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Views from the Choir Loft

“Victimæ Paschali Laudes” • Nineteen (19) Organ Accompaniments

Jeff Ostrowski · April 6, 2022

Updated Version:

*  “Victimæ Paschali Laudes” • Thirty-One (31) Different Versions

*  PDF Download • 2 VERSIONS (Latin + English)
—English Translation approved for liturgical use in the United States by the USCCB.

HOSE WHO PUBLISH books on Gregorian chant almost never speak about the “French vs. German Trochee.” Why is that? I actually can’t think of anything more important. The only author who treats this subject is Dom Johner—and he only includes a tiny section. For our purposes, a trochee is a word whose accent falls on the penultimate syllable. Trochees are words like: Déus, própter, nómen, méus, plantátus, posuísti, diérum, florébit, confitéri, prævenísti, and so on. A trochee is different from a dactyl, whose accent is on the ante-penult. (Dactyls are words like: Dóminus, quóniam, illúminas, témperas, Líbani, córnibus, átriis, lápide, longitúdinem, and so forth.) Both the French and the Germans treat dactyls the same; so there’s no issue with dactyls. But there’s a major issue with trochees.

No Help: The first thing to realize is that the official version (a.k.a. Editio Vaticana) doesn’t give you any help. It leaves the interpretation to each choirmaster:

*  PDF Download • EDITIO VATICANA (Singer)
—“Víctimæ Pascháli Láudes” (Sequence) • Dominica Resurrectionis.

French Trochee Method: The French school (a.k.a. “ictus rhythm of Dom Mocquereau”) does not elongate the accent of each trochee, as you can see here. It’s almost like the tonic accent has been moved to the final syllable of each trochee. When you harmonize strictly according to the Dom Mocquereau “ictus” method, you end up with this organ accompaniment. Some people feel this method bumps the tonic accents erroneously: “recóncilíavít” instead of reconciliávit; peccátorés instead of peccatóres; “victímæ” instead of víctimæ; “rédemit” instead of redémit; and so forth. You can hear a female choir sing the VICTIMAE PASCHALI LAUDES accompanied by that “French Trochee” score if you click here.

Father Fortescue: Courtesy of the forthcoming Campion Missal, 3rd edition (Sophia Institute Press, 2022), we’ve received a special English translation of “Víctimæ Pascháli Láudes” created by Father Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923).

*  PDF Download • Father Fortescue (ENGLISH VERSION)
—“Víctimæ Pascháli Láudes” (Sequence) • Dominica Resurrectionis.
“French Trochee” accompaniment for Father Fortescue’s Version

English Again, But Different: A priest of the Fraternity of Saint Peter recently sent us his “singable” translation of the VICTIMAE PASCHALI LAUDES. This priest was trained in Germany, and it seems best to sing his version with the “German Trochee” method. I have made two slight modifications to his score, and these are indicated by an italic font:

*  PDF Download • FSSP Priest (ENGLISH VERSION)
—“Víctimæ Pascháli Láudes” (Sequence) • Dominica Resurrectionis.

For the record, if you sing that version according to the “French Trochee” method, you would end up with this organist score.

“Germanic Trochee” Harmonizations:

To understand the “German Trochee Method,” simply download this sheet. The German Trochee can even be found in psalm tones; check out ámen.

*  PDF Download • Max Springer (1910s)
—Max Springer (d. 1954) was organist at the Saint Emmaus Monastery (Prague).

*  PDF Download • Father Franz Xaver Mathias (1936)
—Father Mathias founded the SAINT LEO INSTITUTE FOR SACRED MUSIC in 1913.

*  PDF Download • Dr. Peter Wagner (1910s)
—Wagner founded the “Gregorian Academy” in Fribourg, Switzerland.

*  PDF Download • Nova Organi Harmonia (1944)
—Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel was choirmaster at the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold (Belgium).

*  PDF Download • Monsignor Nekes (1910)
—This is an awful accompaniment, yet Msgr. Franz Nekes was quite popular in Germany.

“French Trochee” Harmonizations:

*  PDF Download • Giulio Bas (1874-1929)
—Giulio Bas was the editor of the “Rassegna Gregoriana” (Rome).

*  PDF Download • Desrocquettes (1887-1972)
—Dom Jean Hébert Desroquettes was organist of Solesmes Abbey.

*  PDF Download • Achille P. Bragers (1887-1955)
—Bragers taught at the Pope Pius X School of Liturgical Music (Manhattanville College, New York).

*  PDF Download • Achille P. Bragers (TRANSPOSED)
—This has been transposed very high.

*  PDF Download • (first) Henri Potiron (1882-1972)
—Potiron was Choirmaster of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Paris).

*  PDF Download • (second) Henri Potiron (1882-1972)
—Another version by Henri Potiron.

*  PDF Download • Father Andrew Green (1865-1950)
—Father Green headed the music department at St. Benedict’s College (Atchison, KS).

*  PDF Download • Dom Gregory A. Murray (1905-1992)
—Dom Murray was a Downside Abbey monk who eventually came to hate Mocquereau’s method.

*  PDF Download • Dr. Eugene Lapierre (1957)
—Lapierre (University of Montreal) granted Roger Wagner his doctorate “in absentia” (from California).

*  PDF Download • Father Percy Jones (1952)
—Dr. Percy Jones lived until 1992 • He produced the Pius X Hymnal (Australia).

*  PDF Download • Dr. Ted Marier (1970s)
—The famous hymnal created by Dr. Theodore Marier has been reviewed by Daniel Craig.

*  PDF Download • Nicola A. Montani (1920)
—Nicola A. Montani produced the Saint Gregory Hymnal (1920).

*  PDF Download • Father Carlo Rossini (1932)
—Father Carlo Rossini produced the Parochial Hymnal (1936).


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

*   Something rather peculiar: Dom Desrocquettes died the same year as Henri Potiron died, and was born the same year as Achille P. Bragers was born.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured, PDF Download Tagged With: Dr Peter Wagner Gregorian, Easter Sequence, French Vs German Trochee, Monsignor Franz Nekes, Rev Fr Adrian Fortescue Liturgy, victimae paschali, Victimae Paschali Laudes Last Updated: March 22, 2024

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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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President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
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    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —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
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    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

When you consider that the greatest hymns ever written—the plainchant hymns—are pushing the age of eight hundred and that the noble chorale hymn tunes of Bach date from the early eighteenth century, then what is the significance of the word “old” applied to “Mother at Thy Feet Is Kneeling”? Most of the old St. Basil hymns date from the Victorian era, particularly the 1870s and 1880s.

— Paul Hume (1956)

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