• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Spanish Australian Setting of Salve Joseph

Veronica Brandt · April 30, 2021

For those keen to have a new hymn in Latin for this Year of Saint Joseph, here is the sheet music:

* *  Salve Joseph, one page, chorus + 4 two part verses

Salve Joseph, setting from Dom Esteban Moreno

For those of you who like long winded stories, here follows my search for this hymn.


One of our senior parishoners gave me a list of hymns to include in an upcoming hymnbook. An especial favorite was Salve Joseph, which she had as a short hymn with a Latin chorus and English verses. Searching for the English words on the internet yielded just one copy, in the Eucharistic Booklet for a Celebration of the Life of a Josephite sister from Melbourne:

In Loving Memory of Sr Cathy Dean

The Josephite version was all in English and credited simply “Traditional, Sisters of St Joseph”. The Sisters were founded by Australia’s one and only official Saint and have taught in many schools around the country and even spread to South America. You can probably get a sense of the current vibe of the order from that booklet. I wasn’t sure about contacting them.

The Latin, however, turned out to be part of a much longer hymn, seven stanzas of which appear in The Catholic Youth’s Hymn Book, 1871 and one more in this blog. The music, however, is different in the former and absent in the latter. The latter does however contain an English translation, which I searched for as well and turned up its appearance in a Canadian newspaper (maybe related to the presence of the Oratory of St Joseph there):

From the Canadian Register 1944

Another search for the Latin turned up a recording from an Australian choir – with the same tune that my parishioner remembered:

Schola Cantorum, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Albury, NSW

Contacting the Schola at St Patrick’s came to a dead end, but the notes for their recording credited Esteban Moreno.

But my initial searches for Esteban Moreno proved fruitless. This was because, in Australia, he was more usually known as Dom Stephen Moreno OSB. From Western Australia’s legendary Benedictine Monastery of New Norcia.

My searches stalled for a while, until I happened upon this amazing treasure in a box of Catholic booklets.

So, now I had a similar, but not identical version of the English, plus the music for the hymn.

More searching turned up much more music in the National Library of Australia. As Dom Moreno died in 1953, his music is out of copyright in Australia, unless it was first published after 1 January 1955 – which is hard to ascertain as sheet music from that time seldom carries a date.

Noted composer Dom Stephen Moreno has died in Marseilles. His death was announced yesterday by the Benedictine community, New Norcia. Dom Moreno, who left Fremantle on February 5, was on a holiday visit to Spain, Italy and other European countries. He had been in ill-health for some time before his departure. He died in the Hospital of St. Joseph, Marseilles, and will be buried at the Monastery of St. Benedict at En-Calcat.
Dom Moreno was born in Spain in 1890 and entered the Benedictine order in, 1904.
He was a prolific and internationally-known composer of church music and his works include 21 Masses, 182 Motets, 150 litanies, 84 Offertories and 52 Hymns. Many more of his compositions are still unpublished.
Dom Moreno’s brother Father Henry Moreno OSB, also died while on a visit to Spain some years ago.

Sunday Times, Perth 1953

And here is the result of my investigations, pairing the music from the Saint Benedict Hymnal with the Latin text:

* *  Salve Joseph, one page, chorus + 4 two part verses

New Norcia looks like a lovely place which I hope to visit one day. I also typed up another of Dom Moreno’s pieces, a setting of Adoro Te which splits into 3 parts half way through each verse. His style is very approachable and has a friendly, modern flavor. This could help fledgling choirs gain confidence with singing sacred music in Latin. I look forward to exploring more of his work in the future.

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

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: April 30, 2021

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

The Sacrifice is celebrated with many solemn rites, none of which should be deemed useless or superfluous. On the contrary, all of them tend to display the majesty of this august sacrifice, and to excite the faithful, when beholding these saving mysteries, to contemplate the divine things which lie concealed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

— Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)

Recent Posts

  • Help! • Seeking “Machine Gun” Singing Technique
  • Three (3) Cheerful Items • “Sacred Music Revolution”
  • Who Should Sing the Passion? What about Tracts?
  • “Seventy-Three (73) Changes” • Which Pope Pius XII Made to Holy Week
  • Three (3) Tricks Every Choir Director Should Learn

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.