning the parish’s school to begin providing a classical education beginning the fall of this year (2020), and music, especially sacred music, will play a central role in the school’s (and parish’s) daily life.

He is specifically looking for someone who understands “that a musically literate culture is foundational for the cultivation of beauty and the worship of God… Educators who seek to shape students in both wisdom and virtue, and who share the belief that music and aesthetics play an integral part in the content of a Catholic liberal arts education should apply.”

Whomever he hires will have reign over music both in the school and at the parish and I cannot stress enough what an immense blessing it would be to work for Fr. Blaha.

Full details about the position can be viewed here.

About Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four 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