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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

It Finally Happened.

Jeff Ostrowski · August 4, 2021

OMETHING PRETTY PERVERSE happened when The Saint John Brébeuf Hymnal was released to the public a few years ago. Certain voices on the internet—who claimed to be “experts” in the field of sacred music—ferociously attacked this book because of its approach to common melodies. Readers probably remember how the Brébeuf hymnal took an exceptionally bold approach to these “common melodies,” making it possible to spoon-feed your congregation powerful tunes without frustrating them. Because of the viciousness of the attacks, I was asked by the publisher to “publicly and meticulously refute” these mendacious statements—but I eventually convinced them that doing so would only elevate criticisms by musicians not qualified to critique this hymnal. (Many of these internet critics have never worked in a Catholic Church.)

It Finally Happened: The situation has changed. Major publishing houses, following in the footsteps of the Brébeuf hymnal, are now touting the advantage of “texts which can be used with multiple tunes.” In other words, the Brébeuf approach—initially mocked and derided—has now become such a success that it’s being stolen by the big publishing companies!

Deep Down: Needless to say, the Brébeuf hymnal was not the first book to utilize “common tunes.” Dr. Theodore Marier’s hymnal—which you can read about here—also subtly used several. However, the extent to which they were used in the Brébeuf hymnal was truly groundbreaking. Deep down, I wish some of these companies would give credit to SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS, even if it’s just in a tiny footnote. But I suppose it’s better for us to learn to say: Ad Majórem Dei Glóriam.

Live Recording: Number 817 from the Brébeuf hymnal is an example of a “common tune.” The text was written by a Roman Catholic Martyr named Saint Philip Howard, while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London:

Another Groundbreaking Technique: The volunteer choir in that video was able to sing all the verses perfectly because the Brébeuf hymnal does something which—as far as I know—is unique. You see, every single verse is notated SATB in the Brébeuf choral supplement. But when singing unison hymns, the choir members should use the Pew Edition, because it contains a whole bunch of awesome stuff that could not be included in the choral supplement (which is 1,192 pages) such as: theological footnotes; color plates demonstrating the history of Roman Catholic hymnody; text-only hymns which can be sung with multiple tunes; and so forth. For instance, look at the fascinating details the Pew Edition included about Saint Philip Howard!

Final Thought: Father Valentine often quoted Father Alan Heet, OFM, who used to say: “The cemeteries are full of people who thought they were indispensable.” I suppose all of us need to guard against believing that we are “indispensable” to our church communities. Instead, we should praise God for the opportunity to glorify Him.

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

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Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Common Hymn Melodies, Dr Theodore Marier, Hymns Psalms Spiritual Canticles Last Updated: August 5, 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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“Except the psalms or canonical Scriptures of the new and old Testaments, nothing composed poetically shall be sung in church, as the holy canons command.”

— ‘Council of Braga, 563AD’

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