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Views from the Choir Loft

“The Fifteen Best Catholic Hymns” • Wait……

Jeff Ostrowski · April 21, 2021

EVERAL YEARS AGO, in a traditionalist publication, a certain author created what he called: A List Of The Fifteen Best Hymns. He included the following: (1) At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing; (2) The Lamb’s High Banquet We Await. Do you see the problem? If that author had purchased the Brébeuf hymnal, he would have known those are both the same hymn! They are English translations of Ad Cœnam Agni Providi (also known as Ad Regias Agni Dapes after 1631AD). It makes no sense to create a list of “best hymns” containing duplicate entries. Willard Romney is not a different senator than Mitt Romney. John Ellis Bush is not a different governor than Jeb Bush. Eldrick Woods is not a different golfer than Tiger Woods.

Our Core Problem?

The author claimed he was an expert on hymnody—yet he was guilty of a rookie’s error. I sometimes wonder if church musicians make the mistake of talking about the sacred liturgy in ways the average Catholic cannot understand. In other words, we “assume” Catholics know things they actually don’t. We “assume” folks in the pews understand concepts which are—to be completely honest—quite complex for those who haven’t dedicated their lives to church music. We “assume” Catholics know the difference between a COLLECT and an INTROIT. We “assume” Catholics realize 30+ different translations exist for each Latin Breviary hymn. We “assume” people realize what 88 88 meter is, or 86 86, or 87 87 87.

Consider this live recording from last Sunday. How many people know what happens at marker 0:23—in terms of what the voices do?

Failure To Communicate Well

Church musicians: Is this what we’re doing wrong? Do we need to start speaking about the sacred liturgy in what we would consider painfully obvious language? Are be boring our potential students because we “assume” they have the same command of these subjects as we do?

If an “expert” of hymns doesn’t even realize he’s listing the same text twice, what can we reasonably expect from the “average” Catholics in the pews? (I hate talking about “average” Catholics, but hopefully you get the point.)

Do we too often fall into the trap of speaking to people, not at the level they are, but at the level at which we desire them to be?

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Hymn Meters, Hymnbooks, Jean de Brebeuf Hymnal Last Updated: April 21, 2021

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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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Goupil deserves the name of martyr not only because he has been murdered by the enemies of God and His Church while laboring in ardent charity for his neighbor, but most of all because he was killed for being at prayer and notably for making the Sign of the Cross.

— St. Isaac Jogues (after the martyrdom of Saint René Goupil)

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