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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Communion Antiphon (Mt 16:24) with Organ Accompaniment

Jeff Ostrowski · October 8, 2020

OT LONG AGO, I had the pleasure of introducing a Church music project which is the handiwork of a former student of mine. She and several others have come together to compose vernacular settings for the ROMAN GRADUAL according to the principles of Organum Comitans ad Graduale Sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae by Aloys Desmet (d. 1917) and Oscar Depuydt (d. 1925). These young musicians call themselves the Chaumonot Composers Group, and are currently in search of a publisher. 1

Here is another example of their work, shared with permission:

*  PDF Download • Communion Song (Ordinary Time)
—From the Graduale Romanum, 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B (Matthew 16:24).

I made a recording on my toy organ:

*  Mp3 File • Recorded on a Toy Organ

…just remember, I never claimed to have a ‘trained’ singing voice!

Caveat auditor!

ERE I CURRENTLY serving as choirmaster in an Ordinary Form parish with multiple Sunday Masses, I would probably find four excellent Communion antiphons like this one and—for Sunday Masses without a choir, such as 5:00PM—rotate them as follows: (a) First Sunday of the month; (b) Second Sunday of the month; (c) Third Sunday of the month; (d) Fourth Sunday of the month. I think it’s good to have members of the congregation repeat an important verse from Sacred Scripture over and over, so they can have “bits and pieces” to meditate on throughout their lives. As Father Valentine Young used to say: “The parts of Scripture I like best are those parts I am most familiar with.” This text is the Communion Antiphon (from the ROMAN GRADUAL) for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B; but it can also be used for any Sunday during Ordinary Time, 2 as you can see:

In omnibus Missis de Tempore eligi potest pro opportunitate, loco cuiusvis cantus diei proprii, alius ex eodem tempore.
Translation: “In all Masses of the Time it is permitted to replace the proper chant of the day with another belonging to the same season.”

These are the official rules for the Ordinary Form, signed by Archbishop Annibale Bugnini on 24 June 1972:

Importance of the Roman Gradual

Section 190 of the document “Sing to the Lord” (USCCB, 2007) says:

There are several options for the Communion song or chant, including the proper antiphon from the Graduale Romanum, a seasonal antiphon from the Graduale Simplex, an antiphon and psalm from a collection approved for liturgical use, or another appropriate liturgical song.

For the record, the “original translation from the Latin” found in the British Antiphonal added the words “says the Lord,” inexplicably:

Whoever wishes to come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me,
says the Lord.

If they are trying to reproduce what’s in the Graduale Romanum, it’s difficult for me to understand why they would add things which are not found in the ancient Proprium Missae.

 


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   This is similar to what we’ve seen with the Brébeuf Virtual Choir, which was formed by young singers who became friends at the FSSP Sacred Music Symposium in Los Angeles.

2   The PRAENOTANDA of the Graduale Romanum adds: “this is so that pastoral necessities may be more widely satisfied.”

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

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Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Chaumonot Communions, Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers Last Updated: October 12, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski
2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“At the hour for the Divine Office, | as soon as the signal is heard, | let them abandon whatever they may have in hand | and hasten with the greatest speed, | yet with seriousness, so that there is no excuse for levity. | Let nothing be preferred to the sacred liturgy.”

— Rule of St. Benedict (Chapter 43)

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