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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Veni, Veni Emmanuel” for 2 parts

Jeff Ostrowski · December 18, 2022

UPPOSE YOU CAME into contact with someone who claims to be an expert in German folk songs, yet doesn’t speak a word of German. Wouldn’t you find that strange? Even more bizarre is this man’s defense: “I don’t need to know a single word of German to appreciate German folk songs.” But is such an assertion credible? Since the 1960s we have witnessed ‘progressive’ Catholics do something similar. In spite of the fact that we are LATIN RITE CATHOLICS, they will not tolerate anything in Latin. They are fine with Spanish, Greek, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and so forth. But Latin they will not brook. Indeed, Bugnini’s cadre in the 1960s attempted to eliminate from the Catholic Mass all foreign words—even Alleluia, Hosanna, and Amen—but the Congregation of Sacred Rites was able to prevent that from happening.1

“Veni, Veni Emmanuel” • We sing the famous O ANTIPHON PARAPHRASES (better known as O Come, O Come Emmanuel) in Latin, using a brilliant 2-voice arrangement from the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. You can download the PDF score for free—along with rehearsal videos for each individual voice—by scrolling to #2002. Below is a ‘live’ recording (from last Sunday) by the 100% volunteer choir I direct:

M To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

NOH Bass-Line • The arrangement has a gorgeous bass-line which descends using stepwise motion. This was a technique used constantly by the NOH composers to give harmonizations a more interesting structure:

Ronald Knox • My choir also sings the O ANTIPHON PARAPHRASES in English, using the Brébeuf Hymnal translation by Monsignor Ronald Knox:

M To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

“O Antiphons” • Anyone who downloaded this organ accompaniment booklet (25 pages) probably noticed the 4th Sunday of Advent does not have any Magnificat antiphon of its own. That’s because it must be taken from the “O Antiphons.” The clearest and most concise explanation of the “O Antiphons” can be found here, and don’t forget to read the footnote:

*  PDF Download • “O ANTIPHONS” • What are those?
—An excerpt from The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal.

Obsessed With Them? • I once knew someone who considered himself the authority on the Roman Rite. He was obsessed with the O ANTIPHONS to a degree that was not healthy. He would say things like: “They’re the essence of Advent … the very essence of Advent … and hearing them I know it can only be the season of Advent.” I didn’t have the heart to tell this poor man that similar melodies occur at other times of the liturgical year. For example, take a look at the MAGNIFICAT ANTIPHON for the feast of the Ascension:

1 On Good Friday, the English translation of the Roman Missal uses Greek … but not Latin. This ferocious hatred of anything spoken in Latin is something utterly wrongheaded, deleterious, and embarrassing.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Annibale Bugnini Reform, Monsignor Ronald Knox Traditional Mass, Stepwise Motion Bass, Veni Veni Emmanuel Last Updated: December 18, 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

    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

Legitimate and necessary concern for current realities in the concrete lives of people cannot make us forget the true nature of the liturgical actions. It is clear that the Mass is not the time to “celebrate” human dignity or purely terrestrial claims or hopes. It is rather the sacrifice which renders Christ really present in the sacrament.

— Pope Saint John Paul II (20 March 1990)

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