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Views from the Choir Loft

[re-post] • “Hymn for the Feast of All Saints”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 10, 2021

OW MANY OF YOU are obsessed with finding the “perfect” hymns each Sunday? I certainly am. For example, recently the feast of the Transfiguration fell during the week. Therefore, the following Sunday I made sure we sang this beautiful hymn for the Transfiguration. Perhaps you are asking: “How many members of the congregation noticed that selection?” Probably zero … but I just can’t stop myself!

Here is a wonderful hymn for the feast of All Saints (November 1st):

A Versatile Hymn: That hymn is also perfect for “general use”—that is to say, Sundays which are not seriously wedded to a particular mystery. It can be called by two different names: Placáre Christe Sérvulis and Christe Redémptor Omnium. To learn more about why hymns received an extra name in 1631AD, pick up a pew copy of the Brébeuf hymnal.

Avoiding Too Much “New” Stuff: When we do a hymn that not many people know, we also mix in a hymn that everyone knows to keep things balanced. Here is the hymn we sang after Mass last Sunday, recorded live:

Fulton J. Sheen used to speak about the meaning of the word martyr, which is “witness” (from the Greek). May the martyrs of Jesus Christ intercede for us:

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Catholic Book of Hymns, Feast of All Saints, The Catholic Hymnal Last Updated: September 10, 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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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Oh, the happy choir director who is hired to start work on a brand new choir, or who walks into his first rehearsal a total stranger to the existing group—what a fortunate man he is! The new choir director who is a former member of the choir, or a member of the congregation, or the nephew of the alto soloist, or a former altar boy, or otherwise well acquainted with the choir, is in for a few headaches.”

— Paul Hume (1956)

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