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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Drafts • Ten (10) Gregorian Chant Litanies

Jeff Ostrowski · June 6, 2021

HE FOLLOWING DRAFT COPIES are somewehat “ugly,” and I feel embarrassed releasing them—but they’re all I have access to at the moment. As time goes on, I’d like to make very nice copies, similar to what my colleague, Veronica Brandt, did with the Litany of Saint Joseph. I believe the Latin title (“litaniæ”) is plural, but in English we usually say (singular) “litany.” 1 By the way, polyphonic composers—such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina—composed litanies, as I once stole an invertible Kyrie from one! We will use a litany for our Corpus Christi procession this coming Sunday (since the “external solemnity” requires a procession) but I suspect Palestrina’s litanies would have been sung inside an oratory. It was surprisingly difficult to find litanies notated with Gregorian Chant. Several texts are in the Rituale Romanum, and numerous organ accompaniments for the litanies have been uploaded here.

*  PDF Download • Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
—Print this out on a double-sided sheet of paper.

Litanies I Currently Possess:

Perhaps readers can help re-typeset these? The best would be if each invocation could be written out, or at least made more clear:

*  PDF Litany • “Litany of the Saints” (1957)
—“Litaniæ Sanctorum”

*  PDF Download • “Litany of the Saints” (1928)
—“Litaniæ Sanctorum”

*  PDF Download • Litany of Saint Joseph (1949)
—“Litaniæ Sancti Joseph, Sponsi Beatæ Mariæ Virginis”.

*  PDF Download • Litany of Saint Joseph (1957)
—“Litaniæ Sancti Joseph, Sponsi Beatæ Mariæ Virginis”.

*  PDF Download • Sacré Cœur (1924)
—“Litaniæ Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu”—see note below.

* That file from 1924 actually has two (2) versions of the Litany of the Sacred Heart — click here to have just the first one formatted for easy printing on front/back pages.

*  PDF Download • Sacré Cœur (1957)
—“Litaniæ Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu”.

*  PDF Download • Sacré Cœur, Version B (1902)
—“Litaniæ Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu”.

*  PDF Download • Sacré Cœur, Version C (1902)
—“Litaniæ Sacratissimi Cordis Jesu”.

*  PDF Download • MOST HOLY NAME (1928)
—“Litaniæ Sanctissimi Nominis Jesu”.

*  PDF Download • Blessed Virgin Mary (1891)
—Six different Gregorian Chant versions of the “Litany of Loreto.”

Someone in a foreign country seems to have composed a Litany of the Most Precious Blood and here is the source of that file.

KEYWORD SEARCHES:

“Litaniae In Expositione”
“Litania Preces Et Orationes”
“Cantu Litaniarum Ad Omnes Sanctos”
“Dicuntur Cum Cantu Litaniae Sanctorum”
“Cum Litaniis Sanctorum”
“In Litaniis Majoribus”
“Litaniæ Sanctissimi Nominis Jesu”
“Litaniæ De Sacro Corde Jesu”
“Litaniæ Lauretanæ B. Mariæ Virg.”
“Litaniæ De S. Joseph”
“Index Litaniarum”
“Litanias Ordinarias”


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   It’s kind of like the Latin word “vexilla” which in English means “flag” or “standard”—but Father Fortescue translated it plural as “banners” in his translation of the VEXILLA REGIS.

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

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Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Gregorian Chant Litanies, Litany of Saint Joseph, Litany of the BVM, Litany of the Sacred Heart Last Updated: August 17, 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

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

[Speaking about the Silent Canon, with audible “per ómnia”] — “So in all such cases it is usual for the otherwise silent celebrant occasionally to sing a clause aloud, to show how far he has arrived.”

— Father Fortescue (pages 313-314) • “A Study of the Roman Liturgy”

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