HEAR from so many church musicians—often via telephone—about what is happening throughout the Catholic Church apropos music, and (sadly) I hear many horror stories. The vocation of a Church musician is frequently filled with obstacles and difficulties. From my friend, Richard J. Clark, I learned that composing can “raise one’s spirits” when things are tough. On Sunday afternoon, I had 20 minutes to compose an accompaniment for the Purification Vespers Hymn (“Ave Maris Stella”), and I really had fun. I hope you like it.
I wrote out each verse, just like the choral supplement of the Brébeuf Hymnal does:
* PDF Download • “Ave Maris Stella” for Organ
—Harmonization by Jeff Ostrowski for Vespers on 2 February 2020.
(Some day, I’d like to create a different harmonization for each verse.)
Did you notice the second part? It has has blank staves, so you can compose your own version:
Some organists will probably “fill in” the bass line, creating pristine descending stepwise motion:
Here are three versions from the NOH, each one slightly different:
* PDF Download • “Ave Maris Stella” (NOH)
—From the Nova Organi Harmonia.
Here is a version from Achille P. Bragers:
* PDF Download • “Ave Maris Stella” (Bragers)
—Notice he did not follow the “Brébeuf method” of notating each verse.
This version—by Dom Jean-Hébert Desroquettes, a disciple of Dom Mocquereau—is printed in the New Saint Basil Hymnal. It omits verses, which I find very, very strange:
* PDF Download • “Ave Maris Stella” (Desroquettes)
—Notice he did not follow the “Brébeuf method” of notating each verse.
Finally, here’s a version printed circa 1910 by a man named Ignace Müller, whom I know nothing about:
* PDF Download • “Ave Maris Stella” (Müller)
—Notice he did not follow the “Brébeuf method” of notating each verse.
My posting these examples—which are of historical interest—does not indicate an endorsement; e.g. the one by Müller is horrible.
