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Views from the Choir Loft

“Nobody Cares About This” • (Except Me!)

Jeff Ostrowski · September 24, 2022

IDS USED TO PLAY a game called TELEPHONE. They’d pass along a message and laugh at how distorted it became when the final child tried to repeat it. That’s what should have happened to Gregorian Chant as it was passed along over 1,500 years. However, through some inexplicable miracle, that’s not what happened. Even though plainsong melodies kept changing—since each monastery had its own singing style—the basic melodies never became unrecognizably corrupt (until they reached Guillaume Nivers). Even today, no scholar can explain this. It’s like each generation had access to a “primary source” … but we know they didn’t, because somebody over the last 1,500 years would surely have mentioned such a manuscript.1

This Sunday’s Introit • The Introit for this coming Sunday (Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost) is Miserére Mihi Dómine. As part of an ongoing project, I took a few minutes and created a recording corresponding to the official rhythm:

Nobody Cares About This • I’m not sure anyone will care about this, but the Introit for the Friday before Palm Sunday (“Feria Sexta post Dominicam Passionis”) strongly resembles the one we just spoke about:

Ps. 30 vs Ps. 85 • The Introit from the 16th Sunday after Pentecost is from Psalm 80, whereas the other comes from Psalm 30. One is in Mode V while the other is in Mode VIII. Incidentally, in more recent times the “Friday before Palm Sunday” was replaced with a feast called The Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary (with Introit “Stabant Juxta Cruem Jesu”). Getting back to the topic at hand, some might believe one Miserére is a “corrupted” version of the other Miserére—but that’s not the case. As you can see, both go back centuries before music could even be written down:

*  PDF Download • Comparison Between Introits
—16th Sunday after Pentecost VS. Friday before Palm Sunday.

The Most Difficult Thing • The hardest thing about memorizing music is not melodies that are identical. Rather, it’s melodies which are almost identical. The best example I can think of is Visiónem Quam Vidístis from the Feast of the Transfiguration.

1 If I had the time, I could easily demonstrate the truth of what I’ve just said—but such a demonstration will have to wait for another day.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: September 24, 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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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We decided to entrust this work to learned men of our selection. They very carefully collated all their work with the ancient codices in Our Vatican Library and with reliable, preserved or emended codices from elsewhere. Besides this, these men consulted the works of ancient and approved authors concerning the same sacred rites; and thus they have restored the Missal itself to the original form and rite of the holy Fathers.”

— ‘Pope St. Pius V (Quo Primum, 1570)’

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