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

Corpus Christi Watershed

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.”

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • Jeff’s Mom Joins Fundraiser
    • “Let the Choir Have a Voice” (Essay)
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Feasts Website
  • 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
Views from the Choir Loft

Guest Article by Dr. Kurt Poterack

Guest Author · January 13, 2024

EXT FALL at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, courtesy of the Saint Cecilia Choral Program, there will be two voice scholarships available: one for a woman (soprano or alto); and for a man (tenor or bass). This one-year scholarship for a woman will consist of $4,500 in tuition reduction and free voice lessons throughout the year. The one-year scholarship for a man will consist of $4,500 in tuition reduction and free voice lessons for the year. Specifics can be found at the bottom of this URL link. The recipient is expected to attend sectional and full rehearsals throughout the year, sing at the Sunday Mass, the First Friday Holy Hour, help out at weekday Masses, and perform other duties that will be discussed at the interview. Students will need to submit an audition video of one piece no later than 1 February 2024 and, if selected, will come to campus as a finalist to audition in person on Saturday, 16 March 2024.

Organ Scholarships at Christendom College • Starting next fall, there will be one main scholarship offered as a part of the Pope Benedict XVI Organ Scholarship Program. There will also be lesser scholarships available. 
Specifics can be found at the bottom of this URL link. Students will need to submit an audition video of one piece no later than 1 February 2024 and, if selected, will come to campus as a finalist to audition in person on Saturday, 16 March 2024.

Further Information • Those with questions are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Kurt Poterack of Christendom College via email.

We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Dr. Poterack.

Photo credit: Flickr.

Dr. Kurt Poterack, who holds an M.M. and a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Michigan State University, has taught music at the collegiate level for thirty years, and has been involved with Catholic liturgical music for almost as long. He studied plainsong with the late Dr. Theodore Marier as well as the Ward Method at Catholic University. He has taught the Chant Practicum course at CUA and served on the Board of Directors of the DOM MOCQUEREAU FOUNDATION for the past several years.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 13, 2024

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Music List • (4th Sunday of Lent)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 4th Sunday of Lent (15 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has sublime propers. It is most often referred to as “Lætare Sunday” owing to its INTROIT. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • Communion (4th Snd. Lent)
    The COMMUNION ANTIPHON for this coming Sunday, which is the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year A), is particularly beautiful. There’s something irresistible about this tone; it’s neither happy nor sad. As always, I encourage readers to visit the flourishing feasts website, where the complete Propria Missae may be downloaded free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Good Friday Flowers
    Good Friday has a series of prayers for various parties: the pope, catechumens, pagans, heretics, schismatics, and so forth. In the old liturgical books, there was no official ‘name’ for these prayers. (This wasn’t unusual as ‘headers’ and ‘titles’ for each section is a rather modern idea.) The Missal simply instructed the priest to go to the Epistle side and begin. In the SHERBORNE MISSAL, each prayer begins with a different—utterly spectacular—flower. This PDF file shows the first few prayers. Has anyone counted the ‘initial’ drop-cap flowers in the SHERBORNE MISSAL? Surely there are more than 1,000.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Stumped by “Episcopalian Hymnal” (1910)
    Some consider Songs of Syon (1910) the greatest Episcopalian hymnal ever printed. As a Roman Catholic, I have no right to weigh in one way or the other. However, this particular page has me stumped. I just know I’ve heard that tune somewhere! If you can help, please email me. I’m talking about the text which begins: “This is the day the Lord hath made; In unbeclouded light array’d.” The book is by George Ratcliffe Woodward, and its complete title is: Songs of Syon: A Collection of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. Back in 2016, Corpus Christi Watershed scanned and uploaded this insanely rare book. For years our website was the sole place one could download it as a PDF file.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation
    It isn’t easy to determine what Alice King MacGilton hoped to accomplish with her very popular book—A Study of Latin Hymns (1918)—which continued to be reprinted in new editions for at least 34 years. This PDF file shows her attempt to translate the DIES IRAE “in the fewest words possible.” There’s a place for dynamic equivalency, but this is repugnant. In particular, look what she does to “Quærens me sedísti lassus.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
    For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

10 February 1588: “All incompetent singers in the cathedral are warned that they must immediately begin to improve themselves or be fined. Regularly scheduled practice hours shall be announced, and all incompetents must attend. No one shall henceforth sing anything by way of a solo except those whose names the dean communicates to Guerrero.”

— From the “Life of Father Francisco Guerrero”

Recent Posts

  • Ending Good Friday on “Mi” … ?
  • “Innsbruck Hymn” • Bach Saint Matthew Passion
  • Stumped by “Episcopalian Hymnal” (1910)
  • Dr. Tappan • Answers + Analysis: My “Inquiry” For Music Directors (3,087 words)
  • Eucharistic Hymns for Your Choir

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2026 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.