• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Salve Regina” [Simplex] • An Elegant English Translation (2022)

Jeff Ostrowski · December 7, 2022

EFORE I SHARE something special, I would like to remind you of a few things. In October of 2022, I posted this article, which contains four (4) different versions of the Simple Salve Regina in English. There you can find discussion about the “theory”—as Father Valentine Young would say—about setting plainsong to English (and some common pitfalls). In June of 2020, I uploaded 21 organ accompaniments for the Simple Salve Regina. That’s a URL link worth bookmarking, because you can freely download harmonizations by Father Carlo Rossini, Auguste Le Guennant, Joseph Renner, Nicola A. Montani, Dom Jean Hébert Desrocquettes, Patrick Russill, Dom Gregory Murray, Dr. Theodore Marier, Achille P. Bragers, Giulio Bas, Henri Potiron, Dr. Eugène Lapierre, Malton Boyce, and others. In August of 2022, I uploaded 32 versions of the Simple Salve Regina, and explored “Trochee Trouble” in depth.

New English Translation • I was sent a very fine English translation of the Simple Salve Regina by a member of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. The incomparable Andrew Hinkley kindly set it to Gregorian Chant notation. You can download it free of charge:

*  PDF Download • SALVE REGINA (Simplex)
—2022 Translation by a priest of the Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Emotional Approach • We’ve spoken at length about Gregorian rhythm from a theoretical perspective. Now, let’s consider it from an ‘emotional’ perspective. Suppose you are Abbat Pothier. You spent your entire life restoring Cantus Gregorianus against incredible odds. You single handedly overturned the 30-year PPP (“Pustet Papal Privilege”). You single handedly spent years copying plainsong manuscripts, allowing you to restore the true (non-corrupted) rhythm, the full (non-truncated) melodies, and the true (modal) tonality. You single handedly invented an authentic (box notation) Gregorian font, which would last more than 120 years. You single handedly produced the Processionale, Liber Responsorialis, Liber Antiphonarius, Liber Gradualis, Toni Communes, and Ordinarium Missae. Your scores are clean and beautiful, such as this one:

Now imagine what it must have felt like to see your former student come along and place all kinds of (technically illicit) markings all over your scores:

I’m not at all certain I would be thrilled about people doing that!

Father Angelo De Santi • One of Dom Mocquereau’s biggest supporters was a Jesuit priest named Father De Santi. (You can read about him here.) According to Dom Pierre Combe, on 20 December 1903 Father De Santi “begged Dom Delatte (supplichiamo vivamente) to enjoin Dom Mocquereau to produce books in a larger format, like the format of the 1883 LIBER GRADUALIS, and without rhythmic markings…” In a letter (31 December 1903) addressed to Dom Mocquereau himself, Father de Santi repeated his pressing demand: “We implore the Fathers of Solesmes, and I have already written about this matter to the Abbot, to get to work immediately on typical editions of Gregorian chant, in the manner of the LIBER GRADUALIS, without dots and without rhythmic indications.” On 29 June 1904, the Vatican Commission on Gregorian Chant would decide that: “The Vatican Edition will not feature the rhythmic indications of the latest Benedictine editions, but will limit itself to the method already in use in the initial editions of Dom Pothier, retaining only those signs related to the groupings of notes and of members of phrases.”

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: French Vs German Trochee, Gregorian Rhythm Wars, plainchant notation, salve regina, Salve Regina Organ Accompaniment Last Updated: December 7, 2022

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Tournemire could be charming or he could bite your head off. One day I could not replace him at St. Clotilde because I had a wedding to play at another church. Tournemire played on Sunday, period—that was all. He did not play weddings and so forth. (He put all that on my back.) So I went to Tournemire’s house to tell him, “Master, I am sorry but, for once, I cannot replace you. I have another obligation to fulfill.” He said, “Get out of here!” I left for good.

— Testimony of Maurice Duruflé

Recent Posts

  • Church Music Shouldn’t Be “Headache-Inducing”
  • Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
  • Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
  • Apply Right Now! • Sacred Music Symposium
  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.