• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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.”

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • Jeff’s Mom Joins Fundraiser
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Feasts Website
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Hidden Gem: Salve Regina (Barkoskie)

Keven Smith · August 24, 2021

ACEBOOK IS MOSTLY A WASTE OF TIME. But if you use it judiciously—seeking to make meaningful connections rather than win superficial affirmations or avoid your real work—it can be a helpful tool. Many church musicians have leaned on Facebook as a way to stay in touch, swap ideas and resources, and lift each other’s spirits during the COVID church lockdowns.

I don’t participate much in the various musician groups on Facebook, but I’ll occasionally see something interesting. Sometimes it’s a good motet by a composer whose work I haven’t previously encountered.

One such motet is the Salve Regina by one Alvez Barkoskie IV. I found it in late July and liked it immediately. My choir learned it for the Feast of the Assumption, which fell on a Sunday this year. Mr. Barkoskie’s composition alternates bars of the simple-tone Salve Regina chant with bars of original polyphony:

What to Look and Listen for

What I love about this piece:

  • The chant melody is already familiar. This gives the choir confidence right out of the gate.
  • The polyphony sounds a bit like an alma mater. I haven’t heard that many college alma maters, but they always strike me as buoyant and hopeful with excellent voice leading. This motet strikes me the same way—and who couldn’t use some optimism these days?
  • Something weird happens. The bar at “Et Jesum” will catch singers and congregation by surprise. It was a brilliant stroke by Mr. Barkoskie to add a bit of tartness amidst the sweetness.
  • The composer has a great name. All things being equal, it’s a little more fun than if we were singing a composition by some guy named Smith. Doesn’t “Alvez Barkoskie” sound like he should be lining up in the slot for an SEC school in the Orange Bowl?


A few tips:

  • Be prepared for congregation members to join in. Many longtime attendees of the traditional Latin Mass can sing the simple-tone Salve Regina by heart. When they hear your choir start singing it, they may instinctively try to sing along, though they’ll probably stop as soon as they hear the first polyphonic section. Consider warning your choir about this so that they won’t be distracted if it does happen.
  • Don’t let the chant bars drag. My choir knows that I don’t like draggy chant in any context. “It shouldn’t sound rushed, but there should be direction in every phrase,” I often remind them. I think it’s even more important in a piece like this to keep the chant moving. If it drags, you’ll be forced to take the polyphonic sections extremely slowly, too. I think it’s much more effective to let the chant glide along and then take a bit more time with the polyphony, letting these satisfying chords wash over singers and congregation alike.
  • Don’t be put off by all those flats. The piece is in D-flat major. So what? If you use solfege, your singers will be able to navigate this (or any) key just fine. I like to mark initials for the solfege syllables of every note in any motet I hand out (you’ve no doubt seen this approach in the many free scores available here at Corpus Christi Watershed). That way, singers won’t be tripping over syllables and can focus on the real purpose of solfege: ear training.
  • Spend most of your rehearsal time on “Et Jesum…” You can tell from the recording that the “Et Jesum” bar is the one harmonic outlier. But if you’re using solfege, you can remind everyone that the preceding chant bar ends on DO and then challenge them to find their notes from there. Alto and bass go one step down, and soprano goes one step up. Tenor leaps by a fourth, but in the typical church choir, that’s only about two guys anyway! Once everyone is comfortable finding their first notes at “Et Jesum,” it will be constructive to walk through parts on solfege syllables. My choir learned this bar surprisingly quickly.
  • Consider having alternating groups sing the chant bars. If you have a large choir like mine, you may want to have low voices sing some of the chant bars and high voices sing the others. But it can certainly sound lovely with everyone singing everything.

Salve Regina season lasts until Advent. You still have plenty of time to learn this simple, tasty piece. To contact the composer and learn more about his scores, visit his Facebook page.

See? Facebook isn’t totally useless.

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

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Easy Polyphony For Amateurs, motets, salve regina Last Updated: August 24, 2021

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    New Bulletin Article • “21 September 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 21 September 2025) discusses some theological items—supported by certain verses in ancient Catholic hymns—and ends by explaining why certain folks become delirious with jealousy when they observe feats by Monsignor Ronald Knox.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!
    It’s always amusing to see old diocesan newspapers—in huge capital letters—advertising the Cheapest Catholic Paper in the United States. The correspondent who sent this to me added: “I can think of certain composers, published by large companies in our own day, who could truthfully brag about the most tawdry compositions in the world!” I wonder what she could have meant by such a cryptic comment…
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • Dom Murray Harmonies
    Along with so many others, I have deep respect for Dom Gregory Gregory Murray, who produced this clever harmonization (PDF) of “O SANCTISSIMA.” It’s always amazed me that Dom Gregory—a truly inspired composer—was so confused when it came to GREGORIAN CHANT. Throughout his life, he published contradictory statements, veering back-and-forth like a weather vane. Toward the end of his life, he declared: “I see clearly that the need for reform in liturgical music arose, not in the 18th and 19th centuries, but a thousand years earlier—in the 8th and 9th centuries, or even before that. The abuses began, not with Mozart and Haydn, but with those over-enthusiastic medieval musicians who developed the elaborate and flamboyant Gregorian Chant.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Karl Keating • “Canonization Questions”
    We were sent an internet statement (screenshot) that’s garnered significant attention, in which KARL KEATING (founder of Catholic Answers) speaks about whether canonizations are infallible. Mr. Keating seems unaware that canonizations are—in the final analysis—a theological opinion. They are not infallible, as explained in this 2014 article by a priest (with a doctorate in theology) who worked for multiple popes. Mr. Keating says: “I’m unaware of such claims arising from any quarter until several recent popes disliked by these Traditionalists were canonized, including John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul II. Usually Paul VI receives the most opprobrium.” Mr. Keating is incorrect; e.g. Father John Vianney, several centuries ago, taught clearly that canonizations are not infallible. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen would be another example, although clearly much more recent than Saint John Vianney.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Vatican II Changed Wedding Propers?
    It’s often claimed that the wedding propers were changed after Vatican II. As a matter of fact, that is a false claim. The EDITIO VATICANA propers (Introit: Deus Israel) remained the same after Vatican II. However, a new set of propers (Introit: Ecce Deus) was provided for optional use. The same holds true for the feast of Pope Saint Gregory the Great on 3 September: the 1943 propers (Introit: Si díligis me) were provided for optional use, but the traditional PROPRIA MISSAE (Introit: Sacerdótes Dei) were retained; they weren’t gotten rid of. The Ordo Cantus Missae (1970) makes this crystal clear, as does the Missal itself. There was an effort made in the post-conciliar years to eliminate so-called “Neo-Gregorian” chants, but (contrary to popular belief) most were retained: cf. the feast of Christ the King, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and so forth.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

Let us ponder the incontrovertible fact that Eucharistic Adoration in the Ordinary Form (“Novus Ordo”) is always and everywhere celebrated “ad orientem.” Why, then, is there such opposition to Mass being celebrated in that way, which is actually stipulated by the 1970 Missal rubrics?

— A Benedictine Monk (2013)

Recent Posts

  • New Bulletin Article • “21 September 2025”
  • How do you pronounce this word in Latin?
  • Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!
  • Children’s Repertoire: “3 Recommendations”
  • PDF Download • Dom Murray Harmonies

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.