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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • 1938 “White List of Sacred Music” (Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa) — 114 pages!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 14, 2022

DON’T KNOW anything about the “Archdiocesan Music Commission,” whose address was at COLUMBIA COLLEGE in Dubuque. Perhaps one of our readers from Iowa could fill me in? I assume they had the best of intentions. They give a list of forbidden works, which they preface as follows: “The music commission of the Archdiocese of Dubuque with the authority of the Most Reverend Archbishop insists that all so-called choir music which was disapproved at the Society of Saint Gregory of America convention—held in Rochester, New York, May 4-6, 1922—may not be permitted within the churches or chapels within the Archdiocese of Dubuque.” Then they list a whole bunch of hymnals they consider forbidden, but conveniently not the hymnal produced by the founder and president of the Society of Saint Gregory of America. I notice they also blacklist “all Masses written by” a number of composers, including the Jesuit priest, Father Louis Lambillotte (d. 1855). That’s somewhat sad, since Father Lambillotte’s tombstone says: Qui cecinit Jesum et Mariam, eripuitque tenebris Gregorium, hunc superis insere, Christe, choris. [“Receive, O Christ, into Thy choirs above him who sang the praises of Jesus and Mary, and rescued the music of Gregory from the darkness of ages.”]

*  PDF Download • “Sacred Music White List” (114 pages)
—Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa • “Approved List of Church Music” (1938).

Good + Bad • At the beginning of the book, they provide a praiseworthy collection of quotes vis-à-vis sacred music. On the other hand, their spelling could have used some proofreading:

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Sacred Music Black List, Sacred Music White List Last Updated: December 14, 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

    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.
    —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
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We know that originally the offertories of the repertoire included a series of verses, just like the introit and the communion, but generally more ornate. Many of these are musical compositions of great beauty. They quickly fell into disuse, and we find them only in the most ancient manuscripts. The only remaining trace of this older arrangement in our present-day liturgy is that of the offertory of the Requiem Mass.”

— Dom Joseph Gajard (1956)

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