Views from the Choir Loft

“Serviam Scores” • Mr. Richardson has a beautiful voice!

Jeff Ostrowski · August 4, 2020

OU MIGHT remember me taking about seasonal melodies for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The YouTube algorithms sent me one of those, which guided me to an interested YouTube channel called SERVIAM SCORES. Mr. James J. Richardson, the gentleman who runs SERVIAM SCORES, also maintains a YouTube page containing organ recordings. Satan was the one who said Non Serviam (“I will not serve”). But SERVIAM SCORES reverses that disobedience: Serviam (“I will serve”).

Mr. Richardson has quite a beautiful voice:

I see that he also recorded Stella Caeli Exstirpavit (Gregorian Chant During Times Of Pestilence), which we recently featured sung by young ladies from the Brébeuf Virtual Choir. Again, Mr. Richardson’s voice strikes me as quite beautiful:

SERVIAM SCORES does not currently have a website, but someday they will. They have produced numerous scores, and here’s a sample:

In spite of the utter devastation caused by Covid-19, I am encouraged to see more and more projects like SERVIAM SCORES. James J. Richardson can be reached at: ServiamScores@gmail.com.

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

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

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).

“Tonus Solemnior” • How old is it?

In the 1962 Missal, a section called “præfationes in tono solemniore” contains ornate melodies for the Preface. An article posted on the blog of the Church Music Association of America claims the tone comes from “the late 19th century” and said its elimination “is one of the very few good things which the post-Conciliar reform did for Gregorian chant.” The author said: “The Roman solemn preface tone is already beautiful enough, there was no need to give a more Romantic feel.”

Some have asked us whether the tonus solemnior comes from “the late 19th century.” It does not. Their author was wrong by at least 400 years. I have seen this tone in MSS from the 1400s—and it may go back even further. Here is an example from 1494AD. And here’s another from the 1400s. The FSSP priests use these tones on high feasts, and the effect is unforgettable.

—Jeff Ostrowski

6 January 2022 • Quick!

A short version of the INTROIT for the feast of the Epiphany has been added to the Saint René Goupil Gregorian Chant Website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Confusing Feasts of Christmas

Whether one considers the Missale Vetustum or the post-conciliar calendar—or even the 1908 calendar—the feasts which follow Christmas are very confusing. Last year I created this comparison chart. I hope you find it helpful. As far as I can tell, my chart is the first effort to carefully detail the changes made to post-Christmas feasts (unless we also count the rather basic one by Lauren Pristas).

—Jeff Ostrowski