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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Saint Noël Chabanel Mass Setting (“Kýrie Eléison”) for the Ordinary Form

Jeff Ostrowski · August 23, 2023

WOULD BET MONEY you’ve heard elderly people say something like: “When I was growing up, I’d walk twelve miles to school in the snow…” I can assure you: I always walked to school. I never once rode in a car. And we enjoyed walking. It was quite peaceful. I was astonished to learn (when we moved to Los Angeles) that some parents send their children to high school each day in über! Do you ever take time to reflect? Do you ever look back and remember how things were growing up? Do you agree life back then was completely different? My family had four boys and one girl (the youngest). My parents refused to buy us a Nintendo, so we entered strangers’ houses (!) to watch our neighbors play Nintendo. For hours we’d sit there, hoping ardently we might get a short turn.

Kyrie Released • In a moment, I will continue this discussion. But first I want to release another movement of the Mass in Honor of Saint Noël Chabanel. Written for the Ordinary Form, this Mass involves your CONGREGATION, your CANTOR, and your CHOIR. It consists of seven movements. The other movements will most likely be released next week; we’re putting finishing touches on the rehearsal videos. I tried to make my setting as brief as possible. (Anyone who’s worked in Ordinary Form parishes will understand why.)

Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #39164.

To freely download the PDF score, locate #39164.

Discussion Cont’d • It seems unreal that as youngsters we roamed the neighborhood each day. I have a poor memory, so there’s tons I can’t remember. But I do remember the various houses we lived in, and I have specific memories of entering strangers’ homes. Life was different back then. Nobody even locked their doors at night! (If readers have similar experiences they wish to share, I’d love to hear them. You can send to the email address listed at the bottom of this page.)

Has Jeff Changed? • I think we’ve established that “times have changed.” Needless to say, human beings also change and develop with the passage of time. Consider the polyphonic ending to the Kýrie Eléison posted above. Would I even appreciate such a music as a youngster? Would I say to myself: “Oh, what a wonderful use of canon!” Would I exclaim: “Such a clever juxtaposition of long notes against fast-moving stepwise patterns.” Would I get excited over the way each voice enters yet carefully makes room for others to enter? Would I cherish the fact that no matter how many times one listens to that short polyphonic section, there’s always something new to listen for?

An Ever-Widening Vista • My friends, let’s be honest. This isn’t something my brain would have understood as a youngster. Yet, tremendous wisdom is demonstrated by the tradition of the Catholic Church. The THESAURUS MUSICAE SACRAE (“treasury of sacred music”) is not stagnant, lifeless, and tedious. Rather, it’s an ever-widening vista, offering something powerful and valuable to all who set foot in the church, no matter their current stage of development. Our culture insists that learning a discipline is worthless. Our culture also says hard work “victimizes.” But the tradition of the Church is different. The tradition of the Church says we don’t know everything—and it is good to study, learn, struggle, develop, and (as a consequence) grow.

Keeping Grounded • Readers will agree that American society has changed so much, it’s almost unrecognizable. However, the way to “escape the madness”—in my humble opinion—is to interact with people in real life. I love our annual Sacred Music Symposium because I come into contact with such wonderful and “grounded” people. I also love directing choirs, because the singers are fantastic people. They’re kind, generous, interesting, and unique. They keep me grounded.

The Rock’s Lesson • A “siren” in Greek mythology was a half-bird woman who lured sailors to destruction by the sweetness of her song. Many church leaders today have been lured away from the Gospel; instead they talk about “making the world a better place.” They have forgotten that our Savior said cælum et terra transíbunt (Mt 24:35). We must remember the lesson of the rock. If you visit Rome, you’ll observe stones which have been trod upon for centuries. It turns out even a hard stone will (ever so slowly) develop furrows. Now imagine the Earth as a giant stone. Ask yourself how long it would take for a tiny ant to walk around the equator until it caused furrows. We’re talking millions of years, right? And yet, even that is barely the beginning of eternity. Do we contemplate this?

Conclusion • When we begin to understand how long eternity lasts, the constant and heavy penances undertaken daily by someone like Saint John Vianney make sense. I do think there’s a “shortcut” to Heaven, however. (I base my theory off something Father Valentine Young said to me during confession.) In essence, I believe charity is something particularly pleasing to Almighty God. Therefore, let us love one another! And let us pray for the grace to forgive others’ faults for the sake of JESUS CHRIST. Et dimítte nobis débita nostra, sicut et nos dimíttimus debitóribus nostris…

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured, PDF Download Tagged With: Choral Extension Jeff Ostrowski, Father Noel Chabanel, MASS IN HONOR OF NOEL CHABANEL, SATB Polyphonic Extension, Thesaurus musicae sacrae Last Updated: August 23, 2023

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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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —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

Saint Phillip Neri founded a religious congregation called the Oratory. Animuccia was involved from early on and remained “maestro di capella” of the Oratory until his death. The Oratory was able to attract many musicians who volunteered their services, including the famous singer Francesco Soto de Langa from the Capella Sistina, the composer Palestrina, and probably the composer Tomás Luis de Victoria who lived in the same house as St. Phillip Neri for five years.

— Source Unknown

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
  • “Participation” • Recovering its Receptive Dimension

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