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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Are You A Professional? • (Am I One?)

Jeff Ostrowski · September 2, 2023

ROFESSIONAL. Do you consider yourself a professional church musician? I suppose it depends upon one’s definition. Josef Hofmann once gave a series of twenty-one concerts in Saint Petersburg night after night without any interruption (!) during which he played 255 different works from memory. He was certainly a professional musician. Hofmann’s pupil, Abbey Simon—while still in his 20s—had a job at a radio station in which he was expected to show up and immediately sight-read (!) any concerto placed in front of him (during live broadcasts). He was certainly a professional musician. After just one year of study at the Conservatoire de Paris, César Franck took his final examination. He was given a difficult piece to sight-read. Not only did he play this never-before-seen composition perfectly, but the young César transposed it (!) a third below the key in which it was written. After some discussion, Luigi Cherubini (d. 1842) announced: “The jury has now decided that Monsieur Franck stands so incomparably far ahead of his fellow competitors that it’s impossible to nominate another to share the prize with him. Accordingly, a second first prize will be given to those who would in ordinary circumstances have deserved the senior award.” Clearly, Franck was a professional musician. Obviously, I would never compare my own meager skills to the three artists I just mentioned. At the same time, I consider anyone who stands in front of a choir on a regular basis (and gets good results) to be a professional musician.

Try This! • Standing in front of a choir in real life and never wasting a single minute of the singers’ time during rehearsal is no small feat. In our rehearsals, I often take the men outside while the women rehearse plainsong. With the men, I rehearse the Tenor and Bass parts to a hymn (without the aid of a keyboard). This may sound simple, but it really improves one’s musical ear! I’m talking about teaching men to sing the Tenor and Bass lines perfectly. It’s one thing to play through the Tenor and Bass lines at home on a piano. It’s another thing—when you have 20 singers standing in front of you—to instantly diagnose problems and make meaningful observations with regard to the voice-leading and “tuning points” (i.e. fifths and octaves). Try it and you’ll see it’s anything but boring. It really keeps you on your toes!

A Great Hymn • At rehearsal last week, I taught my volunteer men choristers to sing Tenor and Bass lines for a melody called “Ave Virgo Virginum” (a.k.a. Gaudeamus Pariter). It’s truly a marvelous tune:

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

Limited Forces • In the summer, we don’t have the full choir—but it’s still possible to make wonderful music. For example, when we had only a few females, they sang Gloria IX. It was “simple” but very nice. It’s possible to sing the hymn Ave Virgo Virginum with female voices only. To demonstrate, consider this fabulous Eucharistic Hymn every Catholic should know:

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

In the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal, that same melody is also married to a gorgeous English translation of the “Ave Maris Stella” (an ancient hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary):

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

Room For Improvement • Needless to say, this hymn can also be sung in full SATB. Below is a version by our volunteer choir. It’s not perfect, but it will get better the more we sing it:

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

Try It Yourself! • Some people who listen to the recording (which is imperfect) will think to themselves: “I could easily do better than that.” However, to sing a simple hymn properly is more difficult than one might think. If you doubt this, try recording your choir sometime and send us a copy so we can hear it!

Article Summary • Sight-reading in the privacy of one’s home is one thing. Standing in front of a choir in real life and making sure not a moment of rehearsal time gets squandered is something else entirely—in spite of what some internet trolls say. In this article, I revealed one of my best rehearsal techniques, and spoke candidly about it. I also revealed a Eucharistic hymn every Catholic should know.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Ave Virgo Virginum Hymn, Ave Virgo Virginum Tune, Gaudeamus Pariter Hymn, Gaudeamus Pariter Tune Last Updated: September 6, 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

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Goupil deserves the name of martyr not only because he has been murdered by the enemies of God and His Church while laboring in ardent charity for his neighbor, but most of all because he was killed for being at prayer and notably for making the Sign of the Cross.

— St. Isaac Jogues (after the martyrdom of Saint René Goupil)

Recent Posts

  • Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
  • “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
  • Little Encouragement?
  • Children’s Repertoire • Mueller’s Recommendations

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