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

Corpus Christi Watershed

Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Absolute Key to a Healthy and “Renewed” Choir

Jeff Ostrowski · March 3, 2023

HE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Psalm 103:30) says: “Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.” Monsignor Knox translates this as: “Then thou sendest forth thy spirit, and there is fresh creation; thou dost repeople the face of earth.” What does it mean for something to be “renewed?” Certainly there are many correct answers. Our Blessed Lord Himself describes a type of “renewal” in John 12:14. Our children keep guinea pigs, which are marvelous examples of God’s creation. I say this because every animal, every plant, every amoeba, every speck of air, every cell, and every organ in our body is a testament to God the creator. 1 Guinea pigs were created in a certain way—indeed, a perfect way—which has allowed their species to survive since their creation in spite of how defenseless, fragile, and innocent they are.

Keeping Choirs “Renewed” • Many people approached me after last year’s Sacred Music Symposium and gave me feedback I found flattering. They said: “Everything you said was so valuable, we wish you just talked the entire week without stopping.” Since people found my advice inspiring, this year I will speak about recruiting choir members and keeping choirs happy, vibrant, healthy, and renewed. After all, it’s not enough to recruit—the conscientious choirmaster must keep each member engaged. Put another way, choirs must constantly be renewed.

A Small Preview • Obviously, I’m not going to type out my entire presentation here. But I will give you a little ‘hint’ about a theme I will emphasize very much: musical diversity. When we have rehearsal, we don’t do one piece the entire time. We begin with a set of unvarying “rituals.” Then we usually divide the rehearsal into different parts: Renaissance polyphony, plainsong, sectionals, announcements, contemporary polyphony, and so forth. One thing my singers absolutely love is learning SATB parts to the hymns in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.

We are learning the following hymn by Father Frederick William Faber (d. 1863) in SATB:

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

Stuttgart Hymn • We are using Lenten verses for the STUTTGART HYMN. I probably sound like a broken record … but the choir members really enjoy the soprano descant and SATB parts on the various verses:

*  PDF Download • LENT VERSES

*  Mp3 Download • Live Recording (during rehearsal)

Conclusion • There’s something fresh and magical about these Brébeuf melodies. Choir members find them invigorating, fun, and renewing. Those who have never stood before a choir in real life might consider it “easy” to sing SATB hymns. The truth is, the conscientious choirmaster must work with the Tenor and Bass parts for a considerable stretch of time to achieve perfection.

1 We know that the (unthinkably complex) human eye, for example, is not a result of “luck” or evolution. Nor is the human reproductive system. Nor are human lungs. Nor is the human digestive track. Nor is the growth of a human inside the mother, requiring no outside air until the moment of birth. And so forth, and so on.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Stuttgart Hymn Last Updated: March 8, 2023

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 5th Sunday of Easter (18 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The Communion Antiphon was ‘restored’ the 1970 Missale Romanum (a.k.a. MISSALE RECENS) from an obscure martyr’s feast. Our choir is on break this Sunday, so the selections are relatively simple in nature.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion Chant (5th Sunday of Easter)
    This coming Sunday—18 May 2025—is the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C (MISSALE RECENS). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON “Ego Sum Vitis Vera” assigned by the Church is rather interesting, because it comes from a rare martyr’s feast: viz. Saint Vitalis of Milan. It was never part of the EDITIO VATICANA, which is the still the Church’s official edition. As a result, the musical notation had to be printed in the Ordo Cantus Missae, which appeared in 1970.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. I don’t know a more gorgeous ENTRANCE CHANT than the one given there: Misericórdia Dómini Plena Est Terra.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“A theologian who does not love art, poetry, music and nature can be dangerous since blindness and deafness toward the beautiful are not incidental: they are necessarily reflected in his theology.”

— Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (Interview, 1985)

Recent Posts

  • “Music List” • 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
  • Communion Chant (5th Sunday of Easter)
  • PDF Download • “Entrance Chant” for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
  • “Sanctus XVIII” • Peculiar-Yet-Haunting Accompaniment (Sent To Us)
  • Chants That Crowds Roar With Burning Hearts

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 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.