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Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

The First Time We’ve Ever Done This Correctly!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 16, 2020

N THE HUNDREDTH anniversary of the publication of the Editio Vaticana GRADUAL, Jeffrey Tucker asked me if he could scan my personal copy, which I had purchased from Germany. In 2008, I published an article in the SACRED MUSIC MAGAZINE—which begins on page 21—explaining the melismatic moræ vocis. In my article, you’ll find the following sentence, which Jeffrey Tucker wrote:

“The Vatican Edition of the Graduale Romanum is now online. I’m happy to report that it is my personal copy that now resides on the CMAA server and is bringing this beautiful book—all 940 pages of it—to the world for the first time, and on its hundredth anniversary.”

Mr. Tucker insisted that I include his words, even though I felt they made me sound arrogant. In any event, if you look in that 1908 Graduale, you will notice how Abbot Pothier included a section called “De Ritibus Servandis In Cantu Missae.” I published an English translation of this document in January of 2017 (cf. Nine Rubrics for Mass in the Extraordinary Form). Here’s what Abbot Pothier says about singing the ALLELUIA:

Translated into English, that means: “If two Alleluias with a verse are to be sung, the first Alleluia is chanted by one or two voices up to the asterisk: the choir then repeats the Alleluia and adds the neume (or “jubilus”), drawing out the syllable “A.” The Cantors sing the Verse, which is completed in full chorus from the asterisk, as before. The Verse done, the Cantor or Cantors repeat the Alleluia, and the chorus adds the neume only.”

However, we never follow that. We always have the entire choir repeat the final Alleluia, from beginning to end. If you ask me why I don’t do it correctly, I don’t really have a good answer; we just don’t.

Here is how it’s supposed to be done:

On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we did it correctly for the first time ever!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: De Ritibus Servandis, melismatic morae vocis, Propers Our Lady Guadalupe Last Updated: December 17, 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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. I don’t know a more gorgeous ENTRANCE CHANT than the one given there: Misericórdia Dómini Plena Est Terra.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Easter
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. The English adaptation matches the authentic version (Misericórdia Dómini), which is in a somber yet gorgeous mode. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • “Repertoire for Weddings”
    Not everyone thinks about sacred music 24/7 like we do. When couples are getting married, they often request “suggestions” or “guidance” or a “template” for their musical selections. I created this music list with repertoire suggestions for Catholic weddings. Please feel free to download it if you believe it might give you some ideas or inspiration.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

If they protest and want, for example, to retain at least the familiar chants of the ordinary Mass in Latin, they are told that their protest is worthless. They are not “trained.” There is no reason to take account of what they say!

— Father Louis Bouyer (1968)

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