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Views from the Choir Loft

Saint Eulalia Gradual • Guest Article by Josh Carey

Guest Author · July 5, 2020

HROUGHOUT my childhood, even up to the age of 18, I was determined to never drink coffee. And then I went to college. By my third day, I woke up so exhausted that I found myself waiting in a very long line at the campus café for a very overpriced cup with a drizzle of actual coffee and layers of cream, sugar and flavored syrup on top. For my unrefined palate, it was easy to drink. Eventually I graduated to real coffee, but piled with flavored creamer, and three spoonsful of sugar on top. If that last sentence made you cringe, you are in good company. I eventually kicked the sugar and can now even enjoy coffee with a small splash of unflavored cream. I hope one day I can enjoy black coffee of various origins and roasts. In this unprecedented time, many of us are seeing a unique opportunity to use the beauty and simplicity of chanting the Mass propers in lieu of whatever semi (or fully) undesirable model we may have been using. In my parish, the inability to use handouts or hymnals for sanitary reasons is driving our need for something simple which can be sung responsorially by the congregation. However, there are many challenges to just jumping in, headfirst, to chanting the propers as they were intended to be chanted. If you are in a similar situation at your parish, then you too see the need to gradually remove the overly saccharine a little at a time. (Does the coffee metaphor make sense now?)

There are many wonderful resources out there which bridge the gap between the “four hymn sandwich” and the Roman Gradual. However, not all may be appropriate for your situation. Especially right now, many would require handouts or additional books, which is just not feasible with the restrictions of the pandemic. So, I humbly offer one more resource for your consideration. 1

A sample for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (with Year A Responsorial Psalm) can be found at the following link:

*  Saint Eulalia Gradual • Sample Files
—A project by Joshua D. Carey.


I am calling this project the St. Eulalia Gradual, in honor of the patron of my parish. For each Sunday in Ordinary Time I have set the Entrance and Communion Antiphons from the Missal (it was always a practice at my parish to recite these at daily Mass, and my pastor brought this into Sunday Mass during the pandemic before music was reintroduced). I have also set the Responsorial Psalm and the Gospel Acclamation with its verse. Here is my methodology:

(a) I have written a setting of the Alleluia to be used for the entire season, together with 3 chant-tone verses to be used on a rotation (e.g. the first, fourth, seventh, etc. Sundays would use Tone I, and so on). The Entrance, Psalm and Communion antiphons are also set this tone, and then rhythms are added, based on the natural speaking rhythm of each antiphon, giving a metrical setting of the antiphon. The verses are chanted to the same tone.

(b) For the Entrance and Communion, I have tried to use the Missal antiphon unaltered. If an antiphon is lengthy, however, I have tried to break it into two sections so that the first is used as the antiphon and the second is used as the first verse. On rare occasion I have left out words that are less essential to the meaning of the passage or put the words in a different order that convey the same meaning. I try to avoid this at all costs.

(c) The Entrance and Communion each have two verses. Verse one is either from the psalm indicated in the Missal, or from the antiphon itself as described above. Verse two is the Gloria Patri.

This has been extremely successful in my parish, and I plan to continue until I’ve set the entire church year. My goal is then to move on to something more authentic, especially when choral singing can resume to its fullest extent. If you are interested in this project and/or would like to use these settings at your parish, please contact me through my website at the above link.

We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Joshua D. Carey.

 


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Disclaimer: My degrees are in mathematics, although I have studied organ seriously up through the collegiate level. At the end of the day, I am a trained musician, but not a trained composer. Also, as mentioned above, this solution is by no means a permanent one; this is meant to deliver us to the destination of beautiful, traditional liturgy.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: July 5, 2020

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President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The choir shall henceforth sing or say no anthems of our Lady or other Saints, but only of our Lord, and then not in Latin; but choosing out the best and most sounding to Christian religion they shall turn the same into English, setting thereunto a plain and distinct note for every syllable one: they shall sing them and none other.”

— 1548 Edict of King Edward VI (a heretic) for Lincoln Cathedral

Recent Posts

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  • Boston Auxiliary Bishop: “In offering the Traditional Mass for the first time, after removing the vestments, I knelt in the back pew and wept.”

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