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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Singing in the Papal Choir during the 16th century…

Jeff Ostrowski · March 6, 2020

“Juan Sánchez, first admitted in June, 1529, was the most flamboyant member of the generally hot-tempered Spanish section of the choir. In January, 1540, not wishing to sing the part allotted him by the director, he hit him “in the presence of the Sacrament,” thus creating a “very great scandal.” He was imprisoned, but the Spaniards in the choir banded together and sent Ordoñez to plead with the Pope, who indulgently reinstated him with only the proviso that Sánchez lose senior status in the choir and return in the rank of a beginner. […] Even after reinstatement, however, Sánchez continued to behave badly—often pretending to be sick when he wanted a day off, and quarreling with other choir members. Like Sánchez and Ordoñez, Nuñez was not above pretending to be sick when it suited his convenience to work in his garden.”

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

Filed Under: Quick Thoughts Last Updated: March 6, 2020

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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

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“So, as in delirium a man talks in a long-forgotten tongue, now—when her heart is rent—the Catholic Church drops twenty centuries without an effort, and speaks as she spoke underground in Rome, and in Paul’s hired house, and in Crete and Alexandria and Jerusalem.”

— A non-Catholic describing the “Hagios O Theos” of Good Friday in 1906

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