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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Carol based on “The First Nowell”

Jeff Ostrowski · December 15, 2021

AVING A STRONG desire to emphasize the excellent texts in the Brébeuf hymnal, I have perhaps been guilty of neglecting to underscore its fabulous melodies. The tunes we chose are fresh, gorgeous, and simple enough for congregations. We also accepted original hymn tunes by excellent composers, and you’ll be astonished when you hear what they came up with. Several—including hymn tunes by Dr. Alfred Calabrese and Richard J. Clark—have been featured at the Sacred Music Symposium. Mr. Peter Lejeune had several of his melodies accepted for publication in the Brébeuf hymnal, and I obtained permission to add English words to a Christmas arrangement he did for a different project.

I recorded all the voices, to give you an idea how it sounds: 1

REHEARSAL VIDEOS for each individual voice and PDF score await you at #87488.


Many readers won’t click on that link—depriving themselves of the PDF score and individual tracks.

Will you do so?

 


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   I’m a baritone, and I always hate the sound of my soprano voice—but this is simply to demonstrate how it sounds.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Easy Polyphony For Amateurs, Simple Polyphony, The First Noel, The First Nowell Last Updated: December 16, 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

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
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed—with no good reason—Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”

— ‘Fr. Bouyer, Consilium member appointed by Pope Paul VI’

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