Views from the Choir Loft

Year of the Eucharist • Solemn Vespers with Exposition and Benediction

Richard J. Clark · August 7, 2020

S PART of the “Year of the Eucharist,” in the Archdiocese of Boston the Cathedral of the Holy Cross will offer Solemn Vespers with Exposition and Benediction (online for now) on First Fridays. This takes place in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The organ you will hear (and see) was built in 1881 by E. &. G. G. Hook & Hastings, restored by Watersmith in 1995. It is one manual with seven ranks.

You may watch here live at 7pm on August 7, 2020, and also watch from here after. You may view a worship guide here or follow along in the breviary, Friday of the eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Friday, Week II, evening prayer.

You’ll note, soprano Barbara Hill and I sing with masks. This has become standard practice at the Cathedral for now, however inconvenient. As always, we discover improvements we can make in production. Of course, this never replaces being there in the real presence of the Eucharist.

Payer is paramount. Prayer is powerful. We have much to pray for.

Oremus pro invicem

Let us pray for each other.

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

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

22 September 2020 • “Tears of Joy”

A reader wrote to us: “Thank you for the sample verses of Hymn #869 (Solemn Hymn to the Son of God). I found this music posted to YouTube this morning, and I’ve lost count at of the number of times I’ve replayed it and—no exaggeration!—it makes me tear up each time. This lovely hymn makes me feel closer to Jesus in a way I have not experienced before. It also makes me want to proceed with my daily prayers right then and there, rather than run off to the next errand or household task. I could play your traditional hymns and liturgical music all day long!” —(Ann from the Boston area)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Myth Re: Johann Sebastian Bach

Some musicologists try to make a “splash” by saying that Bach was totally forgotten when he died—remembered only as an organ virtuoso—and that his sons were more famous than he was. Such an idea is indefensible. It is true that musical styles changed in 1750AD—but this is normal. Musical styles change constantly; e.g. much of the repertoire of Hofmann and Rachmaninov was considered “garbage” toward the end of their lives. But those who carefully study the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christian Gottlob Neefe, Franz Liszt, John Field, Hans von Bülow, Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin, and countless others realize that Bach was revered. It’s true that his music was seldom played in public, but music by “dead composers” was generally speaking not played in public until approximately the middle of the 19th century.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Arthur Friedheim, Franz Liszt’s Secretary

Arthur Friedheim (d. 1932) has a very poor reputation as a pianist, and Liszt rejected him several times before finally accepting him as a pupil, yet the Liszt recordings he left are quite good—especially considering the transgressions by other Liszt pupils. Friedheim must have been an amazing musician; twice he was asked to become conductor of the New York Philharmonic (1898 + 1911) but he declined both times. Circa 1912, Friedheim was recording Chopin’s “Funeral March” but the record ran out, so he simply stopped in the middle of the piece. Things sure have changed! Pianists no longer stop in the middle of pieces, although Cortot would sometimes abridge pieces to make them fit on records (cf. Chopin’s Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brilliante).

—Jeff Ostrowski