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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

Hymn: “All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King” (Sopr, Alto, Tenr, Bass)

Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2020

WOULD WAGER you already know this tune, but probably not by the title of Valet will ich dir geben. That’s because anti-German sentiments arose around the time of the Great War, so somebody had the “brilliant” idea to rename all the tunes which had German names—and most of them did have German names! Thus, most modern books call this tune as “St Theodulph.” Today, a version has been posted that has individual rehearsal videos for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal was careful about vocal ranges. For instance, SAINT THEODULPH is often printed with harmonies that are difficult to sing because the ranges are excessively low. (Unfortunately, not all hymnal editors routinely stand in front of a choir!) The Brébeuf version solved this problem in quite a remarkable way.

Here is the beautiful arrangement found as #694:


* Access free rehearsal videos for each individual voice by clicking on #694.

There are many translations of the “Gloria Laus” besides the one in the video. For example, here is an English translation by Father Edward Caswall (d. 1878), a disciple of Cardinal Newman.

“Gloria Laus” has a verse that says: Coetus in excelsis te laudat coelicus omnis. A priest told me that—because of that verse—choirs traditionally sang this “from a high place.” Here is what he wrote:

I have heard that, whereas the Roman rite (before the alterations of the 1950s) directs that some chanters sing from inside the church before the door opens, in earlier times they would sing from a gallery above the door, or, where such a gallery was lacking, from a specially-raised platform; also that many places had boy choristers to represent the “children of the Hebrews.”

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal Last Updated: May 14, 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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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Although the Mass contains much instruction for the faithful, it has nevertheless not seemed expedient to the fathers that it be celebrated everywhere in the vernacular. The holy synod commands pastors and everyone who has the care of souls to explain frequently during the celebration of the Masses, either themselves or through others, some of the things that are read in the Mass, and among other things to expound some mystery of this most Holy Sacrifice, especially on Sundays and feastdays.”

— ‘Council of Trent, XII:8 (1562)’

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