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Views from the Choir Loft

Can These Youngsters Save Catholic Music?

Jeff Ostrowski · July 8, 2020

CAN DECLARE myself the King of France, but that doesn’t make it so. I can say I’m an Olympic Gold Medalist, but that doesn’t make it so. Similarly, calling a composition “a canon” doesn’t make it a canon. Canons are the most difficult composition to write because they follow strict rules; indeed, canon means “rule.” I thought this was basic knowledge until I came across a shameful book published by GIA Publications called 59 Liturgical Rounds. In this book, editor William Tortolano has taken a whole bunch of tunes and pretended they are rounds (canons). The trouble is, many aren’t. When something is not a proper canon, labeling it as such is pure folly. Such contemptible rubbish—published by a company that was formerly called “Gregorian Institute of America”—makes me wonder whether our current culture is still capable of appreciating even basic realities about the craft of music. Is there any hope left? Such ignorance is enough to tempt one to despair.

…but then I encounter something like The Brébeuf Virtual Choir.

These youngsters—who met one another at the Sacred Music Symposium—recently recorded a piece by Father Tomás Luis de Victoria which contains a perfect canon between the two Soprano lines. These youngsters are doing amazing things; and I am filled with hope.

To download the score free of charge, visit Lalemant Polyphonic and search for #7412. Rehearsal videos for each individual voice are posted there, too.

August 6th is the feast of the Transfiguration; but the piece also works well for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. You can learn more about this amazing piece here:

*  Online Article • “Resplenduit Facies Ejus”

If you don’t really understand what a canon is, listen to the following section with Tenor & Bass muted:

The top two voices form the canon: “Canon ad unisonum” and “Resolutio.” Canons are often employed for this text because the previous verse says: “Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John with him, and led them to a high mountain…” Anytime Renaissance composers hear someone “leading” someone else, they try to employ a canon.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Brébeuf Virtual Choir Last Updated: July 8, 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

    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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“I examined him in your presence, and could find no substance in any of the charges you bring against him; nor could Herod, when I referred you to him. It is plain that he has done nothing which deserves death. I will scourge him, and then he shall go free.”

— Pontius Pilate

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