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Views from the Choir Loft

(Holy Trinity Sunday) • An Astonishing Hymn!

Jeff Ostrowski · May 29, 2021

RANZ LISZT ONCE SAID: “It’s easy to have opinions about music, but difficult to provide musical reasons for such opinions.” Along those same lines, there are certain pieces that choristers just love to sing. I’m not entirely sure why, yet I know this to be true—and the below is a perfect example. Singers relish these melodies and harmonies! And the text is sensational. Somehow, Monsignor Knox dug up an obscure Latin hymn and provided a breathtaking English translation. Typical of Knox, he provides rhymes even when certain lines don’t require them: a tour de force. Also, notice the stanza where Knox says: “Succor Thou the friendless.” That reminds me another translation by Monsignor Knox—Véni Sáncte Spíritus—where he says of the Holy Ghost: [Be thou] “solace when our friends are few.” It seems Knox has a particular sensitivity to people who have no friends. I think you will agree that lacking a special friend is a particularly difficult cross to bear.

Here is the Hymn for Trinity Sunday, which is #724 in the Brébeuf hymnal:

Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #724.

A live recording in English:

Have a blessèd Trinity Sunday!

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

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Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Iste Confessor, Monsignor Ronald Knox Traditional Mass, O Pater Sancte, Sarum Liturgical Use, Sarum Rite, TRINITY SUNDAY Last Updated: November 11, 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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Come now,” they said, “Thou who wouldst destroy the temple and build it up in three days, rescue Thyself; come down from that cross, if Thou art the Son of God.”

— Gospel of St. Matthew 27:42

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