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Views from the Choir Loft

Composing Your Own Antiphons?

Jeff Ostrowski · June 11, 2022

OUNG CHURCH MUSICIANS have a natural tendency, which is a healthy one. They desire to follow that which is correct. (Sometimes this desire can become a “mania.”) It’s similar to when one studies piano. One begins by scrupulously following the fingerings in the editions. Then, after many years of practice, one gains the freedom to devise one’s own fingerings. We remember that Toscanini (and all great conductors) constantly edited Beethoven’s orchestration to improve the result—but they certainly did not do things like that when they were still students!

Composing Antiphons? Anyone who’s attempted to sing the post-conciliar Divine Office—a.k.a. the “Liturgy of the Hours”—knows that it’s necessary to compose many (all?) of the antiphons, especially if one sings in the vernacular! Questions arise: Is this correct? Is this cheating? Is this bad? Is this inauthentic? As a matter of fact, there’s a long history of choirmasters being forced to compose antiphons for the Divine Office. In the days before Vatican II, most Catholic dioceses had their own special feast days. And if a High Mass took place on such a feast, it was necessary to compose music. It was very rare that an “official” book would contain melodies for such local feasts. Even more rare was a book containing organ accompaniments for local feasts—although you can see that Flor Peeters and his team did create such a book for Belgium if you go to the NOH website and download the sixth volume.

Modern Day Example: Because Dr. Calabrese sings Vespers in the Ordinary Form, I’ve noticed he often composes his own antiphons. Doing that is “NNN” … Normal, Natural, and Necessary. There is nothing “weird” or “incorrect” about doing that. Here is a beautiful antiphon he composed, followed by Father Guerrero’s MAGNIFICAT IN THE FIRST MODE (which can be downloaded at #84476). The recording—captured by an iPhone microphone—cannot accurately reproduce the sumptuous choral sound one hears in real life:

More Examples: When the Church added new feasts, a “delay” was quite common before the new feast was given musical notation. Some of the feasts were created rather willy-nilly. For example, Pope Pius XII wanted to add a feast for the Queenship of Mary (“Maria Regina”). The Commissio Piana wanted the feast to occur on May 1st, but the Holy Father wanted to reserve that day for the feast of “Christ the Worker.” (As a matter of fact, May 1st eventually became not Christ the Worker, but Saint Joseph the Worker.) Then it was decided to place the Queenship of Mary as 22 August [cf. Antonelli Development of the Liturgical Reform, page 281]. In the end, the feast of Mary’s Queenship was placed on 31 May. The NOH includes an organ accompaniment for that feast-day (Beatæ Mariæ Virginis Reginæ) as an appendix to Volume 3.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Alfred Calabrese Conductor, Flor Peeters, Francisco Guerrero Composer, Liturgy of the Hours, Polyphonic Magnificat, Vesperale seu Liber Antiphonarius Last Updated: June 11, 2022

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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!” A young woman from California wrote: “Thank you for releasing your new Glory To God in honor of Saint Noel Chabanel. I'm enjoying reading through the various parts and listening to your recordings.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Although the Mass contains much instruction for the faithful, it has nevertheless not seemed expedient to the fathers that it be celebrated everywhere in the vernacular. The holy synod commands pastors and everyone who has the care of souls to explain frequently during the celebration of the Masses, either themselves or through others, some of the things that are read in the Mass, and among other things to expound some mystery of this most Holy Sacrifice, especially on Sundays and feastdays.”

— ‘Council of Trent, XII:8 (1562)’

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