Hymns for the Holy Name of Jesus
Covid-friendly hymns for the Feast of the Holy Name.
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Archives for December 2020
Start the New Year Right with a Spectacular Alleluia
If you attend the Extraordinary Form, the Alleluia for the Octave of the Nativity will enable you to start the New Year with a bang.
“Homily — Feast of the Holy Family, Year B” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
I can speak mainly from my experience with Indians, more specifically the Navajos; their native culture has a great respect and love for marriage and family life.
Chasing the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
I thought making a course on singing the Little Office would be an easy project. However, as with just about everything to do with Sacred Music, there is so much more to it than you expect.
PDF Download • “Midnight Mass Musical Plan” (2020)
To show our singers how special our music is, I’ve included ancient MSS for each piece—as well as rehearsal videos.
23 December 2020 • A 5th? or 4th?
I have noticed that where the Editio Vaticana has a descending perfect fourth for the Gradual of Christmas Midnight Mass, many ancient manuscripts have a descending perfect fifth, which is pretty cool: Example A — Example B. The Vatican Edition is a CENTO, and never made any claim to be anything other than a CENTO. […]
PDF Download • “Creator Alme Siderum” with Organ Accompaniment
The Brébeuf Hymnal provides ancient (Roman Catholic) English translations of this hymn, but Eleanor Parker found versions in Anglo-Saxon!
“Improving As Musicians” • Eight Suggestions
Did you know I communicate with dead Catholic composers? I’m not joking.
Hidden Gem: Alma Redemptoris Mater (Salazar)
Here’s a Spanish Baroque motet that will gradually, gently win your heart while giving your choir another good option for the entire Christmas cycle.
What’s With All the Chant?
I had the honor of presenting this material to my parishioners at St. Thérèse Little Flower Catholic Church last week.
Announcement of Easter & the Movable Feasts • 2021 • English & Spanish
The following free downloads in English and Spanish contain dates for 2021 in the score.
(Installment #15) “Catholic Hymnals” • William Fritz
To (re)Harmonize a Hymn—“Anima Christi” by Dr. Theodore Marier
The First Time We’ve Ever Done This Correctly!
Abbot Pothier included a section called “De Ritibus Servandis In Cantu Missae.”
“Blessing the Bell” • Most Rev’d Alejandro D. Aclan
When a monk hears the bell, he stops whatever he’s doing and immediately goes to prayer. It is the voice of God calling us to pray, to avoid sin, and to forget the things of this world and think of Him.
Saint Paul’s Choir School Presents “Starry Night: Christmas in Harvard Square”
A beacon of light in a dark time, the Saint Paul’s Choir of Men and Boys presents “Starry Night: Christmas in Harvard Square”
How to Help Children Match Pitch (part III)
Three more tips on what to do and how to act with your young music students. Learn the secret ingredient of success!
“Rorate Mass” (FSSP) • 12 December 2020
Attendance was standing room only. Afterwards, the children presented roses to Mary—as the entire parish prayed the Rosary—and then we consecrated California to Jesus Christ.
“Homily — 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
As the Gloria during Mass suggests, we should “thank Him simply because of His great glory.” When is the last time you did that?
Safety in Music is a Pro-Life Issue
Updated music protocols in the Archdiocese of Boston include multiple layers of protection: masks, ventilation, distance, time.
10 December 2020 • “Martinelli’s Letter”
My recent post on the repercussion has induced some to ask: “Can we just sing whatever rhythm we want for the Vatican Edition? What about mensuralism? What about Bonvin and Vollaerts?” For those of us who work in the Extraordinary Form, we must follow the rhythm of the Editio Vaticana, and this was addressed in […]
Offertory Compared • “Ave Maria” (4th Sunday of Advent) vs. “Ave Maria” (Immaculate Conception)
Consider the melody found in “Le Graduel Romain,” published in 1800—nine years before Napoleon Bonaparte kidnapped Pope Pius VII
9 December 2020 • A Cool Tradition
Before the reforms of the “Code of Rubrics” (1961), antiphons at Vespers were abbreviated in a cool way. For example, look at this antiphon, Ecce Veniet (from Vespers on the 4th Sunday of Advent). But that tradition—as far as I know—ended in 1961, with §191 which said: “The whole antiphon is always said before and […]
Gregorian Chant • “How To Sing The Repercussion” (such as: Bistropha, Tristropha, etc.)
Each monastery had its own particular way of singing plainsong.
How to Help Children Match Pitch (part II)
Got your kids singing in head tone? Good. Next, try these two tips to eliminate obstacles to their success.
The Prophet Baruch: Surge, Ierusalem, Look to the East!
The communion chant for the Second Sunday of Advent, together with the introit and offertory, invite us to reflect on the Holy City, Jerusalem.