“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)
A document from 1822 shows that 29 June, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, used to be a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States. By 1864 it was no longer a Holy Day of Obligation—but the bishops of the United States were asked to celebrate it “solemnly” on the following Sunday, which […]
If you fail to carefully plan your rehearsal, you’ll be eaten alive. And rightfully so!
A few weeks ago, we posted a perfect Canon by Giovanni Maria Nanino (d. 1607), who was a colleague of Palestrina. Here is a Live Recording by a volunteer choir. The score scrolls by as the singers perform it. It was recorded yesterday at Mass.
Like so many others, we lost about a year’s worth of rehearsals due to Covid19. We are trying to make up for lost time, and we have begun learning Father Guerrero’s Missa De Beata Virgine II published in Rome circa 1582. Here is a 37 second audio clip recorded at Mass last Sunday. We have […]
If you missed it, you can hear my iPhone recording on YouTube. But will it be quite the same?
I could not do my job without the Brébeuf Hymnal. Here’s a Live Recording (20 seconds) from last night’s Mass. Our volunteer choir is frequently called upon—at the last second—to sing for first Masses, solemn high Masses, dedication Masses, and so forth. With the Brébeuf Hymnal, I can always pull out marvelous, wonderful, thrilling songs […]
Does plainsong work in English? It actually can!
This is a large file (172 MB), but trust me! You will love it.
If you enjoy juicy dissonances and hearing the sun dart in and out of the clouds, you’ll love this modern setting of an ancient text.
The Fulton J. Sheen Missal (1961) does something rather puzzling…
This liturgical controversy lasted for fifty years!
Don’t ask me how this booklet works … but it does.
“Once there were lost islands, but most of them have been found…”
One of our choristers recorded this audio excerpt from a recent rehearsal we had. I know there are certain people on the internet who claim that “proper voice leading & harmonies died with Bach in 1750AD…anything goes these days.” But I could not disagree more with such an assertion. The proper rules of harmony and […]
Ronald Reagan stopped being governor of California in 1975; then Jerry Brown was elected. Bizarrely, Brown ended his final term in 2019.
A perfect canon is the hardest thing to compose—and this is one!
We seldom post YouTube videos, and hope our readers will pardon this exception…
What exactly is “the presence” ??
…church musicians will be surprised by this!
Add variety to the singing, so choir members will “take delight” in what they are doing—and they should be “taking delight” in singing praises to God.
